tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/university-of-wisconsin-milwaukee-1604/articlesThe University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee2023-06-02T12:41:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034872023-06-02T12:41:24Z2023-06-02T12:41:24ZThe allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528844/original/file-20230529-23-47rygd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=473%2C143%2C4604%2C3607&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What makes improvised stage patter more appealing than a canned script?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/silhouette-of-woman-with-microphone-singing-on-royalty-free-image/1160645050">FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Audiences love to see athletes and entertainers behaving spontaneously, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucac060">according to our recent research</a>, because ad-libbed lines, spectacular catches, improvised set lists and the like make performers seem more authentic and genuine.</p>
<p>We observed a preference for spontaneity in entertainment across several studies. First, we examined dozens of Buzzfeed articles from the past several years about spontaneity in film and TV, like “<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/noradominick/tv-moments-that-were-actually-improvised">Here Are 21 TV Moments You Probably Didn’t Know Were Unscripted</a>.” Compared with other Buzzfeed articles about entertainment that were published on the same dates, the pieces about spontaneity garnered nearly double the social media engagement in comments, likes and shares.</p>
<p>We also ran an online raffle in which people could win a real, customized <a href="https://www.cameo.com/">Cameo</a> greeting from a celebrity of their choice. The vast majority of participants – 84.1% – wanted their chosen celebrity to record a fully improvised, off-the-cuff message rather than a scripted personal greeting.</p>
<p>But what is it that accounts for this preference?</p>
<p>Across a variety of experiments, our results showed that people are drawn to spontaneity because they believe it provides a glimpse into a performer’s true self. Our findings reveal that people rate entertainers as more sincere, genuine and authentic when they act spontaneously, rather than when they plan, and authenticity is something that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/615047">consumers hold in extremely high regard</a>.</p>
<p>But our research also revealed that spontaneity has a cost: When people acted spontaneously, our participants thought the output could be lower quality, less poised and more error prone. For instance, while a chef who leverages spontaneity in their cooking may be seen as more authentic, people might expect their meals to taste worse.</p>
<p>So, although participants often preferred spontaneous moments in entertainment, we found that that preference went away when money was on the line. For example, in one of our experiments, when participants were gambling real money on a sporting event, they preferred players who stuck to the game plan.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="friends laughing together on couch watching out of frame TV" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528845/original/file-20230529-24-qf0yut.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When it feels like anything can happen, audiences are hooked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/friends-laughing-watching-tv-together-royalty-free-image/83827011">John Howard/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>U.S. adults spend around <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2018/time-flies-us-adults-now-spend-nearly-half-a-day-interacting-with-media/">six hours per day interacting with video-based</a> media and entertainment. And great entertainment often includes spontaneity: Think of ad-libbed TV moments (many of the <a href="https://uproxx.com/tv/succession-improvised-scene-connors-wedding/">most</a> <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/05/succession-season-four-episode-nine-roman-funeral">heart-wrenching</a> sequences in “Succession”), impromptu concerts (<a href="https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/beatles/rooftop-concert-final-performance-get-back/">The Beatles’ 1969 rooftop concert</a>) and on-the-fly sports plays (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/watch-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-flips-no-look-td-pass-to-jerick-mckinnon-vs-broncos/">trademark “flick” pass</a>). Spontaneity-based entertainment, like improv comedy, reality TV and jazz soloing, continue to stand the test of time.</p>
<p>Our work illustrates that spontaneity can be a powerful tool to boost publicity and engagement and generate positive impressions. Working on a new project? Perhaps leave time for unplanned action. Promoting a new show or product? Consider talking about the unscripted, behind-the-scenes moments. On a first date? Maybe fight the urge to plan your talking points ahead of time. Coming off as truly yourself might mean that you are slightly less poised and articulate, but the trade-off can be worth it.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>In our studies, we told participants that performances were either planned or spontaneous and then measured their preferences. But what if we hadn’t told them which things were ad-libbed?</p>
<p>Moving forward, we’re interested in understanding if people can accurately tell whether an action is spontaneous just by watching it, and, if so, how they know. Are there social or behavioral cues, like eye contact, colloquial language or intense emotion, that signal spontaneous action? </p>
<p>Of course, being able to identify the “tells” of spontaneity might raise a concern that spontaneity – and, therefore, authenticity – <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/02/if-you-can-fake-spontaneity-you-have-it-made-five-key-questions-about-the-grassroots-industry/">can be faked</a>. So another avenue we’re excited to pursue is understanding the moral and emotional implications of <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/08/manufacturing-spontaneity.html">manufactured spontaneity</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203487/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 organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Audiences love improvised, off-the-cuff entertainment, and new research suggests it’s because spontaneity seems to offer a glimpse of the performer’s authentic self.Jacqueline Rifkin, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Cornell UniversityKatherine Du, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1907302022-10-10T12:15:54Z2022-10-10T12:15:54ZHow to steer money for drinking water and sewer upgrades to the communities that need it most<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488598/original/file-20221006-22-6iz8pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C18%2C5979%2C3989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Raw sewage bubbles up in the front yard of a home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Oct. 20, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/raw-sewage-bubbles-up-in-the-front-yard-of-a-home-in-news-photo/1236532470">Rory Doyle/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When storms like <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/hurricane-ian-florida-updates-09-28-22/index.html">Hurricane Ian</a> strike, many people have to cope afterward with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/us/florida-water-hurricane-ian.html">losing water service</a>. Power outages mean that pumps can’t process and treat drinking water or sewage, and heavy stormwater flows can damage water mains. </p>
<p>Ian’s effects echoed a similar disaster in Jackson, Mississippi, where rising river water overwhelmed pumps at the main water treatment plant on Aug. 29, 2022, following record-setting rain. The city had little to no running water for a week, and more than <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis-prompts-lawsuit-city-siemens-2022-09-19/">180,000 residents</a> were forced to find bottled water for drinking and cooking. Even after water pressure returned, many Jackson residents <a href="https://www.wapt.com/article/jackson-residents-still-hesitant-days-after-boil-water-advisory-lifts/41272966#">continued to boil their water</a>, questioning whether it was really safe to drink.</p>
<p>Jackson had already been under a boil-water notice for more than a month before the crisis, which arrived like a slow-motion bullet to the city’s <a href="https://time.com/6209710/jackson-mississippi-water-crisis/">long-decaying infrastructure</a>. Now, Jackson and its contractors face lawsuits and a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-09/Certified_Notification%20Memo%20Jackson%20Miss-FINAL_NNMsignature.pdf">federal investigation</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">This 2021 episode of ‘60 Minutes’ explores Jackson, Mississippi, residents’ frustration with their city’s long-running water problems.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We study <a href="https://uwm.edu/freshwater/people/scanlan-melissa/">water policy</a> with a focus on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeandrian/">providing equitable access to clean water</a>. Our research shows that disadvantaged communities <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4128452">have suffered disproportionately</a> from underinvestment in clean and affordable water. </p>
<p>However, a historic increase in federal water infrastructure funding is coming over the next five years, thanks to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act</a> that was enacted in 2021. </p>
<p>If this funding is managed smartly, we believe it can start to right these wrongs.</p>
<h2>A complex funding mix</h2>
<p>Water infrastructure has two parts. Drinking water systems bring people clean water that has been purified for drinking and other uses. Wastewater systems carry away sewage and treat it before returning it to rivers, lakes or the ocean. </p>
<p>Money to build and maintain these systems comes from a mix of federal, state and local sources. Over the past 50 years, policymakers have debated <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/96-647">how much each level of government should contribute</a>, and what fraction should come from the most prized source: federal money that does not need to be repaid.</p>
<p>The 1972 <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act">Clean Water Act</a> created a federal grant program, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, to help states and municipalities build wastewater treatment plants. Under the program, federal subsidies initially <a href="https://www.congress.gov/92/statute/STATUTE-86/STATUTE-86-Pg816.pdf">covered 75% of project costs</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of water treatment tanks and gas digesters on a peninsula surrounded by ocean" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488602/original/file-20221006-20-7tvd4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Deer Island water treatment plant in Boston began operation in 1995. It treats wastewater from towns across greater Boston and discharges cleaned effluent into the Atlantic Ocean.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deer_Island_Waste_Water_Treatment_Plant_aerial.jpg">Doc Searls/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration challenged this arrangement. Conservatives argued that the grant program’s main purpose – addressing the need for more municipal wastewater treatment – had been fulfilled.</p>
<p>In 1987, Congress <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/96-647.pdf">replaced wastewater grants</a> with a loan program called the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf">Clean Water State Revolving Fund</a>, which still operates today. The EPA uses the fund to provide seed money to states, which offer low-interest loans to local governments to build and maintain wastewater treatment plants. Congress created a corresponding program, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf">Drinking Water State Revolving Fund</a>, in 1996 to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/president-clinton-signs-legislation-ensure-americans-safe-drinking-water.html">fund drinking water infrastructure</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, U.S. water infrastructure now is funded by a mix of loans that must be repaid, principal forgiveness awards and grants that do not require repayment, and fees paid by local users. The larger the share that can be shifted into grants and principal forgiveness, the less pressure on local ratepayers to foot the bill for long-term infrastructure investments.</p>
<h2>What’s in the infrastructure law</h2>
<p>The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorizes more than <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-11/e-ow-bid-fact-sheet-final.508.pdf">US$50 billion</a> for water infrastructure over the next five years. This won’t close the gap in funding needs, which the EPA has <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-10/documents/corrected_sixth_drinking_water_infrastructure_needs_survey_and_assessment.pdf">estimated at $472.6 billion</a> from 2015 through 2034 just for drinking water systems. But it could support tangible improvements.</p>
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<p>When water systems that serve low-income communities borrow money from state programs, even at low interest rates, they have to pay the loans off by raising rates on customers who already struggle to pay their bills. To reduce this burden, federal law allows state programs to provide “disadvantaged communities” additional subsidies in the form of principal forgiveness and grants. However, states have broad discretion in determining who qualifies. </p>
<p>The infrastructure law requires that <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-03/bil-srf-memo-fact-sheet-final.pdf">49% of federal funding</a> for both drinking water and wastewater infrastructure must be awarded as additional subsidies to disadvantaged communities. In other words, almost half the money that states receive in federal funds must be awarded as principal forgiveness or outright grants to disadvantaged communities.</p>
<h2>Who counts as ‘disadvantaged’?</h2>
<p>In March 2022, the EPA released a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-03/combined_srf-implementation-memo_final_03.2022.pdf">memorandum</a> that calls the infrastructure law a “unique opportunity” to “invest in communities that have too often been left behind – from rural towns to struggling cities.” The agency pledged to work with states, tribes and territories to ensure the promised 49% of supplemental funding reaches communities where the need is greatest. </p>
<p>This is an issue where the devil truly is in the details.</p>
<p>For example, under Mississippi’s definition of “disadvantaged community,” Jackson’s 2021 award for principal forgiveness was capped at 25% of the original principal. In its March 2022 memorandum, the EPA identified such caps as obstacles for under-resourced communities.</p>
<p>Mississippi appears to have responded by using a new standard for funds coming from the infrastructure law. Beginning this year, communities whose median household income is lower than the state median household income – including Jackson – will be awarded <a href="https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/17153.pdf">100% principal forgiveness</a>, which makes the funding effectively a grant.</p>
<p>Additionally, the EPA discourages using population as a factor to define “disadvantaged communities.” Communities with smaller populations struggle to cover water systems’ operating costs, so that challenge is important to consider. But using population as a determining factor penalizes larger cities that may otherwise be disadvantaged. </p>
<p>For example, in 2021, when determining principal forgiveness, Wisconsin awarded a higher financial need score to communities with populations below 10,000. This penalized Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, with almost a quarter of its people experiencing poverty. </p>
<p>In September 2022, Wisconsin updated its definition to consider <a href="https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Aid/loans/intendedUsePlan/SDWLP_SFY2023_IUP.pdf">additional factors</a>, such as county unemployment rate and family poverty percentage. With these changes, Milwaukee now qualifies for the maximum principal forgiveness.</p>
<p>Mississippi and Wisconsin previously relied on factors too narrow to reach many disadvantaged communities. We hope the steps they have taken to update their programs will inspire similar actions from other states. </p>
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<h2>Getting the word out</h2>
<p>In our view, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to correct decades of underinvestment in disadvantaged communities, especially with the EPA pushing the states to do so. </p>
<p>Historically under-resourced communities may not be aware of these state program funds, or know how to apply for them, or carry out infrastructure improvements. We believe the EPA should direct states that receive federal funds to help under-resourced communities apply for and use the money.</p>
<p>Recent events in Jackson and Florida show how <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/31/jackson-water-crisis-mississippi-floods/">natural disasters can overwhelm water systems</a>, especially older networks that have been declining for years. As climate change <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/">amplifies storms and flooding</a>, we see investing in water systems as a priority for public health and environmental justice across the U.S.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190730/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Scanlan is affiliated with Midwest Environmental Advocates, a non-profit environmental law center.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrian Lee 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>Congress has approved billions of dollars to fix water and sewer systems across the US. But getting that money to needy communities depends on how states define a key word.Andrian Lee, Water Policy Specialist, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeMelissa Scanlan, Professor and Director of the Center for Water Policy, School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1805082022-05-02T20:43:42Z2022-05-02T20:43:42ZWe’ve used a new technique to discover the brightest radio pulsar outside our own galaxy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459633/original/file-20220426-24-1yteib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1876%2C1235&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Artist's impression of the PSR J0523-7125 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carl Knox, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a star explodes and dies in a supernova, it takes on a new life of sorts. </p>
<p>Pulsars are the extremely rapidly rotating objects left over after massive stars have exhausted their fuel supply. They are extremely dense, with a mass similar to the Sun crammed into a region the size of Sydney. </p>
<p>Pulsars emit beams of radio waves from their poles. As those beams sweep across Earth, we can detect rapid pulses as often as hundreds of times per second. With this knowledge, scientists are always on the lookout for new pulsars within and outside our Milky Way galaxy.</p>
<p>In research <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ac61dc">published today in the Astrophysical Journal</a>, we detail our findings on the most luminous radio pulsar ever discovered outside the Milky Way.</p>
<p>This pulsar, named PSR J0523-7125, is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud – one of our closest neighbouring galaxies – and is more than ten times brighter than all other radio pulsars outside the Milky Way. It may be even brighter than those within it.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Source: Youtube/NASA.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Why wasn’t PSR J0523-7125 discovered before?</h2>
<p>There are more than 3,300 radio pulsars known. Of these, 99% reside within our galaxy. Many were discovered with CSIRO’s famous Parkes radio telescope, <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/parkes-telescope-indigenous-name/">Murriyang</a>, in New South Wales. </p>
<p>About 30 radio pulsars have been found outside our galaxy, in the Magellanic Clouds. So far we don’t know of any in more distant galaxies. </p>
<p>Astronomers search for pulsars by looking for their distinctive repeating signals in radio telescope data. This is a computationally intensive task. It works most of the time, but this method can sometimes fail if the pulsar is unusual: such as very fast, very slow, or (in this case) if the pulse is very wide.</p>
<p>A very wide pulse reduces the signature “flickering” astronomers look for, and can make the pulsar harder to find. We now know PSR J0523-7125 has an extremely wide beam, and thus escaped detection. </p>
<p>The Large Magellanic Cloud has been explored by the Parkes telescope several times over the past 50 years, and yet this pulsar had never been spotted. So how were we able to find it?</p>
<h2>An unusual object emerges in ASKAP data</h2>
<p>Pulsar beams can be highly circularly polarised, which means the electric field of light waves rotate in a circular motion as the waves travel through space. </p>
<p>Such circularly polarised signals are very rare, and usually only emitted from objects with very strong magnetic fields, such as pulsars or dwarf stars.</p>
<p>We wanted to pinpoint unusual pulsars that are hard to identify with traditional methods, so we set out to find them by specifically detecting circularly polarised signals. </p>
<p>Our eyes can’t distinguish between polarised and unpolarised light. But the ASKAP radio telescope, owned and operated by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, has the equivalent of <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/a-chance-encounter-with-a-pulsar/">polarised sunglasses that can recognise circularly polarised events</a>.</p>
<p>When looking at data from our ASKAP <a href="https://www.vast-survey.org/">Variables and Slow Transients</a> (VAST) survey, an undergraduate student noticed a circular polarised object near the centre of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Moreover, this object changed brightness over the course of several months: another very unusual property that made it unique.</p>
<p>This was unexpected and exciting, since there was no known pulsar or dwarf star at this position. We figured the object must be something new. We observed it with many different telescopes, at different wavelengths, to try and solve the mystery. </p>
<p>Apart from the Parkes (Murriyang) telescope, we used the space-based <a href="https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory</a> (to observe it at X-ray wavelengths) and the <a href="https://www.gemini.edu/">Gemini telescope</a> in Chile (to observe it at infrared wavelengths). Yet we detected nothing. </p>
<p>The object couldn’t be a star, as stars would be visible in optical and infrared light. It was unlikely to be a normal pulsar, as the pulses would have been detected by Parkes. Even the Gemini telescope didn’t provide an answer.</p>
<p>Ultimately we turned to the new, highly sensitive <a href="https://www.sarao.ac.za/science/meerkat/">MeerKAT radio telescope</a> in South Africa, owned and operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory. Observations with MeerKAT revealed the source is indeed a new pulsar, PSR J0523-7125, spinning at a rate of about three rotations per second. </p>
<p>Below you can see the MeerKAT image of the pulsar with polarised “sunglasses” on (left) and off (right). If you move the slider, you’ll notice PSR J0523-7125 is the only bright object when the glasses are on.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" class="juxtapose" width="100%" height="600" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=241ff938-c4fa-11ec-b5bb-6595d9b17862"></iframe>
<p>Our analysis also confirmed its location within the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 160,000 light years away. We were surprised to find PSR J0523-7125 is more than ten times brighter than all other pulsars in that galaxy, and possibly the brightest pulsar ever found.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifty-years-ago-jocelyn-bell-discovered-pulsars-and-changed-our-view-of-the-universe-88083">Fifty years ago Jocelyn Bell discovered pulsars and changed our view of the universe</a>
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<h2>What new telescopes can do</h2>
<p>The discovery of PSR J0523-7125 demonstrates our ability to find “missing” pulsars using this new technique. </p>
<p>By combining this method with ASKAP’s and MeerKAT’s capabilities, we should be able to discover other types of extreme pulsars – and maybe even other unknown objects that <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-a-mysterious-flashing-radio-signal-from-near-the-centre-of-the-galaxy-167802">are hard to explain</a>. </p>
<p>Extreme pulsars are one of the missing pieces in the vast picture of the pulsar population. We’ll need to find more of them before we can truly understand pulsars within the framework of modern physics.</p>
<p>This discovery is just the beginning. ASKAP has now finished its pilot surveys and is expected to launch into full operational capacity later this year. This will pave the way for even more discoveries, when the global <a href="https://www.skatelescope.org/">SKA</a> (square kilometre array) telescope network starts observing in the not too distant future. </p>
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<p><em>Akncowledgement: We acknowledge the Wajarri Yamatji as the traditional owners of the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory site where ASKAP is located, and the Wiradjuri people as the traditional owners of the Parkes Observatory.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180508/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yuanming Wang receives support from the China Scholarship Council, and as a Graduate Student with the University of Sydney and CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Kaplan receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tara Murphy receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>The pulsar PSR J0523-7125 is more than ten times brighter than any other radio pulsar outside the Milky Way.Yuanming Wang, PhD student, University of SydneyDavid Kaplan, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeTara Murphy, Professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1818222022-05-02T12:37:03Z2022-05-02T12:37:03ZThe photographer who fought the Sicilian Mafia for five decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460558/original/file-20220429-19-9ol1xl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C31%2C4256%2C2790&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Through her photographs and activism, Letizia Battaglia sought to wrest Palermo from the grip of the Mafia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/italian-photographer-letizia-battaglia-attends-a-meeting-news-photo/1124222166?adppopup=true">Laura Lezza/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Italian photographer Letizia Battaglia <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/letizia-battaglia-photography-mafia-dead/">passed away on April 13, 2022</a>, the biggest shock among <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9780802095619/mafia-and-outlaw-stories-from-italian-life-and-literature/">those of us who have written about her</a> was that she didn’t die at the hands of the Mafia. </p>
<p>For nearly five decades she fearlessly fought the criminal enterprise. Armed with her 35mm camera, she publicized the Sicilian Mafia’s reign of terror with her photographs of the bullet-riddled bodies of public servants, innocent bystanders and mafiosi. She later worked as a politician and local activist to wrest Palermo’s streets and piazzas from the Mafia’s grip.</p>
<h2>Exposing the Mafia’s culture of death</h2>
<p>Battaglia earned international acclaim for her photographs of Sicily – images that captured the island’s beauty, poverty, spirit and, perhaps most famously, violence. </p>
<p>Her first years working as a photojournalist at Palermo’s daily newspaper, L’Ora, coincided with the <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9780802095619/mafia-and-outlaw-stories-from-italian-life-and-literature/">first Mafia murders of public figures in the 1970s</a> and the years of the Second Mafia War in the 1980s, which was simply known as “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520236097/reversible-destiny">the slaughter</a>.” </p>
<p>The struggle over power and profits pitted <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/brutal-past-sicilian-mafia-town-21572555">the rural clan of Corleone</a>, led by Salvatore Riina, against key clans operating in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. During the conflict, machine gun fire and car bomb explosions became commonplace in Palermo and outlying cities.</p>
<p>The politicians in Rome responded to the national crisis by asking <a href="https://www.theflorentine.net/2009/05/21/carlo-alberto-dalla-chiesa/">General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa</a> to become the prefect of Palermo. After spending four months restoring order, Dalla Chiesa, his wife, Emanuela Setti Carraro, and police bodyguard Domenico Russo were murdered in a spray of machine-gun fire on September 3, 1982 – what became known as the <a href="https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780679768630">Via Carini Massacre</a>. Dalla Chiesa’s death, along with hits on police chiefs, public prosecutors and investigators, left honest citizens feeling hopeless and abandoned. </p>
<p>Some days Battaglia would rush from one city to another to photograph several dead bodies – of mafiosi, judges, police, political figures and journalists – “<a href="https://utorontopress.com/9780802095619/mafia-and-outlaw-stories-from-italian-life-and-literature/">so much blood</a>,” she later recalled. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1518217962280292353"}"></div></p>
<p>Mafia murders became so commonplace – <a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seconda_guerra_di_mafia">some 600 between 1981 and 1983</a> alone – that she sometimes came upon crime scenes by chance. </p>
<p>Such was the case with her <a href="https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2022/04/14/letizia-battaglia-quando-racconto-di-aver-fotografato-lomicidio-mattarella-per-caso-e-sullo-scoop-su-andreotti-disse-non-sapevo-di-avere-quello-scatto/6559715/">famous photograph of the corpse of Piersanti Mattarella</a>, the former president of the Region of Sicily. On Jan. 6, 1980, while riding in the car with her daughter and fellow photojournalist <a href="https://www.magnumconsortium.net/people/ZEF">Franco Zecchin</a>, Battaglia saw a small group of people gathering around a car. She spontaneously snapped shots from the car window, capturing <a href="https://www.quirinale.it/page/en-biografia">Sergio Mattarella</a>, the current President of Italy, as he attempted to help his brother, who had been shot in an ambush.</p>
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<h2>The Palermo Spring</h2>
<p>Battaglia’s photographs of Mafia violence were published regularly on the front page of L’Ora. She also displayed large format prints of them at pop-up exhibits that she and Zecchin organized in downtown Palermo and local schools. </p>
<p>In doing so, she forced people to face what they had disavowed: that the Mafia existed, and that it killed.</p>
<p>Of course, most Sicilians had been aware of the crime organization’s influence. They watched the public parks become overrun by drug dealers, and tiptoed around used syringes dotting the sandy beaches. Some <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-italy/article/abs/determinants-of-and-barriers-to-critical-consumption-a-study-of-addiopizzo/E48A0F95FB2A6A39E638627E8BE0C318">80% of Palermo businesses</a> regularly paid the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXgYzD8cupY">pizzo</a>,” or money demanded by the Mafia to protect businesses from the Mafia’s own violence. </p>
<p>But Battaglia’s <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/letizia-battaglia-mafia-photos">images of bloodshed</a> made it impossible to continue turning a blind eye, and a shift gradually occurred. </p>
<p>Beginning in 1983, an anti-Mafia pool of prosecutors and uncompromised police officers started arresting numerous Mafia members. Over 450 of them were eventually put on trial in the famous <a href="https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780679768630">Maxi-trial</a>, which began in 1986. </p>
<p>With public confidence in the justice system bolstered, a social, cultural and political revolution took place between 1985 and 1990. Everyday people and new members of the city council started directly confronting the Mafia and working to loosen its grip on the region. It became known as the “Palermo Spring,” and Battaglia was a driving force behind it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of people marching holding a white banner." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460564/original/file-20220429-14592-o6x2gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters in Palermo carry a banner reading ‘Expel the Mafia from institutions.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/out-of-the-mafia-from-institutions-demonstration-from-news-photo/1277571723?adppopup=true">Marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1985, she was elected as a <a href="https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/7426769">council member</a>. Together with the mayor, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fighting_the_Mafia_and_Renewing_Sicilian/rkhaSYinjWYC?hl=en">Leoluca Orlando</a>, who appointed her Commissioner for Gardens and Public Life, Battaglia worked to stop the Mafia’s decadeslong sacking of Palermo. Mafia leaders and their political allies had let schools, historic palazzos and gardens fall into disrepair, with the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Fighting_the_Mafia_and_Renewing_Sicilian.html?id=rkhaSYinjWYC">intent of eventually razing the downtown neighborhoods</a> and making windfall profits in reconstruction. </p>
<p>Battaglia was driven by the conviction that providing all citizens free access to spectacular gardens, parks, beaches and historical sites was essential for creating a culture of respect and appreciation for Palermo and its heritage. Through her projects to make Palermo more beautiful and livable, Battaglia reclaimed Mafia-controlled spaces block by block. She worked with fellow members of the city council on undertakings such as removing abandoned cars, creating a downtown pedestrian mall and restoring public gardens to their original beauty.</p>
<p>On streets and in piazzas controlled by clan bosses, where a glance or wrong word can represent an offense worthy of violent retaliation, Battaglia’s acts directly challenged the bosses. But public support soon coalesced behind Battaglia and her allies.</p>
<p>One instance is especially memorable. After having mountains of garbage hauled away from the beach near Foro Italica near the Kalsa neighborhood, which was famous for its high concentration of powerful mafiosi, she had some benches for enjoying the view bolted into the cement. The next day they were gone. </p>
<p>Journalist <a href="https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2022/04/14/letizia-battaglia-e-le-panchine-che-infastidivano-i-mafiosi-fu-la-sua-piccola-rivoluzione-alla-kalsa/6559755/">Antonio Roccuzzo was with Battaglia</a>. He recalled how she went straight to the neighborhood and shouted, “I know who you are. The benches don’t belong to you. They belong to everyone. If all of you don’t put them back within the hour, I’m going to raise hell!”</p>
<p>An hour later, the benches were bolted back in place.</p>
<h2>Keeping an invisible Mafia in the public eye</h2>
<p>In 1992 and 1993, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/13/world/italy-accuses-18-in-1992-slaying-of-anti-mafia-prosecutor-in-sicily.html">series of bombings</a> took the lives of Judges Giovanni Falcone, renowned architect of the Maxi-trial; Francesca Morvillo, a prosecutor in the juvenile court of Palermo and his wife; and Paolo Borsellino, who had worked closely with Falcone and investigated his murder. Bodyguards and bystanders in Sicily, Rome, Milan and Florence also perished. </p>
<p>With these bombings, known as the “strategy of massacres,” the Mafia attacked the state’s symbols of justice, government, finance and culture. Their goal was to intimidate politicians into <a href="https://www.antimafiaduemila.com/libri/1517-il-patto-sporco.html">weakening laws against organized crime</a>. </p>
<p>However, the violence elicited even more public backlash, and the criminal organization soon adopted the strategy of going underground and quietly carrying on its diversified criminal activities. This shift marked a departure from spectacular bombings, brazen assassinations and shootouts in city streets. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman poses in front of a framed black and white photograph." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460566/original/file-20220429-11-narlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Letizia Battaglia poses in front of one of her photographs in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/italian-photographer-letizia-battaglia-poses-in-front-of-news-photo/609480454?adppopup=true">Eric Cabanis/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Yet the menace of the Mafia still remains. Their murder victims now die mostly by “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2014.12.008">lupara bianca</a>” – with any trace of their bodies destroyed by fire or acid. </p>
<p>In the absence of visible evidence, Battaglia’s shots documenting Mafia bloodshed and bereavement continue doing the work of keeping the ramifications of Mafia violence in the public eye. </p>
<p>These painful images have also become vehicles for expressing hope. In a project Battaglia began in 2004, known as “Rielaborazioni” – or “Re-elaborations” – she takes the original images of violent deaths and overlays symbols and signs of renewal, often through vibrant female figures. In her reconfiguration of her <a href="https://www.lanuovasardegna.it/image/contentid/policy:1.13640536:1571039346/image/image.jpg?f=taglio_full2&h=605&w=1280&$p$f$h$w=013c4c3">iconic picture of Falcone</a> at Dalla Chiesa’s funeral in 1982, <a href="https://www.societadelleletterate.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Rielaborazione-2009.jpg">a youthful woman appears in the foreground</a>, bathed in water spraying from a fountain.</p>
<p>In death, as in life, Battaglia’s impassioned commitment to create beauty and hope in her beloved Palermo survives. You can see it on the streets of a city reborn, and on the faces of its honest, well-meaning citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Pickering-Iazzi 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>Letizia Battaglia’s images of Mafia bloodshed made it impossible for people to turn a blind eye to the criminal outfit’s reign of terror.Robin Pickering-Iazzi, Professor of French, Italian and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1678022021-10-12T19:12:42Z2021-10-12T19:12:42ZWe found a mysterious flashing radio signal from near the centre of the galaxy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425181/original/file-20211007-21-yk2cki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1917%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sebastian Zentilomo/University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early 2020, we <a href="https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac2360">detected an unusual radio signal</a> coming from somewhere near the centre of our galaxy. The signal blinked on and off, growing 100 times brighter and dimmer over time.</p>
<p>What’s more, the radio waves in the signal had an uncommon “circular polarisation”, which means the electric field in the radio waves spirals around as the waves travel through space.</p>
<p>We first spotted the signal using the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/ATNF/ASKAP-radio-telescope">Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder Telescope (ASKAP)</a>, then followed up with other telescopes around the world and in space. Despite our best efforts, we are still unable to work out exactly what produced these mysterious radio waves.</p>
<h2>A strange signal from the heart of the Milky Way</h2>
<p>We have been surveying the sky with ASKAP throughout 2020 and 2021 in search of unusual new objects, in a project called the <a href="https://vast-survey.org/">Variables and Slow Transients (VAST)</a> survey. </p>
<p>Most things astronomers see in outer space are fairly stable and don’t change much on human time scales. That’s why objects that do change (known as variables) or appear and disappear (known as transients) are so interesting.</p>
<p>Transients are usually connected with some of the most energetic and violent events in the Universe, such as the death of massive stars. The past decade has seen thousands of transients discovered at optical and X-ray wavelengths, but radio wavelengths are largely untapped. </p>
<p>When we looked towards the centre of our galaxy (the Milky Way), we found a source we called ASKAP J173608.2-321635 (this catchy name comes from its coordinates in the sky). This object was unique in that it started out invisible, became bright, faded away, and then reappeared. This behaviour was extraordinary.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422308/original/file-20210921-25-1fog93f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ASKAP image of the Galactic Centre region. The small insets show the source turning off and on in images from the MeerKAT telescope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As well as changing over time, the signal was circularly polarised. Our eyes cannot distinguish between polarised and unpolarised light, but ASKAP has the equivalent of <a href="https://blog.csiro.au/a-chance-encounter-with-a-pulsar/">polaroid sunglasses for radio waves</a>. </p>
<p>Polarised radio sources are extremely rare: we might find fewer than ten circularly polarised sources out of thousands. Almost all of them are sources we understand well, such as pulsars (the rapidly rotating, highly magnetised remnants of exploded stars) or <a href="https://spaceaustralia.com/feature/radio-stars-emerge-askaps-survey-southern-skies">highly magnetised red dwarf stars</a>.</p>
<h2>Finding more evidence</h2>
<p>Investigating a new astronomical object is a bit like a detective job. We need evidence to determine what it is. </p>
<p>Based on our ASKAP data, we thought the new object might be a pulsar or a flaring star: both types of object can be polarised, and change in brightness. However, we needed to find more clues.</p>
<p>We next observed the source with the <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/atnf/parkes-radio-telescope">Parkes radio telescope</a> in New South Wales to decide whether it was a pulsar. However, these observations yielded nothing. </p>
<p>We then tried the more sensitive <a href="https://www.sarao.ac.za/science/meerkat/">MeerKAT radio telescope</a> in South Africa. Because the signal was intermittent, we observed it for 15 minutes every few weeks, hoping we would see it again. Luckily, the signal returned, but the behaviour of the source was now dramatically different. The source disappeared in the course of a single day, even though it had lasted for weeks in our previous ASKAP observations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="radio lightcurve" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422309/original/file-20210921-23-tcoink.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio lightcurve showing how ASKAP J173608.2-321635 varies with time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is always a good idea to investigate from multiple perspectives. Telescopes working at other wavelengths can serve as another pair of eyes to help us find new clues. </p>
<p>After the MeerKAT detection, we searched for the source in X-rays (using the space-based Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory) and infrared (using the Gemini telescope in Chile). However, we saw nothing.</p>
<h2>Still a mystery</h2>
<p>We have observed this strange object at multiple wavelengths using telescopes on three continents and in space. What can we say about what it actually is?</p>
<p>Can it be a star? It seems unlikely because stars also emit much of their light in the optical and infrared (like the Sun), but we detect nothing at these wavelengths.</p>
<p>Can it be a pulsar? Like our signal, pulsars produce polarised radio waves and can vary dramatically in brightness. But the characteristic of pulsars is rapid pulses betweem milliseconds to seconds long, and we did not detect these with Parkes or MeerKAT.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fifty-years-ago-jocelyn-bell-discovered-pulsars-and-changed-our-view-of-the-universe-88083">Fifty years ago Jocelyn Bell discovered pulsars and changed our view of the universe</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Is the source’s proximity to the centre of our galaxy a clue? Over the past 15 years, a number of intriguing radio sources have been discovered toward the Galactic centre (including one dubbed the “cosmic burper”). We don’t know what they are, but they are imaginatively called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCRT_J1745%E2%88%923009">Galactic Center Radio Transients</a> (GCRTs). </p>
<p>Are they related to ASKAP J173608.2-321635? There are some similarities, but there are also differences. And even the known GCRTs exhibit diversity, and may not share a common origin. So our signal is still a mystery.</p>
<p>We will keep observing this source in new ways. It is just the first of many unusual transient sources that we expect to find with the powerful ASKAP array, and it gives a hint of the future of radio astronomy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wtf-newly-discovered-ghostly-circles-in-the-sky-cant-be-explained-by-current-theories-and-astronomers-are-excited-142812">'WTF?': newly discovered ghostly circles in the sky can't be explained by current theories, and astronomers are excited</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167802/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ziteng Wang received support from University of Sydney International Scholarship, and as a Graduate Student with CSIRO Space and Astronomy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Kaplan receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tara Murphy works for The University of Sydney. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Fluctuating radio waves that appear to come from near the heart of the Milky Way are a new puzzle for astronomers.Ziteng Wang, PhD researcher, University of SydneyDavid Kaplan, Associate professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeTara Murphy, Professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1642872021-07-12T23:32:36Z2021-07-12T23:32:36ZWho’s running Haiti after president’s assassination? 5 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410852/original/file-20210712-70850-ddr3l0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2468%2C1633&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Haitians seeking asylum
gather July 10, 2021, at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti after the president's assassination plunged the country further into chaos,</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-look-on-as-haitian-citizens-gather-in-front-of-the-news-photo/1233910041">VALERIE BAERISWYL/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Two men are vying to control Haiti after President Jovenel Moïse’s July 7 assassination, creating more turmoil for a nation in crisis. Here, scholar Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, a Haitian studies scholar and author of “<a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30616455112&searchurl=sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dhaiti%2Bbreached%2Bcitadel&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1">Haiti: The Breached Citadel</a>,” explains the unusual situation that gave rise to this power struggle – and asserts that Haiti may never get the democracy it needs.</em> </p>
<h2>1. Who is running Haiti right now?</h2>
<p>Prime Minister Claude Joseph has assumed power. However, Joseph was only an acting prime minister. Appointed by President Moïse in April 2021 on an interim basis, he was supposed to have been replaced on July 7, 2021, by <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article252574293.html">Dr. Ariel Henry, a former interior minister and neurosurgeon</a>. The day before the transition was to happen, the president was assassinated. </p>
<p>Both claim they are the legitimate prime minister. But neither Joseph nor his would-be successor as prime minister have been approved by the Haitian legislature, a necessary step, because there is no functioning Haitian legislature at the moment. Lawmakers’ <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2020/01/18/jovenel-moise-tries-to-govern-haiti-without-a-parliament">terms of office ended in January 2020</a> and President Moïse never held legislative elections to elect new lawmakers, as called for by statute. </p>
<p>So the country has been operating without a parliament for the past 18 months. <a href="https://theconversation.com/haitians-protest-their-president-in-english-as-well-as-creole-indicting-us-for-its-role-in-countrys-political-crisis-160154">Moïse ruled by decrees</a> – “decret-lois” – that did not require legislative approval. In the U.S., executive orders would be a close parallel. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph speaks at a press conference at his residence." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410854/original/file-20210712-27-1cc0j3j.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">Acting Haitian Prime Minister Claude Joseph at a press conference at his residence in Port-au-Prince on July 8, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prime-minister-claude-joseph-speaks-during-a-press-news-photo/1327699231">Getty Images/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Who is officially supposed to replace the president of Haiti if he dies or becomes incapacitated?</h2>
<p>For long stretches of its history, the Haitian Constitution named the president of the Cour de Cassation – chief justice of the Haitian supreme court – as first in the line of succession, followed by all other judges of the high court, based on seniority. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Haiti/haiti1987.html">Constitution of 1987</a> was amended to say that the prime minister would become the transitional chief of state – but only after he had been ratified by both houses of the legislature, comprising the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. </p>
<p>Well, Haiti’s legislature is not in operation right now. You have only 10 sitting senators out of 30, and no deputies left. So the constitutional provision cannot be applied. And the president of Haiti’s high court died of COVID-19 in June 2021. </p>
<p>This is the thing that’s most worrisome to me: Whatever the Constitution provides for at the moment cannot happen. </p>
<h2>3. What is the US government’s position on Haiti’s leadership crisis?</h2>
<p>The U.S. helped create the situation by its continued support of President Moïse, who had become <a href="https://theconversation.com/slain-haitian-president-faced-calls-for-resignation-sustained-mass-protests-before-killing-164131">despised by many Haitians</a> even before he overstayed his four-year term. After his 2016 election, Moïse quickly lost all credibility because of a corruption scandal, with all sectors of the Haitian population – its small political elite class, the wealthy, the middle classes and the broad peasantry. </p>
<p>But former President Donald Trump liked Moïse. President Biden supported his administration, too, but hasn’t paid much attention to Haiti – until now. So far, the U.S. has denied a request from Haiti’s interim prime minister to send troops “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/we-need-help-haitis-interim-leader-requests-us-troops/2021/07/10/72a1d3ca-e133-11eb-a27f-8b294930e95b_story.html">to assist and help us</a>.” </p>
<p>The U.S. has also called for <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-july-7-2021/">national elections to be held by the end of the year</a>, as scheduled – as if “democracy” means only elections. The definition of democracy in the U.S. is very instrumental: Either you have an election or don’t you have an election, so you’re either a democracy or you aren’t. </p>
<p>It’s not as simple as that. Democracy is a process.</p>
<h2>4. So what would a Haitian democratic process look like?</h2>
<p>Haitians have always sought democracy.</p>
<p>After all, Haiti was the first country the world to abolish slavery. Fourteen days after declaring independence from France, in 1804, the Haitian chief of state <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-haitis-founding-father-whose-black-revolution-was-too-radical-for-thomas-jefferson-101963">Jean-Jacques Dessalines</a> declared Haiti would provided refuge and <a href="https://theconversation.com/haiti-protests-summon-spirit-of-the-haitian-revolution-to-condemn-a-president-tainted-by-scandal-126315">guaranteed freedom for all and any Black persons who reached its shores</a>. Dessalines was soon killed.</p>
<p>What modern Haitians want is democracy – that’s “Haitian democracy, not American democracy,” to quote a peasant woman <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30616455112&searchurl=sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dhaiti%2Bbreached%2Bcitadel&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1">speaking to a reporter in 1987</a>.</p>
<p>But what Haitians want has been ignored since 1915, the last time a Haitian president was assassinated. That opened the door for a brutal <a href="https://theconversation.com/haitis-president-assassinated-5-essential-reads-to-give-you-key-history-and-insight-164118">19-year U.S. military invasion and occupation</a>. Even before 1915, there were 19 U.S. military <a href="https://time.com/5682135/haiti-military-anniversary/">interventions in Haiti</a>, and many more since. </p>
<p>It’s the rare Haitian president who can be elected without the consent of the United States, and none <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/04/world/haiti-s-coup-test-case-for-bush-s-new-world-order.html">survive without Washington’s support</a>. Several presidents elected by Haitians have been overthrown with the <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/122994mag-woolsey.html">U.S. government’s help</a>. </p>
<p>One was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Bertrand-Aristide">President Jean-Bertrand Aristide</a>, a Roman Catholic priest from the slums, who was elected in 1990. Poor Haitian people, the majority, massively voted for him, and he brought people like them – the peasants, the urban working classes – into power. This horrified the Haitian middle and upper classes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide holds up his thumb covered in ink after voting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410856/original/file-20210712-25-1pipphg.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">Haitian presidential candidate Jean-Bertrand Aristide after voting in Haiti’s 1990 presidential election, Dec. 16, 1990. Aristide won in a landslide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/haitian-presidential-candidate-father-jean-bertrand-news-photo/108682571">JEROME DELAY/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aristide <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/12/nyregion/thousands-of-haitians-protest-coup.html">was overthrown by the Haitian army</a> seven months into office. He later returned to power and <a href="https://www.ijdh.org/2007/02/topics/politics-democracy/u-s-reporting-on-the-coup-haiti/">was overthrown again</a> – a coup <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/01/aristide.claim/">he says was U.S.-backed</a>. The U.S. denies involvement.</p>
<h2>5. What does so much foreign intervention in Haiti’s history mean for its future?</h2>
<p>If Haiti is to have a real representative democracy, the Haitian power structure must reflect the culture of the Haitian people. That may take a revolution – and with the U.S. engagement there, that’s unlikely to happen.</p>
<p>One moment in which <a href="http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/86.87eng/chap.4c.htm">this process began to occur</a> was the 1987 constitution, which was published in both Creole and in French. Voted on in a referendum, it passed with stunning popular approval.</p>
<p>In several moves aimed at removing colonial influence, the new constitution made Haitian Creole an official language of Haiti and removed Catholicism – the French faith – as the state religion. It also decriminalized <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-haitian-voodoo-119621">the Haitian religion Vodou</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>The changes mandated by the new constitution are very much still in progress. Ninety-five percent of Haitians do not speak a lick of French – but the schools overwhelmingly teach in French. Until recently the courts and the legislature conducted all their business in French. This means the people don’t know what’s going on in their country. </p>
<p>If the state institutions do not reflect the country’s culture, then a country can never be democratic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164287/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick D Bellegarde-Smith 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>President Moïse is dead. Two politicians say they’re in charge. Parliament is suspended. A Haitian studies scholar explains Haiti’s power vacuum and says elections alone won’t restore democracy there.Patrick D Bellegarde-Smith, Professor Emeritus of Africology, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1575372021-03-29T14:44:08Z2021-03-29T14:44:08ZLandmark study shows how child grants empower women in Brazil and South Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391480/original/file-20210324-13-9o4x3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C458%2C2955%2C1535&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grants were found to help improve the health, including mental health, of women</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Aaron Ufumeli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the mid-1990s, new approaches to poverty reduction have been introduced in countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Some have involved income transfer programmes that target poorer citizens based on various means tests. Most have targeted female caregivers, primarily mothers.</p>
<p>The most expansive child and family grants are in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and South Africa, which has put in place the biggest social provision net in <a href="https://www.unicef.org/french/files/Social_Protection_for_Children_and_their_Families_-_A_Global_Overview.pdf">Africa</a>. </p>
<p>The focus of our study was on Brazil and South Africa, two of the countries that have the largest programmes globally. The programmes were all designed to enhance child welfare. But as academics who have studied social policy in these countries, we felt it was important to assess the impact of income transfer programmes that move beyond a focus on child well-being only. In particular, we set out to examine if such transfers also elevated women in their homes, societies and political systems.</p>
<p>We set <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1468018120981421">out to compare</a> South Africa’s <a href="https://www.sassa.gov.za/Pages/Child-Support-Grant.aspx">child support grant</a> and Brazil’s <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-new_delhi/documents/presentation/wcms_175274.pdf">Bolsa Família</a>. </p>
<p>Bolsa Família was launched in 2003 and is the largest cash transfer programme for children and families in the world, reaching more than <a href="https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/case-study/bolsa-familia-in-brazil">46 million people a year</a> in Brazil. The country has a population of <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/brazil-population/">212 million people</a>. </p>
<p>South Africa’s child support grant system was launched in 1998. It makes monthly disbursements to 12.8 million children of a total population of <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/south-africa-population/">59.6 million people</a>. </p>
<p>Though they have different population sizes, Brazil and South Africa have a great deal in common. They have similar economic profiles and demographic characteristics. For example, among other similarities, they have the highest <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/">levels of income inequality</a>. </p>
<p>We conducted fieldwork in Doornkop, <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/soweto">Soweto</a>, a large, densely populated black urban settlement which comprises one third of Johannesburg’s population. We also looked at three municipalities across two states of Northeast Brazil. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1468018120981421">found</a> that regular income assistance boosted the self-esteem and agency of women recipients in both countries. Our findings also underscored the added benefits of Brazil’s cash transfer programme because it is embedded in a stronger public health and social service network than is the case in South Africa. </p>
<p>The broader lesson we took from our findings was that income transfer programmes must operate in deliberate coordination with ancillary social service institutions to deliver the maximum benefits for women’s empowerment.</p>
<h2>Three dimensions of empowerment</h2>
<p>Our analysis centred on the impact of child and family cash transfers on three dimensions of empowerment. </p>
<p>First, whether adult women beneficiaries experienced heightened independence in financial decision making; second, whether they experienced enhanced control over their bodies; and, finally, whether they experienced psycho-social growth. </p>
<p>This was a departure from the way in which empowerment is usually conceptualised in academic research where the focus tends to be on how and whether gendered norms are changing. Instead, inspired by economist and philosopher <a href="http://heterodoxnews.com/ajes/readings/Sen1999-intro.pdf">Amartya Sen</a>, we viewed empowerment as the expansion of assets and capabilities that give women more control over their lives, enhancing agency to eliminate inequities and to unleash greater freedoms.</p>
<p>We listened closely to the voices of women recipients, in focus groups, individual conversations and surveys. </p>
<p>In the case of Bolsa Família, we also set out to understand the broader context in which the child support grant system connected with other social services. Brazil attaches conditions to its child support grants. These include children having to attend school regularly, children under five receiving standard immunisations and prenatal care for pregnant women. </p>
<p>To cover all these bases we interviewed teachers and principals, social workers and primary health care officials. </p>
<p>In South Africa, grant receipt is largely unconditional, except that a child should attend school. We assessed the impact of the child support grant on a range of social and economic indicators such as school attendance, access to health and other services, food security, income and livelihoods and women’s empowerment. </p>
<h2>Enhancing women’s status</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest the social grants triggered positive dynamics for women’s empowerment in both countries, even though the programmes were not intended for this purpose. </p>
<p>For example, the cash transfers contributed to advancing the standing of women beneficiaries. We found that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>women were more able to meet basic needs, which reduced stress because they were better able to cope with the precariousness of living in poverty;</p></li>
<li><p>most women recipients experienced heightened financial control and decision making vis-à-vis their partners. They withdrew the money themselves and exercised control over spending decisions; </p></li>
<li><p>the grants helped boost self esteem and agency. Beneficiaries in both countries reported an increased sense of status in their communities.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In both countries the grants helped reduce poverty levels, particularly among the lower quintile of earners. Both systems helped reduce the depth of poverty among female versus male-headed households.</p>
<p>But it was also clear that Bolsa Família went further than the child support grant in some key areas. For example, it induced beneficiaries to get basic identity documents, which <a href="https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/media/1226/file/ZAF-removing-barriers-to-accessing-child-grants-2016.pdf">improved access to a wider system of health and social work services</a>. Having documents also meant that women could better navigate bureaucracies and gave them a sense of social recognition and hope. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>The findings suggest that social grants can unleash positive dynamics for women’s empowerment even though the programmes were not intended for this purpose. Cash transfers don’t in and of themselves transform gender roles. Nevertheless, they help improve the standing of women beneficiaries in important ways. These include increasing social recognition, reducing levels of poverty and increasing financial control, decision making and agency. </p>
<p>But there are areas in which both Brazil and South Africa could improve. Cash transfers need to be combined with active labour market policies that boost job creation, livelihoods support and social services to enhance the economic inclusion of women. </p>
<p>There need to be skills and training programmes, as well as the provision of childcare and transportation.</p>
<p>Finally, our findings point to the need for South Africa to emulate Brazil by getting other government ministries and agencies on board to coordinate the delivery of other social services alongside the grants to boost results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leila Patel receives funding from the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation for her Chair in Welfare and Social Development.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Borges Sugiyama and Wendy Hunter 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>Findings show that income transfer programmes must operate in deliberate coordination with ancillary social service institutions to deliver the maximum benefits for women’s empowerment.Leila Patel, Professor of Social Development Studies, University of JohannesburgNatasha Borges Sugiyama, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeWendy Hunter, Professor of Government, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1529602021-01-11T18:00:26Z2021-01-11T18:00:26ZThe U.S. Capitol violence could happen in Canada — here are 3 ways to prevent it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378038/original/file-20210111-13-hqwmhx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C594%2C7360%2C4131&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Far-right and ultra-nationalist groups, including the Northern Guard, Proud Boys and individuals wearing Soldiers of Odin patches, gathered to protest the government's lawsuit settlement with Canadian torture victim Omar Khadr in Toronto in October 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canadians should not view <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/us-capitol-insurrection-white-supremacist-terror">the recent mob violence in Washington</a> as a uniquely American problem. The polarization that produced the hatred, violence and chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s followers on the U.S. Capitol is the product of specific forms of rhetoric — and they exist in Canada, too.</p>
<p>What will keep them from boiling over into violence? </p>
<p>We ought to worry when we see <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/268982/impact-increased-political-polarization.aspx">increasing political polarization</a>, and we need to view Jan. 6, 2021, as a reminder that we’re not immune.</p>
<p>Words create worlds, and so violent rhetoric begets violent action. And rhetoric that clears the way for violence has been practised in the same specific ways for thousands of years. Mapping the world through “us versus them” divisions is one of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/19/17847110/how-fascism-works-donald-trump-jason-stanley">hallmark characteristics of fascism</a>, the central feature of every Trump speech, and perhaps the best communication practice for inciting violence.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-political-polarization-weakens-democracy-can-the-us-avoid-that-fate-105540">Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Once the world has been divided and mapped by the demarcation between “us” and “them,” what are known as <em>ad baculum</em> arguments — an appeal to force or intimidation — are often used to silence legitimate opposition. In addition, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/01/donald-trump-demagogue-book-294599">Trump and his followers use personal attacks and reification</a> (treating another person as an object or a thing) to change the subject, delegitimize others in the public sphere and to strengthen the division between us and them. </p>
<p>These forms of speech are aided by hyperbole. Hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration, not designed to offer an accurate account but instead used to provoke a response and gain attention. These are the rhetorical tactics that lead to violence. </p>
<h2>Similar tactics used in Canada</h2>
<p>In Canada, you can find all of these on display by taking a cursory glance at <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/canadas-rebel-is-joining-the-global-class-of-paranoid-far-right-media/">the <em>Rebel News</em></a> website, or listening to <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2021/01/10252406/proud-boys-canada-washington-riots">Gavin McInnes</a>, the Canadian founder of the Proud Boys organization that helped lead the insurrection in Washington and maintain a following here. </p>
<p>You can also hear the seeds of these kinds of rhetoric in <a href="https://theeyeopener.com/2020/12/erin-otoole-under-fire-for-residential-school-comments-made-to-ryerson-conservatives/">Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s speeches</a> and <a href="https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2018/04/05/top-10-traits-that-show-doug-ford-and-donald-trump-are-cut-from-the-same-froth.html">Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s comments on the campaign trail in 2018</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1270710655474192386"}"></div></p>
<p>Violent rhetoric produces violence just as a crappy diet produces poor health. What’s the solution? What should we avoid and what should we add to our discursive diet? </p>
<p>Democracies require persuasion and deliberation to guide decision-making about public issues. When we see the use of us-versus-them rhetoric, appeals to force, personal attacks, reification and hyperbole, we need to realize that the person using that kind of speech has decided that they’re not interested in persuasion. </p>
<p>When, instead, communication practices are based on reason, respect and deep listening, we prioritize persuasion in our decision-making. We know that this kind of persuasion can help us make good decisions that lead to prosperity, freedom and equality. In other words, democracies thrive in the presence of forms of persuasion guided by the values of what we have called “strong civility” <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08730-6.html">in our book</a> <em>Beyond Civility:
The Competing Obligations of Citizenship</em>.</p>
<p>When we reduce ourselves to ad hominen attacks, ad baculum threats of force and careless hyperbole, we opt out of the democratic ideal of learning to live well with others who are different from us. To opt out of such goals is to accelerate toward the violence and chaos we saw at the U.S. Capitol. </p>
<h2>Facilitating co-operation</h2>
<p>When we embrace the practices and strategies of strong civility instead, then we facilitate co-operation, collaboration and careful reasoning that can hold us together as a nation characterized by diversity. That allows us to make good decisions as we navigate complex collective problems. </p>
<p>The way to prevent what happened in the U.S. from happening in Canada is to consciously choose to avoid rhetoric that leads to violence and to practise strong civility instead. We do that in the same way we embrace a better diet: </p>
<ol>
<li><p><em>Stay alert</em>: Learn to identify the actions, from subtle threats to reducing others to stereotypes. </p></li>
<li><p><em>Make better choices</em>: Choose to make arguments in good faith, treat others — even those who are wrong — as fully human, and resist the urge to increase polarization. </p></li>
<li><p><em>Avoid junk food</em>: Social media can be wonderful, but Twitter and Facebook are not set up to encourage respect, thoughtfulness and deliberation, perhaps best illustrated by the fact that <a href="https://theconversation.com/twitter-permanently-suspends-trump-after-u-s-capitol-siege-citing-risk-of-further-violence-152924">both social media platforms have permanently suspended Trump since the insurrection</a>. Instead they offer a unhealthy buffet of communication choices that encourage you to gorge on anger and scoring points. If you don’t or rarely go there, you won’t be tempted. </p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holds up a placard calling for Trump's impeachment through the sun roof of a car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378076/original/file-20210111-21-clpfwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man holds up a placard calling for Trump’s impeachment in Denver on Jan. 10, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conservative politics, both Canadian and American, have veered too far into the rhetoric of division that have fuelled events like the insurrection. We’ve moved too far away from the forms of strong civility necessary for life in a large, multicultural democracy.</p>
<p>Going too far down the path of division, with too heavy a reliance on the rhetorical techniques that fuel Trump and his supporters, can threaten both the delicate social fabric of our culture and the institutions of governance we’ve designed to manage our collective problems. </p>
<p>Some kinds of rhetoric can set fire to the world; we need to recognize them and choose instead the kinds of communication that fuel healthy democracies and secure the values of freedom and equality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152960/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>As the raid on the U.S. Capitol has shown, some kinds of rhetoric can set fire to the world — and it exists in Canada, too. Here’s how to tamp it down and focus on positive forms of rhetoric.Robert Danisch, Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Communication Arts, University of WaterlooWilliam Keith, Professor, Rhetoric and Professional Communication, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1508712020-12-06T09:56:38Z2020-12-06T09:56:38ZDignity at the end of life: a Malawian nursing study shows the impact of food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371944/original/file-20201130-13-1h8700a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In understanding women’s physical needs, food security emerged as an important issue.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/AvanellB</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/15-07-2019-world-hunger-is-still-not-going-down-after-three-years-and-obesity-is-still-growing-un-report">World hunger has risen</a> for the third year in a row, with Africa reported to have the highest <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/15-07-2019-world-hunger-is-still-not-going-down-after-three-years-and-obesity-is-still-growing-un-report">rate of undernourishment</a> of all regions globally. Africa also bears the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(19)30196-1/fulltext">greatest burden of HIV</a>, which is <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(20)30004-7/fulltext">linked to food insecurity</a>, and <a href="https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/2020_women-adolescent-girls-and-hiv_en.pdf">women are disproportionately affected by HIV</a> and <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca5162en/ca5162en.pdf">food insecurity</a> compared to men.</p>
<p>One of the ways these issues are connected is when women are ill, facing the end of their lives, and don’t have enough nutritious food.</p>
<p>Rarely do researchers and development staff consider the food needs of people at the end of life. But it’s important to ask how people living in rural communities, with limited finances, can get the nutritious food and clean water they need, and experience a dignified end to their lives. </p>
<p>Conducted in rural Malawi, <a href="https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/ijpn.2020.26.7.372">our study</a> set out to describe the experiences of women at the end of life (diagnosed with a terminal illness) and their caregivers. We aimed to understand their physical, mental and spiritual health needs as well as best nursing practice for them. </p>
<p>Food security emerged as a critical concern which has significant consequences for these women’s dignity. There are various ways nurses can ease their suffering.</p>
<h2>Gender, food security and end of life</h2>
<p>In Malawi, gender roles frequently prevent women from taking part in decision-making over household resources. Yet women are often responsible for ensuring that families are fed and nourished. <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ap092e/ap092e00.pdf">Limited employment opportunities</a> constrain women’s ability to meet the food needs of the household because of <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ap092e/ap092e00.pdf">low educational attainment</a>. Also, heavy workloads that are worsened by having to look after the sick prevent them from having adequate time to produce food or pursue other income-generating activities to secure income to buy food. </p>
<p>We interviewed 26 female patients diagnosed with HIV or terminal cancers and 14 caregivers. In understanding women’s physical needs, food security emerged as an important issue. We analysed the data using the four pillars of food security: stability, availability, access and utilisation.</p>
<p>We found that many women patients and their caregivers did not meet any of the criteria for being considered food secure. </p>
<p>In terms of food availability, women frequently were unable to farm effectively because of ill health and had limited access to resources such as agricultural inputs. </p>
<p>Access refers to people’s ability to grow and buy food. Women caregivers said they had limited time to attend to their farms because they had to be at the hospital looking after patients. Consequently, neither they nor many of their patients consumed three meals a day. They had limited time to work, and as a result very little income to buy food. Some resorted to selling off assets to get food. Some women had partners, but many reported that their partners were not supportive, which made household food insecurity worse. </p>
<p>The food security pillar of utilisation focuses on nutrition, and access to clean water and sanitation. Very few women in our study could afford to eat food from more than three food groups. Much of the food they consumed was high in starch, making it difficult to digest, particularly for patients at end of life. Patients also struggled to eat because of low appetite and ill health. Caregivers faced the increased responsibility of collecting water, which was not always readily available. This meant they had to travel some distance, increasing their time burden. </p>
<p>Many of the participants lacked a stable food supply, meaning they did not have continuous access to food without worrying about their future food supply. <a href="https://www.wfp.org/countries/malawi">Climate change</a> has only worsened the situation, with unpredictable weather patterns constraining participants’ ability to produce sufficient food for their families. Unemployment, because of ill health or multiple responsibilities, made it hard for both patients and caregivers to generate enough income to ensure future food supplies. </p>
<h2>Implications for nursing practice</h2>
<p>Nurses can do a lot to ensure that women at the end of life have pain relief as needed and that they are able to die with dignity. They play an important role in lobbying for these patients’ rights. While nurses are mainly active in the health sector, health and wellbeing is influenced by and intersects with many factors including nutrition. Nurses’ proximity to the community and to patients uniquely places them to provide important information on growing food and getting good nutrition.</p>
<p>Nurses are also well-situated to advocate for local solutions to critical food security challenges faced by communities. For example, they can work with traditional leaders to support and promote the nutrition needs of women at the end of life. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.who.int/hrh/nursing_midwifery/glob-strategic-midwifery2016-2020_EN.pdf?ua=1">multiple roles nurses play</a> within the community, they are also well-situated to advocate for policies in health, as well as agriculture, nutrition, and land reform.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150871/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>Food security emerged as a major issue for women nearing the end of their lives in Malawi.Elizabeth Mkandawire, Network and Research Manager: ARUA – UKRI GCRF FSNet Africa, University of PretoriaAnne Dressel, Assistant Professor of Global Health, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLucy Mkandawire-Valhmu, Associate professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of NursingPeninnah Kako, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505212020-11-24T13:09:11Z2020-11-24T13:09:11Z‘My vote will be Black’ – A wave of Afro-Brazilian women ran for office in 2020 but found glass ceiling hard to break<p>Messages urging Afro-Brazilians to support Black candidates filled social media in the days before Brazil’s Nov. 15, 2020 elections. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.forummarielles.com/">Do not forget your masks, your identification, a pen and that you are BLACK!!!</a>”</p>
<p>“This Sunday my vote will be Black.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Drawing of a Black woman in a face mask doing a Rosy the Riveter-style show of strength" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370902/original/file-20201123-13-15b8sb3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Facebook post before Brazil’s election promising, ‘This Sunday my vote will be Black.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People of African descent make up 56% of Brazil’s population and <a href="https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/no-congresso-so-178-dos-parlamentares-sao-negros-24091102">just 17.8% of its Congress</a>. But Black political participation is surging in Brazil, especially in local government. </p>
<p>Some 250,840 Black Brazilians <a href="https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/politica/2020/09/4878301-maioria-de-candidatos-a-vereadores-e-preta-e-parda-a-prefeitos-branca.html">ran for city council this year</a>, up from 235,105 in 2016. When the winners take office, Afro-Brazilians will make up 44% of city councils nationwide.</p>
<p>Afro-Brazilian women also saw significant firsts in the 2020 election, winning 14% of city council seats nationwide. In the 2016 election, Afro-Brazilian women won just <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-43424088.amp">3.9% of city council seats</a>.</p>
<p>Black women still hit a hard glass ceiling when aiming for higher office, though. Just <a href="http://www.generonumero.media/camara-dos-deputados-tera-mais-mulheres-brancas-negras-e-indigena-e-menos-homens-brancos-em-2019/">13 of the 513 representatives in the lower house of Brazil’s Congress are Afro-Brazilian women</a>, and the 81-member Senate has only one Black woman, <a href="https://www.metropoles.com/brasil/politica-brasil/parlamentares-pretas-ou-pardas-sao-apenas-236-do-congresso">Eliziane Gama</a>. The first Black woman to have served as governor in Brazil, Benedita da Silva, this year <a href="https://valor.globo.com/politica/noticia/2020/11/14/eduardo-paes-tem-41percent-dos-votos-validos-crivella-tem-16percent-e-benedita-da-silva-13percent-diz-ibope.ghtml">lost her race to be mayor of Rio de Janeiro</a>.</p>
<p>But winning isn’t necessarily the only reason Afro-Brazilian women hit the campaign trail.</p>
<h2>The Marielle effect</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/sexism-racism-drive-more-black-women-to-run-for-office-in-both-brazil-and-us-104208">Black women’s political participation has soared in Brazil</a> since the 2018 <a href="https://theconversation.com/assassination-in-brazil-unmasks-the-deadly-racism-of-a-country-that-would-rather-ignore-it-94389">assassination of Marielle Franco</a> in Rio de Janeiro. Franco was a Black lesbian city councilwoman who advocated for the city’s poor Black slum communities, in what Brazilian media dubbed the “<a href="https://www.nexojornal.com.br/ensaio/2020/Qual-o-efeito-Marielle-para-a-pol%C3%ADtica-brasileira">the Marielle Effect</a>.”</p>
<p>“Marielle’s murder could have had a chilling effect upon Black candidates, [but] it instead inspired a wave of Black candidacies,” writes the Afro-Brazilian scholar Dalila Negreiros <a href="https://nacla.org/Black-women-Brazil-2020-elections">in the leftist publication NACLA Report on the Americas</a>.</p>
<p>Even before Franco’s killing, there were many Black women politicians – and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/9781316637043">my research shows how they opened</a> the door for groundbreaking candidacies like Franco’s. Trailblazers include Benedita da Silva as well as <a href="https://www.camara.leg.br/deputados/141455">Janete Pietá</a>, who represented São Paulo in Congress from 2007 to 2015.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Silva, a black woman, holds up a smiling young child as a crowd looks on" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370889/original/file-20201123-17-1lxim7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Benedita da Silva of the Workers Party on the campaign trail in Rio in 1992.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/benedita-da-silva-the-brazilian-labor-partys-candidate-for-news-photo/52029054?adppopup=true">Avanir Niko/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I interviewed Pietá and many other Black female politicians in Brazil between 2004 and 2007. This was during Brazil’s <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brazil-the-worlds-next-economic-superpower-09-12-2010/">economic boom under the leftist president Inacio Lula da Silva</a>. Most of the women whose campaigns I studied were from Lula’s Workers Party, but one, Eronildes Carvalho, was a right-leaning evangelical. </p>
<p>I found that the women often used race and gender in their campaigns to mobilize voters, especially in predominantly Black cities. </p>
<p>When running for Congress, Pietá told me she wore bright colors and did her hair in interesting styles, with short braids in the front, like bangs, and longer braids in the back, to show pride in her African ancestry – “even though it looks like a joke” to some. </p>
<p>“A large part of the Brazilian population…have origins of African-descent. Nevertheless, some of them are not conscious of this,” Pietá told me.</p>
<p>Olivia Santana also put her race and gender up front when running for city council in the northeastern city of Salvador in 2004. She proudly announced herself as the “<a href="https://politicalivre.com.br/artigos/eu-tambem-quero-olivia/">Negona da cidade</a>,” the big Black woman of the city. </p>
<p>“It was a slogan that was more about the history of elections, of Black participation in elections,” Santana told me in 2006. “My campaign made the Black racial question visible.” </p>
<p>While city council members may see their race and gender as an asset, I found <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2009.00058.x">Afro-Brazilians running for federal office did not believe racial appeals would be helpful</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of Santana, wearing braids" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370891/original/file-20201123-21-t4jot3.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">Olivia Santana in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Ol%C3%ADvia_Santana.jpg">Mateus Pereira/AGECOM</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than a campaign</h2>
<p>I could not find polling on national perceptions of Black women to verify whether the candidates’ perceptions were backed up by data. But Brazil’s relationship with race is fraught – and that fact is well documented.</p>
<p>Though long mythologized as a mixed-race “racial democracy,” the reality in Brazil is more black and white.</p>
<p>As in the United States, Black people in Brazil have generally worse health, employment and economic outcomes than white people. They are <a href="https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/saude/2020/06/05/negros-morrem-40-mais-que-brancos-por-coronavirus-no-brasil">40% more likely to die of COVID-19 than whites</a> and despite <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/542840797">some affirmative action policies</a> face higher unemployment. Black men are killed daily by the <a href="https://www.medicina.ufmg.br/jovens-negros-tem-27-mais-chances-de-serem-assassinados-que-os-brancos/">military police who patrol the streets of many poor – and heavily Black – neighborhoods in Brazil</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Inequality continues even for Afro-Brazilians who climb the social ladder. White college graduates <a href="https://economia.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,negros-tem-mais-dificuldade-de-encontrar-emprego-e-recebem-ate-31-menos-que-brancos,70003077938">earn 45% more than their Afro-Brazilian peers</a>.</p>
<p>When a Black man, João Freitas, was beaten and killed by two white security guards at a supermarket in Porto Alegre on Nov. 19, 2020, President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismissive comment was “<a href="https://istoe.com.br/apos-morte-no-carrefour-bolsonaro-diz-ser-daltonico-todos-tem-a-mesma-cor/">everyone has the same color</a>.” </p>
<p>“<a href="https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2020/11/20/mourao-lamenta-assassinato-de-homem-negro-em-mercado-mas-diz-que-no-brasil-nao-existe-racismo.ghtml">In Brazil, racism doesn’t exist</a>,” was the vice president’s response. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Line of Black Brazilians with their fists raised" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/370894/original/file-20201123-23-e6wakz.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">Protesters outside a Carrefour supermarket in the city of Niteroi on Nov. 22, 2020, after a Black man was killed by Carrefour security guards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-raise-their-fists-in-front-of-the-entrance-to-news-photo/1229740835?adppopup=true">Luis Alvarenga/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Black woman mayor</h2>
<p>As politicians and activists, Afro-Brazilian women have made racism a campaign issue. They discuss why budget cuts to the public health system would <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-is-deadlier-for-black-brazilians-a-legacy-of-structural-racism-that-dates-back-to-slavery-139430">disproportionately hurt Black Brazilians</a> and promote paid family leave, educating Afro-Brazilian citizens of how racism, sexism and classism – alone and in combination – affect their lives.</p>
<p>That’s why running for office is more than a political campaign for Afro-Brazilian women, my research finds. As they drive around blaring messages from cars, hold town halls and run social media ads, they raise the racial consciousness of their constituents and expand their party’s political agenda.</p>
<p>This year, 16 years after I first followed her campaign, Olivia Santana again asked voters to entrust their vote to Black women. On Facebook and <a href="https://twitter.com/oliviasantana65/status/1317798956475273217?lang=en">Twitter, she posted catchy political jingles</a> with lyrics like, “Preta prefeita, respeita a preta” – “The Black woman mayor, respect the Black woman” – done in a musical style popular in Brazil’s heavily Black northeast. In that campaign video, young Afro-Brazilians wearing face masks dance alongside Santana, who is also masked.</p>
<p>“It is not only the people of the United States that can elect a woman like Kamala Harris,” she tweeted on Nov. 13, 2020. “We also can make a difference for this city.”</p>
<p><a href="https://g1.globo.com/ba/bahia/eleicoes/2020/noticia/2020/11/14/pesquisa-ibope-em-salvador-votos-validos-bruno-reis-66percent-major-denice-17percent-pastor-sargento-isidorio-6percent-olivia-santana-4percent.ghtml">Olivia Santana lost her 2020 mayoral bid</a>, one of several veteran Black women politicians to come up short.</p>
<p>Progress is slow. But win or lose, Black Brazilian women are opening doors for the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gladys Mitchell-Walthour 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>The 2018 murder of Rio city councilwoman Marielle Franco inspired record numbers of Black women to get involved in politics. Winning proved harder – but it isn’t the only point of their campaigns.Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Political Economy, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1427032020-09-01T13:57:03Z2020-09-01T13:57:03ZShould you be civil to a racist? Yes, but you should still call them out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355342/original/file-20200828-14-1odb1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6048%2C4010&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A protestor holds a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in Charlotte, NC. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Keith Helfrich/Unsplash)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This summer, Americans’ treatment of marble and bronze statues has exemplified an important divide in how we judge public discourse. In the name of anti-racism, statues of <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/local/robert-e-lee-statue-toppled-in-montgomery-confederate-statue-vandalized-in-mobile">Confederate heroes like Robert E. Lee</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53963665">former Canadian prime ministers like John A. Macdonald</a> and colonial murderers like Christopher Columbus have been <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-are-toppling-monuments-to-racism/">torn down</a>, supported by the argument that these are painful reminders to many of our citizens.</p>
<p>Are these actions acceptable? Do they cross a line? Why does that line matter? <a href="http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08730-6.html">These are the questions of civility</a>, and some of the most urgent of the current moment.</p>
<p>Statues celebrating slavery are an assault on descendants of enslaved people and a reminder of a time when lynching was all too common. If these statues celebrate slavery, then civility — which requires equal treatment of all — demands their removal. Strong civility also demands a public conversation about southern racial history, and how these statues figure into it. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BPgCo90NOjE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Footage from the BBC shows statues toppled across the United States.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Democracy is a way of life</h2>
<p>Democracy is not just a system of government that preserves rights and freedoms and allows for voting and public consultation. It is also <a href="https://philosophynow.org/issues/43/Dewey_and_the_Democratic_Way_of_Life">a way of life</a>. Democracy requires that we learn how to live well with others who are different from us. Those differences can range from skin colour to religious affiliation and beliefs about progressive taxation. </p>
<p>We build a democracy so that we can find peaceful ways to co-exist in the face of real, deep differences. If we build a democracy well, then those differences, painful as they may seem, can actually be resources for more effective decision-making and innovation. </p>
<p>But we need a way to preserve enough social cohesion, in the face of all of those differences, to create change and work toward an anti-racist future. That means we have to be willing to be made uncomfortable, and to make others uncomfortable. As <a href="https://www.theringer.com/larry-wilmore-black-on-air">American comedian Larry Wilmore has pointed out</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Civility isn’t just being nice, it isn’t just showing manners. Civility is coming together as a civil society, and making people uncomfortable, and doing the right thing, and yelling at people who are not doing the right thing when you have to.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Toxic behaviours</h2>
<p>Toxic incivility — threatening to assault others and destroy property — threatens the social fabric that preserves democracy as a way of life. Examples include Tucker Carlson’s acrimonious rants on Fox News (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymN30ArZDoo">“Black Lives Matter is coming for YOU,”</a>) and sociologist James Thomas’s suggestion that students ruin legislators’ lunches because “<a href="https://thedmonline.com/james-thomas-jt/">They don’t deserve your civility</a>.”</p>
<p>We’re in a dangerous moment right now because our social fabric has been so badly strained and torn by partisan incivility, led by a president whose central communication strategy is to <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2020/04/donald-trumps-insult-politics/">insult and demean those who oppose him</a> and <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/fox-news-host-eboni-k-williams-the-breakfast-club_n_5cb9a777e4b06605e3eda161">a cable news network that profits from the demonization of others</a>.</p>
<h2>Deep engagement</h2>
<p>Civility matters for democracy because it offers us a set of communication practices for engaging our differences without recourse to violence. Yet sometimes there are ideas at play that undermine a basic sense of equality. Engaging in debates about the humanity of others is uncivil and pointless. </p>
<p>But shunning or cancelling is not the only alternative. Our aim ought to be to persuade others, to change their minds and to transform the social world we inhabit. To do this, we must engage deeply with others that are different from us, which is a risk for any of us.</p>
<p>We’re not talking about “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674545496">mere civility”</a> as a practice of being polite in order to make people feel comfortable, which can be used as a weapon of oppression. We’re talking about a kind of radical civility, a set of practices that can engage differences in ways that will deepen a sense of community and help create possibilities for change. </p>
<h2>Radical civility</h2>
<p>This requires careful listening, respect, openness to dialogue and other-centred communication practices. Yes, even with someone who we clearly think is racist, whether it’s a friend, acquaintance or your inappropriate uncle. Often radical civility is most important for those in traditionally privileged social positions. </p>
<p>Meeting people where they are, regardless of how noxious we might believe that place to be, is necessary for persuasion. Any teacher of rhetoric, and we’ve both spent our careers teaching and writing about rhetoric, knows this. </p>
<p>So that brings us to the big question: Why be civil to a racist? </p>
<p>Our willingness to see others, even racists, as multi-dimensional human beings, capable of change and transformation, is central to living in a democracy. Radical civility can, and often does, include conflict. We should call out a racist and challenge their beliefs, but we should do so in a manner that deepens engagement; that is tough, demanding work.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two police officers pin a Black man down on the ground, surrounded by other police officers and protestors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355568/original/file-20200831-22-1ke7k3l.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">Metropolitan Police confront protestors on the ground on Aug. 27, in Washington, after President Donald Trump had finished delivering his acceptance speech from the White House South Lawn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Change through dialogue</h2>
<p>Violence toward statues is debatable in the context of trying to collectively figure out how to change a racist system. What matters is the way we choose to communicate with one other, and the methods and practices we use, so that our relationships with others can become resources for change.</p>
<p>Whether on the left or on the right, when communication practices demonize, objectify and belittle others, we forgo the possibility of persuasion or even empathy. The question facing our democracy right now is whether we can find ways to treat others with respect and consideration, draw them into public conversation and change their minds. </p>
<p>This is a task for strong civility, and it will mean that tearing down the monuments to slave owners will produce durable social and political change instead of animosity and division. Strong civility offers us the best set of communication practices for repairing the torn social fabric and making possible what’s next for our democracy. </p>
<p>Without it we’re just deepening the cycles of polarization and anger.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Danisch receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Keith 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>Politicians and law enforcement engage in uncivil behaviour that undermines democratic society. Civility is a pre-requisite for empathy, and is essential for difficult conversations.Robert Danisch, Associate Professor and Chair, University of WaterlooWilliam Keith, Professor, Rhetoric and Professional Writing, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1201122019-07-17T18:54:39Z2019-07-17T18:54:39ZCinco innovaciones tecnológicas que se remontan a la carrera espacial<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284258/original/file-20190716-173351-1f85che.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C438%2C3898%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">El astronauta Buzz Aldrin en la Luna durante la misión Apolo 11.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Looks_Back_at_Tranquility_Base_-_GPN-2000-001102.jpg">Neil Armstrong/NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gran parte de la tecnología de la que disponemos hoy en día tiene su origen en el afán del hombre por llegar a la Luna, un incesante impulso que alcanzó su cénit cuando, hace 50 años, Neil Armstrong descendió del módulo lunar Eagle para pisar la superficie del satélite por primera vez.</p>
<p>Debido a mi experiencia como parte del programa Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors de la NASA, que compagino con la <a href="https://uwm.edu/speakersbureau/speakers/jean-creighton/">dirección del Planetario Manfred Olson de la Universidad de Wisconsin-Milwaukee</a>, sé que las tecnologías que hacen posible la previsión meteorológica, los sistemas GPS e incluso los <em>smartphones</em> se remontan a la <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-to-the-moon/">carrera espacial</a>.</p>
<h2>1. Cohetes</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">El cohete Saturno V, que transportó al Apolo 11 y su tripulación hasta la Luna, despegando el 16 de julio de 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/moonmars/apollo40/apollo11_launch2.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>El 4 de octubre de 1957 dio comienzo la era espacial cuando la Unión Soviética puso en órbita el <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/">Sputnik 1</a>, el primer satélite fabricado por el hombre. Los soviéticos fueron pioneros en el desarrollo de lanzaderas espaciales potentes al adaptar misiles de largo alcance de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como el <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-surface-surface-v-2-4">V-2 alemán</a>.</p>
<p>Desde entonces, la tecnología satelital para la propulsión espacial se desarrolló a pasos agigantados: el <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-012A">Luna 1</a> abandonó el campo gravitatorio de la Tierra para sobrevolar las inmediaciones de la Luna el 4 de enero de 1959; el <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-012A">Vostok 1</a> fue el encargado de llevar al primer humano al espacio, Yuri Gagarin, el 12 de abril de 1961; y el <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/telstar.html">Telstar</a>, el primer satélite comercial, emitió señales de televisión al otro lado del océano Atlántico el 10 de julio de 1962.</p>
<p>El alunizaje de 1969 se sirvió de la experiencia de numerosos <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-us-government-brought-nazi-scientists-america-after-world-war-ii-180961110/">científicos alemanes</a>, entre los que se encontraba Wernher von Braun, para lanzar cargas al espacio. Los <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/beauty-madness-sending-man-moon/">motores F-1</a> del <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-the-saturn-v-58.html">Saturno V</a>, el cohete lanzadera del programa Apolo, consumieron un total de <a href="https://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/documents/Introduction.pdf">2 800 toneladas de combustible</a>, a una velocidad de 12,9 toneladas por segundo. </p>
<p>El Saturno V sigue siendo el mejor cohete jamás construido, pero debemos tener en cuenta que en la actualidad el lanzamiento espacial es mucho más barato de lo que era entonces. El coste del Saturno V fue de <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/ch6.htm">185 millones de dólares</a> (unos mil millones de dólares de 2019), mientras que el Falcon Heavy, la lanzadera de SpaceX, <a href="https://newatlas.com/falcon-heavy-saturn-v/53090/">no supera los 90 millones</a>. El cometido de estos vehículos de lanzamiento es sacar de la órbita terrestre astronautas, sondas y todo tipo de naves espaciales para continuar obteniendo información procedente de otros mundos.</p>
<h2>2. Satélites</h2>
<p>El tenaz empeño por aterrizar en la Luna llevó a la construcción de vehículos capaces de lanzar cargas desde la superficie terrestre a distancias de entre 34 100 y 36 440 kilómetros. A semejante altitud, la velocidad orbital de los satélites se alinea con la velocidad a la que rota el planeta, por lo que los satélites permanecen en un punto fijo que recibe el nombre de <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/geo_feature_5_8.html">órbita geosíncrona</a>, desde donde gestionan las comunicaciones y aseguran la conectividad a internet y la señal de televisión. </p>
<p>A principios de este año, se encontraban orbitando alrededor de la Tierra <a href="https://www.pixalytics.com/satellites-orbiting-earth-2019/">4 987 satélites</a>. Solo en 2018 se llevaron a cabo 382 lanzamientos en todo el mundo. De los <a href="https://www.pixalytics.com/satellites-orbiting-earth-2019/">satélites que se encuentran operativos actualmente</a>, aproximadamente el 40% gestiona las comunicaciones, el 36% observa la Tierra, el 11% pone a prueba diferentes tecnologías, el 7% mejora el posicionamiento y la navegación, y el 6% contribuye al progreso de las Ciencias el Espacio y de la Tierra.</p>
<p><iframe id="FXwEc" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FXwEc/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. Miniaturización</h2>
<p>Las misiones espaciales tenían y tienen <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/tryanny.html">estrictas limitaciones</a> sobre el tamaño y el peso del equipamiento, ya que precisan de una gran cantidad de energía para despegar y alcanzar la órbita. Estas restricciones impelieron a la industria espacial a encontrar la manera de elaborar versiones más pequeñas y ligeras de casi todo: hasta el grosor de las paredes del módulo lunar fue reducido al de un par de folios.</p>
<p>Desde finales de la década de los 40 hasta finales de los 60, el peso y el consumo de energía de los componentes electrónicos fueron sintetizados en una proporción de varios cientos: se pasó <a href="https://www.theworkplacedepot.co.uk/news/2013/03/22/how-have-computers-developed-and-changed/">de las 30 toneladas y 160 kilovatios del Integrador y Calculador Eléctrico Numérico</a> (ENIAC, por sus siglas en inglés) a los <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/computers/Ch2-5.html">apenas 32 kilos y 70 vatios del Ordenador de Navegación del Apolo</a> (AGC, por sus siglas en inglés). La inmensa diferencia de peso equivale a la que hay <a href="https://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/adult-weight.html">entre una ballena jorobada y un armadillo</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">El Ordenador de Navegación del Apolo junto a un ordenador portátil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Guidance_Computer.jpg">Autopilot/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Las misiones tripuladas necesitaban sistemas más complejos que las anteriores que carecían de tripulación. Por ejemplo, en 1951 el UNIVAC I, la primera computadora comercial de Estados Unidos, <a href="https://royal.pingdom.com/retro-delight-gallery-of-early-computers-1940s-1960s/">era capaz de completar 1 905 instrucciones por segundo</a>, frente a las <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Launch_Vehicle_Digital_Computer">12 190</a> del sistema de navegación del Saturno V.</p>
<p>La agilidad de los aparatos electrónicos ha continuado aumentando sin parar. Podemos ver dispositivos móviles que ejecutan habitualmente instrucciones <a href="https://www.zmescience.com/research/technology/smartphone-power-compared-to-apollo-432/">120 millones de veces más rápido</a> que el sistema de navegación que permitió el despegue del Apolo 11. El deber de miniaturizar los ordenadores para cumplir con las necesidades de la exploración espacial en la década de los 60 obligó a la industria a diseñar equipos más pequeños, más rápidos y con un consumo de energía menor. La influencia de aquella iniciativa alcanza a prácticamente cualquier faceta de la vida cotidiana en la actualidad, desde las comunicaciones hasta la salud, pasando por las manufacturas y el transporte.</p>
<h2>4. Red global de estaciones terrestres</h2>
<p>La comunicación con las naves y sus tripulaciones era tan importante como el paso previo de llevarlas al espacio. La construcción de la <a href="https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/about/">Red del Espacio Profundo</a> (Deep Space Network), una red global de estaciones terrestres, fue fundamental para la llegada a la Luna en 1969, ya que hicieron posible que las comunicaciones fueran constantes entre los controladores en tierra y las misiones en órbita. El posicionamiento estratégico de las instalaciones terrestres, <a href="https://www.space.com/39578-deep-space-network.html">separadas entre sí por 120 grados de longitud</a>, permitió que el flujo de información fuera ininterrumpido, ya que las naves se encontraban siempre en el radio de acción de una de las estaciones de la red. </p>
<p>En respuesta a la limitada potencia de los vehículos espaciales, se construyeron en tierra antenas de gran tamaño que hacían las veces de unas “grandes orejas”, para captar mensajes débiles, y de “enormes bocas” que permitían emitir órdenes audibles por los astronautas.</p>
<p>La Deep Space Network <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-372">fue la plataforma de comunicación con la tripulación del Apolo 11</a>, y fue utilizada para la retransmisión de las emocionantes primeras imágenes de Neil Armstrong pisando la Luna. Asimismo, la red <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=3993">fue capital para la supervivencia del equipo del Apolo 13</a>, porque necesitaban la guía del personal de tierra sin desperdiciar su escasa energía en las comunicaciones.</p>
<p>Las misiones que aprovechan la Red del Espacio Profundo para explorar de manera continuada nuestro sistema solar (y más allá) <a href="https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/about/commitments-office/current-mission-set/">se cuentan por decenas</a>. Además, <a href="https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html">la red facilita las comunicaciones</a> con los satélites de <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00251.1">órbitas elípticas altamente excéntricas</a>, lo que permite controlar los polos y emitir señales de radio.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Salida de la Tierra</em>, la vista de nuestro planeta desde la órbita lunar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/apollo-8-earthrise">Bill Anders, Apollo 8, NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. Observando a la Tierra</h2>
<p>La llegada al espacio permitió a los científicos centrar sus esfuerzos en nuestro planeta. En agosto de 1959, la sonda no tripulada Explorer 6 tomó <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-004A">las primitivas primeras imágenes de la Tierra desde el espacio</a> en una misión de exploración de la atmósfera como parte de la preparación del programa Apolo.</p>
<p>Casi una década después, la tripulación del Apolo 8 realizó una fotografía que alcanzaría una fama mundial. En la imagen, llamada <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/apollo-8-earthrise"><em>Salida de la Tierra</em></a>, se veía <a href="https://theconversation.com/salida-de-la-tierra-la-foto-que-cambio-el-mundo-cumple-medio-siglo-109183">emerger al planeta tras el horizonte lunar</a>. Su efecto hizo que entendiéramos la Tierra como un lugar único que compartimos e <a href="http://100photos.time.com/photos/nasa-earthrise-apollo-8">impulsó los movimientos en defensa del medio ambiente</a>.</p>
<p>La comprensión del insignificante lugar que ocupa nuestro planeta en el universo adquirió mayor dimensión al observar <em>Un punto azul pálido</em>, una imagen tomada por la sonda espacial Voyager 1 y recibida por la Red del Espacio Profundo. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La Tierra desde el sistema solar, visible como un minúsculo punto azul pálido en el centro de la franja marrón situada a la derecha.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA00452">NASA, Voyager 1</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Desde entonces, los astronautas y los dispositivos no han parado de hacer fotos de la Tierra desde el espacio, lo cual contribuye a la orientación global y local de los ciudadanos. Lo que empezó a principios de los 60 como un sistema de satélites de la Marina de los EE. UU. para hacer el seguimiento de sus submarinos Polaris <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/t/transit.html">hasta una distancia de 185 metros</a>, se ha convertido en la red de satélites que conforma el <a href="https://www.gps.gov/">Sistema de Posicionamiento Global (GPS)</a>, que proporciona un servicio de localización en prácticamente cualquier parte del globo.</p>
<p>Las sondas <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/">Landsat</a>, lanzadas al espacio para observar la superficie terrestre, nos devuelven imágenes que se utilizan para determinar el <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/agriculture/">estado de los cultivos</a>, para reconocer la <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/taking-nasa-usgs-s-landsat-8-to-the-beach/">proliferación de algas</a> y para hallar potenciales <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/LandsatEnergyFS.pdf">yacimientos petrolíferos</a>. Otros usos incluyen el <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/forest-management/">establecimiento de las estrategias forestales más eficaces para reducir la propagación de incendios</a> o la identificación de cambios que afectan a todo el planeta, como el <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/glaciers-lose-9-trillion-tons-of-ice-in-half-a-century/">deshielo de los glaciares</a> o el <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/urban-growth/">desarrollo de las ciudades</a>.</p>
<p>A medida que sabemos más sobre nuestro planeta y sobre los exoplanetas (planetas que orbitan estrellas diferentes al Sol), tomamos conciencia de lo valiosa que es la Tierra. Los esfuerzos por preservarla podrían apoyarse en otra tecnología procedente del programa Apolo: las pilas de combustible. <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-4-3.html">Estos sistemas de almacenamiento de hidrógeno y oxígeno</a> del Módulo de Servicio del Apolo, que contenía sistemas de soporte vital y provisiones para las misiones de alunizaje, generaban energía y producían agua potable para los astronautas. Se trata, pues, de una fuente de energía mucho más limpia que los habituales motores de combustión. Quizá las pilas de combustible jueguen un papel importante en la lucha contra el cambio climático al transformar la producción de energía a escala mundial.</p>
<p>Por el momento, solo podemos preguntarnos qué innovaciones traerá el empeño por viajar a otros planetas 50 años después del primer paseo por Marte.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120112/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Creighton no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>La tecnología que hay detrás del pronóstico del tiempo, el GPS e incluso los teléfonos inteligentes tiene su origen en la carrera espacial.Jean Creighton, Planetarium Director, NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027002019-07-08T11:09:01Z2019-07-08T11:09:01Z5 Moon-landing innovations that changed life on Earth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277294/original/file-20190530-69063-1iduqiy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C111%2C3868%2C3787&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Looks_Back_at_Tranquility_Base_-_GPN-2000-001102.jpg">Neil Armstrong/NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much of the technology common in daily life today originates from the drive to put a human being on the Moon. This effort reached its pinnacle when Neil Armstrong stepped off the Eagle landing module onto the lunar surface 50 years ago.</p>
<p>As a NASA airborne astronomy ambassador and <a href="https://uwm.edu/speakersbureau/speakers/jean-creighton/">director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Manfred Olson Planetarium</a>, I know that the technologies behind weather forecasting, GPS and even smartphones can trace their origins to the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-to-the-moon/">race to the Moon</a>.</p>
<h2>1. Rockets</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277286/original/file-20190530-69075-5lujfz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Saturn V rocket carrying Apollo 11 and its crew toward the Moon lifts off on July 16, 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/moonmars/apollo40/apollo11_launch2.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>October 4, 1957 marked the dawn of the Space Age, when the Soviet Union launched <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/">Sputnik 1</a>, the first human-made satellite. The Soviets were the first to make powerful launch vehicles by adapting World War II-era long-range missiles, especially the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/missile-surface-surface-v-2-4">German V-2</a>.</p>
<p>From there, space propulsion and satellite technology moved fast: <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-012A">Luna 1</a> escaped the Earth’s gravitational field to fly past the Moon on January 4, 1959; <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1961-012A">Vostok 1</a> carried the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space on April 12, 1961; and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/telstar.html">Telstar</a>, the first commercial satellite, sent TV signals across the Atlantic Ocean on July 10, 1962.</p>
<p>The 1969 lunar landing also harnessed the expertise of <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-us-government-brought-nazi-scientists-america-after-world-war-ii-180961110/">German scientists</a>, such as Wernher von Braun, to send massive payloads into space. The <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/beauty-madness-sending-man-moon/">F-1 engines</a> in <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-the-saturn-v-58.html">Saturn V</a>, the Apollo program’s launch vehicle, burned a total of <a href="https://history.msfc.nasa.gov/saturn_apollo/documents/Introduction.pdf">2,800 tons of fuel at a rate of 12.9 tons per second</a>. </p>
<p>Saturn V still stands as the most powerful rocket ever built, but rockets today are far cheaper to launch. For example, whereas Saturn V cost <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/ch6.htm">US$185 million</a>, which translates into over $1 billion in 2019, today’s Falcon Heavy launch costs <a href="https://newatlas.com/falcon-heavy-saturn-v/53090/">only $90 million</a>. Those rockets are how satellites, astronauts and other spacecraft get off the Earth’s surface, to continue bringing back information and insights from other worlds.</p>
<h2>2. Satellites</h2>
<p>The quest for enough thrust to land a man on the Moon led to the building of vehicles powerful enough to launch payloads to heights of 21,200 to 22,600 miles (34,100 to 36,440 km) above the Earth’s surface. At such altitudes, satellites’ orbiting speed aligns with how fast the planet spins – so satellites remain over a fixed point, in what is called <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/geo_feature_5_8.html">geosynchronous orbit</a>. Geosynchronous satellites are responsible for communications, providing both internet connectivity and TV programming. </p>
<p>At the beginning of 2019, there were <a href="https://www.pixalytics.com/satellites-orbiting-earth-2019/">4,987 satellites</a> orbiting Earth; in 2018 alone, there were more than 382 orbital launches worldwide. Of the <a href="https://www.pixalytics.com/satellites-orbiting-earth-2019/">currently operational satellites</a>, approximately 40% of payloads enable communications, 36% observe the Earth, 11% demonstrate technologies, 7% improve navigation and positioning and 6% advance space and earth science.</p>
<p><iframe id="fBSJk" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fBSJk/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>3. Miniaturization</h2>
<p>Space missions – back then and even today – have <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/tryanny.html">strict limits</a> on how big and how heavy their equipment can be, because so much energy is required to lift off and achieve orbit. These constraints pushed the space industry to find ways to make smaller and lighter versions of almost everything: Even the walls of the lunar landing module were reduced to the thickness of two sheets of paper.</p>
<p>From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, the weight and energy consumption of electronics was reduced by a factor of several hundred at least – from the <a href="https://www.theworkplacedepot.co.uk/news/2013/03/22/how-have-computers-developed-and-changed/">30 tons and 160 kilowatts of the Electric Numerical Integrator and Computer</a> to the <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/computers/Ch2-5.html">70 pounds and 70 watts of the Apollo guidance computer</a>. This weight difference is equivalent to that between a <a href="https://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/adult-weight.html">humpback whale and an armadillo</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277289/original/file-20190530-69059-c0wggp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=761&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 Apollo Guidance Computer next to a laptop computer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_Guidance_Computer.jpg">Autopilot/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Manned missions required more complex systems than earlier, unmanned ones. For example, in 1951, the <a href="https://royal.pingdom.com/retro-delight-gallery-of-early-computers-1940s-1960s/">Universal Automatic Computer was capable of 1,905 instructions per second</a>, whereas the Saturn V’s guidance system performed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Launch_Vehicle_Digital_Computer">12,190 instructions per second</a>. The trend toward nimble electronics has continued, with modern hand-held devices routinely capable of performing instructions <a href="https://www.zmescience.com/research/technology/smartphone-power-compared-to-apollo-432/">120 million times faster than the guidance system that enabled the liftoff of Apollo 11</a>. The need to miniaturize computers for space exploration in the 1960s motivated the entire industry to design smaller, faster and more energy-efficient computers, which have affected practically every facet of life today, from communications to health and from manufacturing to transportation.</p>
<h2>4. Global network of ground stations</h2>
<p>Communicating with vehicles and people in space was just as important as getting them up there in the first place. An important breakthrough associated with the 1969 lunar landing was the construction of a global network of ground stations, called the <a href="https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/about/">Deep Space Network</a>, to let controllers on Earth communicate constantly with missions in highly elliptical Earth orbits or beyond. This continuity was possible because the ground facilities were placed strategically <a href="https://www.space.com/39578-deep-space-network.html">120 degrees apart in longitude</a> so that each spacecraft would be in range of one of the ground stations at all times. </p>
<p>Because of the spacecraft’s limited power capacity, large antennas were built on Earth to simulate “big ears” to hear weak messages and to act as “big mouths” to broadcast loud commands. In fact, the Deep Space Network was used to <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-372">communicate with the astronauts on Apollo 11</a> and was used to relay the first dramatic TV images of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon. The network was also <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=3993">critical for the survival of the crew on Apollo 13</a> because they needed guidance from ground personnel without wasting their precious power on communications. </p>
<p><a href="https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/about/commitments-office/current-mission-set/">Several dozen missions</a> use the Deep Space Network as part of the continuing exploration of our solar system and beyond. In addition, the <a href="https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html">Deep Space Network permits communications</a> with satellites that are on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00251.1">highly elliptical orbits</a>, to monitor the poles and deliver radio signals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273389/original/file-20190508-183096-l6t34v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=724&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Earthrise,’ a view of Earth while orbiting the Moon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/apollo-8-earthrise">Bill Anders, Apollo 8, NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. Looking back at Earth</h2>
<p>Getting to space has allowed people to turn their research efforts toward Earth. In August 1959, the unmanned satellite Explorer VI took the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1959-004A">first crude photos of Earth from space</a> on a mission researching the upper atmosphere, in preparation for the Apollo program.</p>
<p>Almost a decade later, the crew of Apollo 8 took a famous picture of the Earth rising over the lunar landscape, aptly named “<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/apollo-8-earthrise">Earthrise</a>.” This image helped people understand our planet as a unique shared world and <a href="http://100photos.time.com/photos/nasa-earthrise-apollo-8">boosted the environmental movement</a>.</p>
<p>Understanding of our planet’s role in the universe deepened with Voyager 1’s “pale blue dot” photo – an image received by the Deep Space Network. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273387/original/file-20190508-183083-5wrpkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1022&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Earth from the edge of the solar system, visible as a minuscule pale blue dot in the center of the right-most brown stripe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA00452">NASA, Voyager 1</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People and our machines have been taking pictures of the Earth from space ever since. Views of Earth from space guide people both globally and locally. What started in the early 1960s as a U.S. Navy satellite system to track its Polaris submarines to <a href="http://www.astronautix.com/t/transit.html">within 600 feet (185 meters)</a> has blossomed into the <a href="https://www.gps.gov">Global Positioning System network of satellites</a> providing location services worldwide.</p>
<p>Images from a series of Earth-observing satellites called <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/">Landsat</a> are used to determine <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/agriculture/">crop health</a>, identify <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/taking-nasa-usgs-s-landsat-8-to-the-beach/">algae blooms</a> and find potential <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/LandsatEnergyFS.pdf">oil deposits</a>. Other uses include identifying which types of <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/forest-management/">forest management are most effective in slowing the spread of wildfires</a> or recognizing global changes such as <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/glaciers-lose-9-trillion-tons-of-ice-in-half-a-century/">glacier coverage</a> and <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/how_landsat_helps/urban-growth/">urban development</a>.</p>
<p>As we learn more about our own planet and about exoplanets – planets around other stars – we become more aware of how precious our planet is. Efforts to preserve Earth itself may yet find help from fuel cells, another technology from the Apollo program. These <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-4-3.html">storage systems for hydrogen and oxygen</a> in the Apollo Service Module, which contained life-support systems and supplies for the lunar landing missions, generated power and produced potable water for the astronauts. Much cleaner energy sources than traditional combustion engines, fuel cells may play a part in transforming global energy production to fight climate change.</p>
<p>We can only wonder what innovations from the effort to send people to other planets will affect earthlings 50 years after the first Marswalk.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the description of the placement of the Deep Space Network ground stations.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Creighton 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>The technologies behind weather forecasting, GPS and even smartphones can trace their origins to the race to the Moon.Jean Creighton, Planetarium Director, NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/942942018-04-30T20:15:47Z2018-04-30T20:15:47ZSignals from a spectacular neutron star merger that made gravitational waves are slowly fading away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215476/original/file-20180418-134691-1ijq629.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neutron star merger.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12740">Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eight months ago, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-last-weve-found-gravitational-waves-from-a-collapsing-pair-of-neutron-stars-85528">detection of gravitational waves</a> from a binary neutron star merger had us and other astronomers around the world rushing to observe one of the most energetic events in the universe. </p>
<p>What most people don’t realise is that we continued to observe the event every few weeks from then up to now. </p>
<p>Our team <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-the-alert-radio-eyes-hunt-the-source-of-the-gravitational-waves-85106">started searching for radio emission from the merger</a>, <a href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/press-release-gw170817">known as GW170817</a>, making a detection two weeks after the August event. Now, the radio emission is starting to fade. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-the-alert-radio-eyes-hunt-the-source-of-the-gravitational-waves-85106">After the alert: radio 'eyes' hunt the source of the gravitational waves</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As we prepare to say goodbye (at least for now) to this incredible object, we reflect on what what we’ve learned so far, with <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.06853" title="A turnover in the radio lightcurve of GW170817">our paper accepted for publication</a> in the Astrophysical Journal. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215472/original/file-20180418-163991-1562c4z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio observations of GW170817 from two telescopes. The central bright object in each image is the host galaxy NGC 4993. The smaller bright spot in the crosshairs is the neutron star merger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25452">David Kaplan. Data from Mooley et al. (2018), Nature, 554, 207</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The detection of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation (such as light and radio waves) from the same object mean physicists have been able to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>confirm a prediction of general relativity that <a href="https://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-GW170817GRB/index.php">gravitational waves travel at the speed of light</a></p></li>
<li><p>figure out <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-astrophysicists-are-over-the-moon-about-observing-merging-neutron-stars-84957">how matter behaves when you squeeze it</a> harder than in the nucleus of an atom</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cosmic-alchemy-colliding-neutron-stars-show-us-how-the-universe-creates-gold-86104">explain</a> where some of the gold (and other heavy elements) in the universe are produced</p></li>
<li><p>and start to solve a decades-old mystery about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-gravitational-waves-from-neutron-stars-and-why-its-such-a-huge-deal-85647">what causes short gamma-ray bursts</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Observing the merger</h2>
<p>Radio telescopes such as the <a href="https://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/public/">Australia Telescope Compact Array</a> and the <a href="http://www.vla.nrao.edu/">Jansky Very Large Array</a> (in the United States) are designed to detect electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths from centimetres to metres.</p>
<p>Unlike visible light, radio waves travel through space almost unimpeded by dust. They can be detected during the day as well as at night: radio telescopes can observe around the clock.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1hawK5JwVfY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Timelapse of the CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array. Credit: Alex Cherney (terrastro.com)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The radio waves we detected have travelled 130 million light years from the galaxy <a href="http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=NGC+4993">NGC 4993</a> where the neutron star merger took place. </p>
<p>When the two neutron stars collided they emitted a burst of gamma rays shortly after, which was detected by the Fermi satellite 1.74 seconds after the gravitational waves. What happened next in the explosion is what we’ve all been trying to work out.</p>
<p>Within 12 hours astronomers had detected a bright, fading signal in visible light. We think this came from neutron star material flung out at 50% of the speed of light. It was glowing hot from a bunch of radioactive decays. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-neutron-star-29341">Neutron stars</a> are the most dense objects we know of, except for black holes: imagine the Sun squashed into a region the size of a city. </p>
<p>When two neutron stars collide they form a new object that has slightly less mass than the two original stars: in this case likely a new black hole. A tiny fraction of the mass is blasted out as both matter and energy (remember E=mc<sup>2)</sup> and that is what we detect on Earth.</p>
<h2>What do radio waves tell us?</h2>
<p>The radio emission we detected days later, though, is a different matter.</p>
<p>Radio waves are created when electrons are accelerated in magnetic fields. This happens at shock fronts in space, as material from stellar explosions crashes into the stuff around the star. </p>
<p>This stuff is called the interstellar medium and is about 10 quintillion times less dense than air on Earth (almost, but not quite, a vacuum). The nature of the radio waves tells us the details of this shock, which we can run backward in time to try to understand the explosion. </p>
<p>One big question is whether there was a narrow jet of material moving at 99.99% of the speed of light that punched its way out of the explosion and hit the interstellar medium.</p>
<p>We think that these must happen in gamma-ray bursts: did that happen here? </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p2Ab26gnQ1g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A simulation of a neutron-star merger giving rise to a broad outflow – a ‘cocoon’. A cocoon is the best explanation for the radio waves, gamma rays and X-rays the astronomers saw arising from the neutron-star merger GW170817.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What happened in the explosion?</h2>
<p>We’re still not sure of the details, but we don’t think there was a successful jet in GW170817. That’s because we have now observed the radio emission start to fade (the optical emission started to fade immediately).</p>
<p>This shows the explosion probably isn’t a classic gamma-ray burst with relativistic jets, as shown in the figure below (left). What is more likely is that we are seeing a “cocoon” of material that has broken out from the explosion. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215103/original/file-20180416-47416-1xf1m8z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Models of what might be happening in the merger. Our data has shown the left option is unlikely, and the radio emission is probably caused by a cocoon of material (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6370/1559">Reprinted with permission from Kasliwal et al., Science (2017)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So where does this material come from?</p>
<p>The material flung out of the neutron stars (known as ejecta) was moving fast, about 50% of the speed of light. What if there was an even faster (99.99% of the speed of light) jet that happened soon after?</p>
<p>This jet could have blown a bubble in the ejecta, making it move faster (maybe 90% of the speed of light) and stopping the jet in its tracks: we call this a cocoon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215473/original/file-20180418-163986-k3k95p.png?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Radio observations of the neutron star merger show that it is now fading.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.06853">David Kaplan, Dougal Dobie. Data from Dobie et al. (2018), ApJL</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Saying goodbye (for now)</h2>
<p>After eight months of watching GW170817 we know that it is different to anything we’ve seen before, and has behaved in completed unexpected ways.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/captured-radio-telescope-records-a-rare-glitch-in-a-pulsars-regular-pulsing-beat-94815">Captured! Radio telescope records a rare 'glitch' in a pulsar's regular pulsing beat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The radio emission is now fading, but this may not be the end of the story. Most models predict a long term afterglow from neutron star mergers, so GW170817 might reappear months or even years in the future.</p>
<p>In the meantime, we are waiting with anticipation for the <a href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/">Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)</a> to start its next observing run early next year. We might even capture a new type of event, a neutron star merging with a black hole.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94294/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tara Murphy works for the University of Sydney. She receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Kaplan works for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he receives funding from the US National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Astronomers are getting ready to say good bye to the radio emission from a neutron star merger – one of the most energetic events in the universe – that was detected last year.Tara Murphy, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, University of SydneyDavid Kaplan, Associate professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/851062017-10-16T14:05:24Z2017-10-16T14:05:24ZAfter the alert: radio ‘eyes’ hunt the source of the gravitational waves<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189719/original/file-20171011-5661-q9inuf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Australia Telescope Compact Array in Narrabri, NSW.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Smyth/CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At 11:21pm Sydney time on Thursday August 17, 2017, an alert on a private email list informed thousands of astronomers worldwide that the Advanced LIGO-Virgo interferometer had detected another gravitational wave event. </p>
<p>But this time it wasn’t from a binary black hole merger <a href="https://theconversation.com/gravitational-waves-discovered-the-universe-has-spoken-54237">like previous detections</a>: early indications were that this latest wave detection was from two neutron stars merging.</p>
<p>This was really exciting; our chance to see a gravitational wave event with conventional telescopes for the first time. Astronomers had been waiting for this for more than 20 years, ever since the LIGO project started.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-last-weve-found-gravitational-waves-from-a-collapsing-pair-of-neutron-stars-85528">At last, we've found gravitational waves from a collapsing pair of neutron stars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By chance, we were both at a conference in Washington DC and so for us the alert arrived just after 9am. People reacted immediately, rapidly emailing colleagues and ducking out to discuss the alert. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189853/original/file-20171011-28088-148z2xj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&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 original alert that was sent out telling astronomers about the detection of gravitational waves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Screengrab</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We started planning our observations immediately: we knew the target area would rise over Australia at about 11am Sydney time.</p>
<p>What followed was two frantic weeks of collaborative research that lead to the first confirmation of radio emission from a gravitational wave event.</p>
<h2>Finding the event: a needle in a haystack</h2>
<p>LIGO-Virgo could only pinpoint the event to an area of about 150 times the full Moon.</p>
<p>But if we could detect electromagnetic radiation (optical or radio waves) then we could pin down the merger’s location to a single galaxy. Australian Radio telescopes have the capability to do this (and not just at night, unlike optical telescopes).</p>
<p>Back on the email list, reports were flooding in. Teams around the world were pointing their telescopes at the target region, scanning the galaxies to see if anything unusual was happening. </p>
<p>At 6am Sydney time we texted Douglas Bock, director of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, to let him know we’d be submitting a proposal to observe using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (<a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array/About-Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array">ATCA</a>) in Narrabri, NSW, that day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189329/original/file-20171009-6950-4qxalo.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Christene Lynch, Dougal Dobie and Tara Murphy in the Australia Telescope Compact Array Science Operations Centre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Sydney</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We applied for what is known as Target of Opportunity time: permission to override the scheduled observing and take over the telescope. </p>
<p>We then rang our colleagues <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/christine.lynch.php">Christene Lynch</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/keith-bannister-221398">Keith Bannister</a>, and PhD student <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/physics/sifa/profile_dobie.shtml">Dougal Dobie</a> to ask them to head to the CSIRO Science Operations Centre in Marsfield, Sydney, to observe.</p>
<h2>We start observing</h2>
<p>After a few phone calls and emails, we were allocated the whole day of ATCA observing and we began searching for a radio signal from the merger. We were the first radio telescope to target this event.</p>
<p>Just after midday in Sydney, there was an exciting new development. A new optical source, near the galaxy <a href="http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=NGC+4993">NGC 4993</a> seen in the constellation Hydra, had been detected by the <a href="http://www.lco.cl/">One-Meter Two-Hemisphere collaboration</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190225/original/file-20171013-3555-1fnr0cy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Optical and near-infrared images of the first optical counterpart to a gravitational wave source in the galaxy NGC 4993.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">1M2H/UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Observatories/Ryan Foley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was rapidly confirmed by several other groups. </p>
<p>The emails became a deluge. We fired off messages between Washington and Sydney adjusting our observing strategy. Tara set off for the return trip to Sydney as we coordinated and analysed observations from airports and hotels. </p>
<p>We were in constant communication with other groups - there was excitement in the air, but also tension, as people collaborated and competed at the same time.</p>
<h2>What does radio emission tell us?</h2>
<p>A neutron star merger is a complex event. The gravitational waves come from the final orbits just before a black hole is formed.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EuFxRAYxs2Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Detecting radio emission from a neutron star merger.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The resulting explosion blows the matter from the neutron stars out into space. As this material blasts outwards, it interacts with gas to create a powerful shock that generates radio emission. </p>
<p>Analysing this data tells us what the total energy of the explosion is, and what the surrounding area is like. </p>
<p>This the first time these explosions, which may be responsible for forming heavy elements like gold in the universe, have been definitively identified.</p>
<h2>Finally, a radio detection</h2>
<p>Theoretical models for neutron star mergers predict that radio emission will occur after the emission at other wavelengths. </p>
<p>Nine days after the event, X-ray emission was detected so we kept monitoring the likely host galaxy, NGC 4993, every few days. </p>
<p>Finally, on September 3, our collaborators made a tentative detection of radio waves with the <a href="http://www.vla.nrao.edu/">Very Large Array</a> in New Mexico. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190282/original/file-20171015-3542-irnlfk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">VLA image showing radio emission from the host galaxy NGC 4993 and the associated transient source (in crosshairs).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reprinted with permission from Hallinan et al., Science (2017)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We confirmed their detection the following day, making this something everybody could trust. This was the first time radio waves had ever been detected from a gravitational wave event.</p>
<p>After double- and triple-checking our results with the help of <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/emil.lenc.php">Emil Lenc</a>, we released an email alert to the community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-beat-a-cyber-attack-to-see-the-kilonova-glow-from-a-collapsing-pair-of-neutron-stars-85660">We beat a cyber attack to see the 'kilonova' glow from a collapsing pair of neutron stars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By then, we had been working non-stop for two weeks, juggling the project across time zones as we monitored the unfolding event. Then the race began to write up the results for publication, with our work <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aap9855">published today in Science</a>.</p>
<p>The past month has been exhilarating but strange, working secretly on embargoed results that had already been <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/rumours-swell-over-new-kind-of-gravitational-wave-sighting-1.22482">partially leaked</a>, and were somewhat of an open secret in much of the astronomy community.</p>
<p>Our radio observations have made an important contribution to understanding an incredible phenomenon. We continue to monitor this event to help understand the details of the explosion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tara Murphy works for the University of Sydney. She received funding from the Australian Research Council, including the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Kaplan receives funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA. </span></em></p>All it took was a single email alert to send the world’s astronomers searching for the source of the latest gravitational wave detected.Tara Murphy, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, University of SydneyDavid Kaplan, Associate professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/777752017-06-19T10:39:11Z2017-06-19T10:39:11ZDo happy faces or sad faces raise more money?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174202/original/file-20170616-10505-19ib4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Including different facial expressions in fundraising pitches can change how people respond, research suggests.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/business-man-choosing-between-smiling-sad-135543353">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To encourage giving, many charities that serve people in need <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.512.2664&rep=rep1&type=pdf">use photos</a> depicting either happy people or sad ones in their pitches. These pictures symbolize the people who will benefit from donations made in response to those appeals. </p>
<p>Lei Jia, a doctoral student in marketing, and I, a professor who studies how and why messages communicated through various media may influence the audience’s attitudes and behavior, wanted to discover which works best. </p>
<h2>Happy vs. sad faces</h2>
<p>Plenty of research backs the rationales for both approaches.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174239/original/file-20170616-19763-aw56ik.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">She’s happy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/12287146@N04/5250858198/in/photolist-9112cU-mWqN1-gFeqes-5q7NPN-8VDxcE-gvmi7h-7q8fDY-bi35yr-atYxTR-aFN388-7aN9rG-8NTYBy-S8DDUq-CSLHx-brh7Le-85Q8GT-bCEWnB-dpkagp-G1gXQ-6M5v1p-T5DCs8-dyezpz-TZQi25-cr7Eq3-c2Z6ZA-c2ZfA1-ehQoQX-HPT6H-a89fpn-4DkHC3-QCu311-KWazi-93CsVq-52nB32-axd7eG-TWfzs5-miT2ed-7LU5F2-pLHtC2-V26qgM-bsnPfL-aK9yVc-qKfrKv-5y1ZbY-51bY77-TWfHCd-5ZdJBy-ebEWUf-MNazV-bK38Gp">Flickr/Jerald Jackson</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Seeing a smile can <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10770953?journalCode=cdpa">make people feel happy</a>. And when they feel happy, they’re inclined to evaluate a fundraising pitch <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650210368280">in a more favorable light</a> and then donate to maintain <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00555.x/full">their happy feelings</a>, according to a study published by Journal of Applied Social Psychology.</p>
<p>Smiling faces also remind people of the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650210368280">potential benefits</a> of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673476">their donations</a>. That can spur giving by increasing <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.2012.749084">a sense of accomplishment</a> for donors.</p>
<p>Seeing sad faces, on the other hand, can boost donations by highlighting the severity of a problem and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673476">the acuteness</a> of <a href="http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/14156/la/v2_pdf/LA-02">a need</a>. Images conveying distress may also increase giving by arousing negative emotions, such as <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=hbspapers">guilt</a> or <a href="http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmkr.46.6.777?code=amma-site">sadness</a>. The impulse to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdm.697/full">avoid negative</a> <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000276488031003005?journalCode=absb">emotions</a> means that people may donate to <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1982-05786-001">quell unhappy</a> <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/hbspapers/80/">feelings</a> – by trying to resolve the problem the sad picture illustrates.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174240/original/file-20170616-1205-1lhyafp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Few things are as sad as the sight of a pouting or crying child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kwarz/14296826765/in/photolist-nMmYvc-dRBtkH-e1RT6x-f92Jb-8Qcyvs-eemkAU-D3R8QD-dHvf26-sXjBk-4C7no1-4ePyYN-8qv14b-hJoGE-g8zPxx-6d5Bf4-8whD9T-agEJLt-9rZVZB-3JELrU-aT2vVV-rn4M7A-Szprcj-VmaH16-nFe4ca-rNgtxq-S3oLpr-771RiR-8bTs4E-RyXTQR-47LZyG-6PoHKu-6VL3MY-a9XzC-37sjrs-5sLpVZ-8TJBua-6RLWve-qZtP7-bXnLqD-5CwBUK-V5BKBC-fUDF3V-FsxKC6-ftqE1w-apKYx5-agwNgC-nJXxAz-9AZtJ9-UXzrDU-t1QSe">Flickr/zeitfaenger.at</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Charitable habits</h2>
<p>Whether smiles or frowns work best may depend on what experts call “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/bm.1999.39">involvement</a>” with charities – how much someone <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nml.21113/full">cares about charitable missions</a> in general, how often they volunteer or <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/westburn/jcb/2007/00000006/00000002/art00004">participate in fundraising events</a> and whether they regularly donate to nonprofits. </p>
<p>Because these people already help people in need, they would like to know their donations make a difference. </p>
<p>Sad images remind potential donors of hardships. That may make <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673476">solving those problems</a> seem <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650210368280">insurmountable</a> for people who are already involved with charities, thereby discouraging them from donating. Happy pictures should work better for these people because they affirm the significance of individual action and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673476">showcase the positive</a> <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650210368280">impact</a> one person’s generosity can make.</p>
<p>People who aren’t very involved with charities, on the other hand, are less easily <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650210368280">swayed to support a given mission</a> or to believe in its <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/rug/rugwps/08-500.html">urgency</a>. Because sad images highlight problems and <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673476">the extent</a> of <a href="http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/14156/la/v2_pdf/LA-02">unmet needs</a>, unhappy faces should do a better job of eliciting donations from these potential donors.</p>
<h2>An online experiment</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174237/original/file-20170616-12377-z4tbuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which photo would make you more likely to support a nonprofit?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/different-expressions-311938901">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To test the two approaches, we conducted <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nml.21261/full">an online experiment</a> among 201 American adults, using eight similar ads. These ads simulated pitches to raise money for <a href="https://www.stjude.org/">St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital</a> to treat children with cancer and conduct related research. The ads bore the face of either a happy or a sad child and the words: “Small change, big difference. You can help fight childhood cancer.”</p>
<p>We used eight pictures split evenly between happy-faced and sad-faced kids. Each participant was randomly assigned to see only one ad.</p>
<p>We measured participants’ charitable involvement by asking to what extent they agree or disagree with a number of statements, such as “giving to charities means a great deal to me.” After seeing the ad, they were asked about their willingness to support St. Jude’s.</p>
<p>As we explained in the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nml.21261/full">Nonprofit Management & Leadership</a> journal, we found that participants with high levels of charitable involvement were more likely to express an intent to donate in response to happy pictures. People who were less involved with charities were more likely to say they were interested in donating after seeing sad images.</p>
<h2>What this means</h2>
<p>What should fundraisers learn from our findings? Nonprofits may want to tailor their materials based on their target audience. Specifically, campaigns should use sad-faced ads to target people with weaker ties to charities. But for people with stronger connections, happy-faced ads may be a safer bet.</p>
<p></p><hr><p></p>
<p><iframe id="a6dT0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/a6dT0/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p></p><hr><p></p>
<p>Here are some words of caution about our study: We built our research around a well-known nonprofit organization with a strong reputation. Because <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/bm.2013.1">brand familiarity</a> can influence how people respond to charitable appeals, we don’t know whether our findings would also apply to fundraising for more obscure charities.</p>
<p>Moreover, we measured only intentions to give. Although decades of psychological research suggests that intentions are a strong predictor of <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Predicting-and-Changing-Behavior-The-Reasoned-Action-Approach/Fishbein-Ajzen/p/book/9781138995215">actual behavior</a>, donors don’t always follow through.</p>
<p>Still, our work should help nonprofits see the advantages of tailoring fundraising appeals to different kinds of people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77775/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xiaoxia Cao 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>Seeing cheerful kids in fundraising pitches works better for some potential donors than others, research suggests. Nonprofits may want to tailor their appeals to different audiences because of that.Xiaoxia Cao, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/565272016-03-22T09:51:57Z2016-03-22T09:51:57ZWill the end of breeding orcas at SeaWorld change much for animals in captivity?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115826/original/image-20160321-30908-1yx0ww2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">No more breeding, but still on exhibit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OrcaShow_SeaWorld_3.jpg">Business Navigatoren</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When SeaWorld announced it would <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0317-manby-sea-world-orca-breeding-20160317-story.html">stop breeding orcas</a> and begin to phase out “theatrical performances” using the animals, the news appeared to mark a significant change in ideas about animals and captivity.</p>
<p>Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Joel Manby, CEO of SeaWorld, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/03/17/470861233/seaworld-to-end-orca-breeding-program-in-partnership-with-humane-society">promoted their new partnership</a> in interviews. After a long history of mutual recrimination, the two organizations say they’ll work together to provide needed support for wild marine creatures in distress and to improve the circumstances of currently captive orcas in the U.S. As SeaWorld’s Manby put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s clear to me that society is shifting. People’s view to have these beautiful, majestic animals under human care – people are more and more uncomfortable with that. And no matter what side you are on this issue, it’s clear that that’s shifting, and we need to shift with that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If there is indeed a shift going on, it seems to be more in the rhetoric of the animal exhibition industries than in public comfort (or discomfort) with seeing large animals in captivity.</p>
<h2>Changing with the times…</h2>
<p>For anyone interested in the history of exhibiting exotic animals, the news that people’s expectations have changed and that zoological gardens, aquariums and circuses are responsive to those changes can’t help but illicit a little cynicism.</p>
<p>The SeaWorld/HSUS announcement echoes news from last year that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus decided to phase out elephant performances and retire the animals to a state-of-the-art sanctuary. In both cases, the companies were clearly facing growing public criticism damaging their bottom lines. They appear to have made business decisions to protect their brands and refocus the public’s attention on what they describe as more critical core missions. </p>
<p>At the same time, both announcements were framed as having resulted from the recognition that the times have changed – “that society is shifting” – and that change is making circumstances better for animals in captivity. This claim reaches far beyond charismatic whales and elephants and is deployed for all kinds of new policies and exhibits.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OoqgrupfD5k?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Zoological Society of London’s advertisement for ‘Land of the Lions.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later this month, for example, the London Zoo will open its “breath-taking” newest exhibit, “<a href="https://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/exhibits/land-of-the-lions">Land of the Lions</a>,” featuring “thrilling, immersive Indian-themed areas to explore – including a train station, crumbling temple clearing, high street and guard hut.” The exhibit is described as an “interactive adventure,” through which visitors will “get closer than ever before to mighty Asiatic lions.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h_iiE73nJDc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Queen Elizabeth opens ‘Land of the Lions.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As remarkable as this exhibit sounds, a video of the queen officially opening the exhibit shows a fairly unsurprising couple of female lions “activated” by having food dispersed in a relatively small exhibit with wire fencing. </p>
<h2>But the times have been changing for a while</h2>
<p>I’m not sure whether the queen felt transported to India in visiting this exhibit. What is clear, though, is that the zoo wants us to believe that this exhibit is something entirely novel. This sort of claim is very old, indeed.</p>
<p>Even in 1869, for example, almost 150 years ago, an editorial appeared in the <em>Daily News</em> of London describing a proposed new lion house for this same zoo. Pointing to a history of “dismal menagerie cages,” the <a href="http://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000014698/">article heralded a new vision</a> of “displaying lions and tigers, in what may be called by comparison a state of nature” and the public can look forward to seeing “lions at play, free as their own jungle home; tigers crouching, springing, gamboling, with as little restraint as the low plains of their native India.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115923/original/image-20160321-32315-1ik4kt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A late 19th-century vision of a zoological park of the future.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From Nigel Rothfels' Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ever since public zoos began to be built in the 19th century, there’s been a consistent rhetorical pattern behind any proposed new zoo or aquarium or exhibit. </p>
<p>The argument typically runs something like this: whereas in the past our exhibits have been disappointing, uninspiring and small, our new exhibit will finally make it seem like the animals are not in captivity. As importantly, the animals themselves will also finally be happy.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, almost all of these new exhibits turn out to be somehow less than was envisioned, less than was hoped…simply less. </p>
<p>This is <em>not</em> to say that exhibits haven’t in fact gotten better. Exhibited animals are in general better cared for and healthier in all ways than they used to be. </p>
<p>Each generation of exhibits does tend to improve on what came before; elephant exhibits being built at the more ambitious zoos of today, like the Oregon Zoo’s “<a href="http://www.oregonzoo.org/discover/new-zoo/elephant-lands">Elephant Lands</a>,” for example, have typically radically improved the conditions for the animals, keepers and the visiting public. And these changes have been pushed by public concerns along with the ambitions of designers and directors to provide better circumstances for the animals. </p>
<p>But all that doesn’t alter the fact of captivity. And that fact will, as best as I can tell, continue to undermine whatever rhetorical gestures may be made declaring a new day for animals and people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56527/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nigel Rothfels 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>The history of displaying exotic animals seems to be one of evolving public expectations about what constitutes acceptable conditions. Is it a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same?Nigel Rothfels, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/409142015-05-01T15:49:33Z2015-05-01T15:49:33ZFrom Tottenham to Baltimore, policing crisis starts race to the bottom for justice<p>West Baltimore, 8.39 am April 12: Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, stood on the street talking with friends. Police officers approached on bicycles and made “eye contact” with Gray, who then attempted to leave. The police chased him and video footage shot on neighbours’ mobile phones shows police holding Gray face-down on the pavement. One witness described how an officer pressed a knee into Gray’s neck as he was handcuffed, while another bent his legs upwards: “<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-video-moore-20150423-story.html">They had him folded up like he was a crab or a piece of origami</a>”.</p>
<p>By the time the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/">police van</a> arrived with Gray at the Western District police station some 45 minutes later “he could not talk and he could not breathe”, according to a police officer <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-gray-rough-rides-20150423-story.html#page=1">quoted in the Baltimore Sun report</a>. It was only then that police called medics who transferred him to hospital. Doctors determined that Gray had three fractured vertebrae and a damaged larynx, his spinal cord 80% severed at his neck. Gray died of his injuries a week later on April 19.</p>
<p>“No Justice, No Peace” has echoed through the streets as thousands of people have protested Gray’s death. Protest marches on April 25 and walk-outs of students on April 27 were followed by what some call rioting, others unrest or rebellion. Officials and mainstream news coverage have decried property destruction, including burning of police cars, and theft. </p>
<p>Baltimore’s mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, declared that “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2015/apr/28/baltimore-freddie-gray-riots-live-updates">violence will not be tolerated</a>” and the governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, called city residents “lawless gangs of thugs roaming the streets” before declaring a state of emergency, suspending habeas corpus, implementing a 10pm curfew, and deploying National Guard troops.</p>
<h2>Crisis over policing</h2>
<p>Gray’s death at the hands of the police was the latest to provoke protest. Natalie Finegar, the deputy district public defender <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/25/freddie-gray-death-triggers-frustration-baltimore-police">said that</a> it was a “daily occurrence” for her clients to describe some sort of mishandling by the police. These range from “jump outs” where officers spring from patrol cars and shake down a suspect, to serious assaults. The city of Baltimore has paid out more than <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-state-damage-cap-20150330-story.html">US$5.7m in undue force lawsuits</a> between 2008 and 2011.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/29/you_can_replace_property_you_cant">Baltimore resident Kane Mayfield</a> the conflict has: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>been mis-characterised pretty much by mainstream sensationalists who come down here to soak up the angel dust of civil unrest and sell it to white America. It’s fun. I get it. You know? Look at them. Black rage. It’s nice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But property destruction is not equivalent to death – particularly in a context where so many black people are killed and harmed by police with near impunity. It is telling that there are no comprehensive data on homicides by police in the US. A partial snapshot from <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/police-killings-data/14060357/">recent FBI data</a> reveals a white police officer killed a black person in a “justifiable homicide” about twice a week between 2005-2012.</p>
<p>The protests communicate a legitimation crisis over policing in the United States. A cycle of renewed dissent against state racial violence has become increasingly visible since July 2013, following the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/us/george-zimmerman-verdict-trayvon-martin.html">acquittal of George Zimmerman</a> for the murder of Trayvon Martin. “Black Lives Matter”, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”, “I Can’t Breathe” and “Shut It Down” have become protest slogans after the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City.</p>
<h2>Stop-and-search</h2>
<p>Across the Atlantic, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/10/mark-duggan-family-rallying-cry-no-peace-no-justice">“No Justice, No Peace</a>” was also the cry of protesters gathered to hear a verdict of “lawful killing” in the case of the police shooting of Mark Duggan in London, 2011. </p>
<p>Duggan’s death sparked the most extensive riots in recent British history. As with recent events in the US, the English summer riots of 2011 raised serious concerns about policing within inner-city communities. The findings of the 2011 Guardian-LSE research project, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/interactive/2011/dec/14/reading-the-riots-investigating-england-s-summer-of-disorder-full-report">Reading the Riots: Investigating England’s summer of disorder</a>, suggested that the riots were motivated by a sense of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/video/2011/dec/05/reading-riots-video">“poverty, injustice and a visceral hatred of the police”</a>. Some 73% of people they interviewed said they had been stopped and searched by the police at least once in the previous year.</p>
<p>Time and again, anger over perceived misuse of “stop-and-search” has been one of the causes of rioting in Britain. In 1981, riots in Brixton sparked three months of rioting by black, Asian and white youths across most of the country’s inner-cities. The Brixton uprising was triggered by <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4854556.stm">Operation Swamp 81</a>, which saw the police employ ancient vagrancy legislation, called “sus laws” (<a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1689103">suspected person</a>) laws’, in a mass stop-and-search operation. </p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631579.stm">The Scarman Report</a> into the causes of the 1981 riots stated that the black population of Brixton had been subject to “disproportionate and indiscriminate” policing. Sus laws were repealed yet stop-and-search substantially increased.</p>
<p>An estimated 1m stop and searches are carried out in the UK each year and in 2009-2010, according to the <a href="http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/briefing-paper-5-race-disproportionality-stops-and-searches-under-section-60-criminal">Equality and Human Rights Commission</a>: “Black people were stopped 23.5 times more frequently than white people and Asian people 4.5 times more frequently. </p>
<p>In 2014, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27224887">a revised code of conduct</a> on stop-and-search was introduced; recent figures show <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013">a 12% reduction</a>, but more <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/203873/abolish-police-instead-lets-have-full-social-economic-and-political-equality">radical reform</a> is required.</p>
<h2>Race to the bottom</h2>
<p>Stop-and-search is a day-to-day expression of violent relationships between police and communities. People interviewed by <a href="http://www.stop-watch.org/">StopWatch</a> detail the enduring stigma affected by these policing practices. Police harassment of black citizens communicates authoritative messages about the place of ethnic minorities in society.</p>
<p>Racial discrimination <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/11/how-fair-is-britain-data">intersects with other inequalities</a>: poverty, rising economic inequality (between the richest and the poorest and between ethnic groups), joblessness (in 2012 the unemployment rate for black youths in the UK was 55.9%, double that of their white peers), high levels of incarceration, inadequate housing, unequal access to education and healthcare.</p>
<p>Fifty years since the civil rights movement and the ostensible end of state-sanctioned discrimination, austerity and welfare retrenchment has created even deeper divides. A recent special issue of Feminist Review on the politics of austerity details the multiple ways in which ”<a href="http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fr/journal/v109/n1/full/fr201459a.html?hc_location=ufi">divides of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality and class</a>“ are intensifying. The UK and US are relying on the same forms of policing to resolve the resulting economic and political conflicts. Racial and economic inequality fuelled the riots in London 2011 and the same thing has sparked the unrest we see in Baltimore and other US cities today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Imogen Tyler receives funding from The Leverhulme Trust and her research has previously been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Her views are her own.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Loyd is affiliated with Critical Resistance, a member-run grassroots movement which aims to end the Prison Industrial Complex.</span></em></p>Provocative, violent and discriminatory policing has sparked riots in both the UK and America.Imogen Tyler, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster UniversityJenna Loyd, Assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/337822014-11-20T10:16:14Z2014-11-20T10:16:14ZWhere have all the wonder women gone?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65023/original/image-20141119-31600-846fp3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lynda Carter as Diana Prince in the New Original Wonder Woman. Her bullet-deflecting bracelets are made from an impervious metal: feminum.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/retrogasm/15255144067/in/photolist-pf3ARi-58whN7-8vrGMG-7THkA8-pf42Y2-pf3NPg-pwfSqt-puuN8j-pwfTqV-puvneQ-pf3Suc-pf2XwF-pf379w-pwvrEN-pf3jws-pf3AuY-pwx6nH-pf45bZ-pf3PfY-pf3mDo-pwwUpk-pf2Jc4-pwxAAH-a9d4om-pwf4kg-pf3iSR-pf3ed8-pwx3Yp-pf3yNb-pwwt3P-pf3BTE-pwxCdv-pwxruM-pwwr6T-pf3C8Y-pwfA5T-pf2xPS-pf3pzd-pwvN31-pwf3TV-puuiDW-pwvfoQ-pf3Q26-pf2ANC-puuK67-pwxugt-pf37BA-pf3i2F-pwf44K-puua13/">Retrogasm/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the epilogue to Jill Lepore’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-History-Wonder-Woman/dp/0385354045">new book</a>, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, we learn about Wonder Woman’s importance to the American feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Lepore briefly notes Wonder Woman’s place in US television in the same period. But in skimming over the character’s TV life, she misses a key step in her cultural significance. In the history of Wonder Woman on television lies a story about the ways that popular culture in general – and representations of “wonder women,” in particular – seek to reconcile feminism and femininity at different historical moments.</p>
<p>The New Original Wonder Woman premiered in 1976 alongside two other action-adventure series with female leads, Charlie’s Angels and The Bionic Woman. This super-women trifecta made clear that the winds of cultural change were influencing America’s most popular (and often most conservative) medium. </p>
<p>In Wonder Woman’s first season, the program was set in the 1940s – staying true to the comic’s origins – with the superheroine battling the Nazis. Tied to her patriotism was her feminism. </p>
<p>“Any civilization that does not recognize the female,” Wonder Woman warned in one episode, “is doomed to destruction. Women are the wave of the future and sisterhood is…stronger than anything.” </p>
<p>And in an episode titled “The Feminum Mystique” – a play on the title of the bestselling feminist book – we learn about a mysterious, powerful matter buried deep in the earth of Wonder Woman’s Amazonian homeland: feminum. Her bullet-deflecting bracelets are made from this impervious metal.</p>
<p>The TV program’s creators were directly influenced by the character’s popularity as a feminist icon, but when the show switched networks in 1977, the story’s feminist message was diluted. </p>
<p>The setting was changed from the 1940s to the 1970s, and Wonder Woman became more overtly sexualized: she wore more revealing clothing, and stopped making the same explicit declarations about gender and power. </p>
<p>This shift was most directly an attempt to copy the hugely successful Charlie’s Angels. Like the Angels, Diana Prince could now go undercover in a number of titillating roles, including pop star and glamorous jewel thief. </p>
<p>But the 1970s TV version of the Angels regularly tempered its characters’ sexualization with mainstream, women’s lib-style references to “male chauvinists,” or showed that women could do what male characters did: shoot guns, fly airplanes, and drive 18-wheelers.</p>
<p>The later seasons of Wonder Woman tried for a similar balance, but more often than not, the message devolved into a celebration of the fundamental difference between the sexes. Wonder Woman’s compromised negotiation with feminism made the character’s femininity a stand-in for her power, a tendency that the Angels sometimes shared. </p>
<p>In other words, their power came from being sexy.</p>
<p>By the late 1970s, even the half-hearted attempts at championing feminism began to wane. Television delivered characters who were little more than sex symbols: <a href="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTIyODMyNDEwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTIwNzM2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg">Daisy Duke</a> (Dukes of Hazzard) or <a href="http://www.classictvbeauties.com/Suzanne_Somers_Photo_3.jpg">Chrissy Snow</a> (Three’s Company) were primarily defined by their sexy femininity. Only the non-sexy characters (Chrissy’s roommate, Janet, or the brainy <a href="http://girlswithglasses.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/bailey2.jpg">Bailey</a> from WKRP in Cincinnati) needed to worry about equality.</p>
<p>In retrospect, we can see this transition away from powerful “wonder women” characters as part of the rise of a postfeminist cultural sensibility: the idea that explicit feminist activism is no longer necessary in a world changed by feminism. Because this sensibility values the contributions of feminism, it can seem progressive. However, because it places feminism in the past, it suggests that past injustices have been resolved. It can work to perpetuate those very injustices by leaving them unchallenged. </p>
<p>One of the best recent examples is the series of Charlie’s Angels feature films, which present its heroines’ sexiness and power as one and the same. Explicit acknowledgments of an ongoing need for feminism has no place. This sort of subtle, but crucial, difference from the more overt feminist messages of the 1970s has dominated much of early 21st century media culture.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65024/original/image-20141119-31615-ks8hfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen: modern day Wonder Woman?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://rifftrax.wikia.com/wiki/Katniss_Everdeen?file=Katniss-everdeen-gallery.jpg">wikia.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, in recent years we’ve seen challenges to this thinking – and even an explicit embrace of feminism. Culturally, this has resulted in glimpses of the original “wonder women.” We might point to The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen and the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/captain-marvel-female-lead-marvel-movie/story?id=26521001">planned film</a> that will feature superheroine Captain Marvel. </p>
<p>Even Wonder Woman is going to have a big-screen resurgence; her <a href="http://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-costume-batman-v-superman/">forthcoming appearance </a>in Batman v. Superman will be an important test of whether the character’s feminist origins will return.</p>
<p>Today, however, feminist voices are more often being heard not in action movies but in TV comedies – perhaps a safer, more subtle space to introduce challenges to social assumptions. Some characters even overtly identify as feminists, like Parks and Recreation’s Leslie Knope. Others challenge the tenets of the postfeminist sensibility. In Lena Dunham’s Girls, Comedy Central’s Broad City, and even NBC’s The Mysteries of Laura, TV women critique postfeminism, satirizing its less-than-liberating consequences. </p>
<p>A single mother and police detective, Debra Messing’s Laura does not “have it all,” as postfeminist thinking argues. Instead Laura has an ex-husband who fails to share responsibility for their children (he also happens to be her boss). She longs not for haute couture or male admirers but for time alone to eat what she wants and watch reality TV.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is these deliberately ordinary, flawed, often un-powerful women who may be today’s unconventional “wonder women,” subtly giving voice to the feminism we still need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33782/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elana Levine has received research funding from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, the Walter Jay and Clara Charlotte Damm Fund, and the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.</span></em></p>In the epilogue to Jill Lepore’s new book, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, we learn about Wonder Woman’s importance to the American feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Lepore briefly notes Wonder…Elana Levine, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/338682014-11-06T17:04:38Z2014-11-06T17:04:38ZMinority voters tell their stories<p><em>Editor’s note: <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/11/05/midterm-turnout-decreased-in-all-but-12-states">voter turnout</a> in this year’s midterm elections - 36.6% - was lower than in the 2010 midterms (40.9%.) According to the <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/10/31/the-party-of-nonvoters-2/">Pew Research Center</a> the “party of non-voters” is more racially diverse than those Americans who showed up at the polls. So what do the midterm results have to say about ethnic minority voters?</em> </p>
<h2>A tipping point for ethnic minorities?</h2>
<p><strong>Paru Shah, Associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.</strong></p>
<p>A number of key Democrats, including the Obamas and Clintons, made last-minute pushes to get <a href="http://jointcenter.org/blog/black-turnout-2014-midterms">black</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/11/04/361459597/like-in-past-elections-latino-voter-turnout-could-swing-results">Latino</a> voters to the polls in states where analysis suggested their votes could tip the balance. And the numbers of black and Latino early voters were promising. But in the end it wasn’t enough to preserve the Democratic majority in the Senate. </p>
<p>The 2014 Midterms were also poised to be significant for representative democracy with large numbers of racial/ethnic minority and female candidates running across the country, particularly for statewide offices that have traditionally been more difficult for them to win. The <a href="http://www.jointcenter.org">Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies</a> noted 100 black candidates ran for office this year, more than any other state or federal election in history. The <a href="http://www.naleo.org">National Association of Latino Elected Officials</a> counted 42 Latinos running across the country in statewide elections. </p>
<p>And although many of the candidates lost tight races, the 2014 elections will go down in history as record making and breaking. South Carolina’s Tim Scott (Republican) became the first African-American senator to win election in the South since Reconstruction. The GOP is sending its first black female legislator – Mia Love – to Congress. Alex Mooney (Republican) is the first Latino Member of Congress from Virginia. And Alma Adam (North Carolina, Democrat) becomes the 100th women currently serving in Congress. </p>
<h2>Misplaced wagers: how Democrats and Republicans are Getting it Wrong with the Latino Electorate</h2>
<p><strong>David Cook-Martín, Associate Professor of Sociology at Grinnell College and director of its Center for International Studies.</strong></p>
<p>US midterm election results suggest that both Democrats and Republicans placed the wrong bets on how Latinos would vote. </p>
<p>Democrats wagered on the unwavering support of Latinos and, while still substantial, it was sufficiently eroded to cost that party crucial votes in very close races. In at least two key states (Colorado and Texas), support of Latinos has declined on the order of 10 to 12% relative to the 2012 elections. While there are other factors at work in midterm elections, there is some indication that Latino voters are angry about the inaction on immigration reform, particularly in the form of executive action. </p>
<p>Republicans won in the short term, but are losing the long game. Current demographic trends show a phenomenal growth in the number of Latinos - 25% of children under five are Latino according to the <a href="https://twitter.com/brookingspress/status/529771327872180227">Brookings Institution</a>] and this will undoubtedly have an impact on future elections. And yet, as legal scholar <a href="https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/faculty/facultyProfile.php?facID=301">Ian Haney Lopez</a> has argued, Republicans have chosen to participate in invidious “dog whistle politics”, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Whistle-Politics-Appeals-Reinvented/dp/0199964270">invoking race in coded language</a>.</p>
<p>Republicans have made the wrong decision by not diversifying their party; Democrats have made the wrong decision by waffling on immigration issues. Each mistaken wager is having or will have its cost. </p>
<h2>An initial assessment of the impact of voter ID laws</h2>
<p><strong>Marcus Hunter, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UCLA</strong></p>
<p>With the upholding of Voting ID laws in midterm battleground states, the midterm election offered the first opportunity to assess the real impact of such laws on turnout. As predicted <a>we have begun to witness</a> those celebrating the effectiveness of these laws at the same time that we hear <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/us/election-tests-new-rules-on-voting.html?_r=0;">stories</a> of those who stayed home or didn’t vote because of the new voter ID provisions.</p>
<p>Just 24 hours since voting day and the reports are emerging about people being turned away and forced to provide alternative identification (that they may or may not have). The stories are not pretty. In Texas, voters <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/opinion/election-2014-ill-concealed-prejudice.html">reported</a> that they were refused a ballot due to the lack of “proper” identification. Others in the Georgia and North Carolina were turned away because their polling places had been changed due to alterations in their congressional districts. </p>
<p>These voters, mostly poor and and from minority groups were left with little recourse but to address this issue on-site. As a result, we may never know what the true turn out was for the midterms. We may also never know how truly invested black and brown Americans are and were in the selection of their elected officials.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33868/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paru R Shah receives funding from the National Science Foundation. She is an elected school board member in Shorewood, WI. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Cook Martín has received funding from the National Science Foundation. He is affiliated with the Scholars Strategy Network. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Anthony Hunter 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>Editor’s note: voter turnout in this year’s midterm elections - 36.6% - was lower than in the 2010 midterms (40.9%.) According to the Pew Research Center the “party of non-voters” is more racially diverse…Paru R Shah, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeDavid Cook Martín, Associate Professor of Sociology and director Center for International Studies , Grinnell CollegeMarcus Anthony Hunter, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology , University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.