tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/in-depth-38616/articles
In depth – The Conversation
2022-01-20T10:24:08Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171280
2022-01-20T10:24:08Z
2022-01-20T10:24:08Z
Radical overhaul of construction industry needed if UK to have any chance of net zero by 2050 – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431504/original/file-20211111-19-1vwsog0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C11%2C2481%2C1646&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/construction-external-wall-thermal-insulation-rock-1486349063">Tricky_Shark/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I entered the construction site in England a decade ago, I was filled with excitement. This was a new state of the art housing development. I was there to provide independent evidence as to whether the development stood up to its claims of superior energy performance – the construction company promised that the finished buildings would consume far less energy than the norm. As I put my high visibility jacket and helmet on, I noticed a TV crew unloading their equipment. This was clearly a high profile site.</p>
<p>The site manager took me to the first house, where I was going to set up equipment for an air tightness test. I would use a large fan to create negative pressure in the building by extracting air from it, then use a pressure difference instrument to measure air flow through gaps and cracks in the building. A site operative with a mastic sealant gun told me: “I made it ready for you, mate.” The TV crew was right behind me – they were going to film me doing the test.</p>
<p>But as I started a routine visual inspection of the house, I noticed a pea-sized hole in one of the window frames – it turned out that the operative hadn’t done a very good job after all. As a result, the air tightness test had to be postponed, and the TV crew got an extended coffee break until we found the man with the mastic gun. </p>
<p>This incident is representative of my career. I’ve very rarely come across a building that actually lives up to its claims.</p>
<p>Now, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2021.754733/full">my new research</a> reveals that even the best aspects of the UK’s current building plans don’t go nearly far enough. We have found that due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/embodied-carbon-why-truly-net-zero-buildings-could-still-be-decades-away-170401">embodied carbon emissions</a> – the emissions that derive from making building materials and constructing houses, rather than heating and powering them – only building all new housing using naturally grown materials with negative embodied carbon will allow the UK housing industry to be net zero by 2050.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>Numerous UK local authorities have declared a <a href="https://www.climateemergency.uk/blog/list-of-councils/">climate emergency</a>, and are committed to constructing buildings to net zero carbon emissions, in many cases aiming to reach this by 2030. But the current <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conservation-of-fuel-and-power-approved-document-l">UK building regulations</a> do not even require new buildings to achieve operational zero emissions – that is, emissions from building use. Embodied emissions – emissions from making and using building materials – are not even on the radar of the local authorities. </p>
<p>The problem is that there isn’t enough joined-up thinking. Builders are trained how to build, but are not trained to know how their work affects building energy performance. Government initiatives are introduced by one department to reduce energy consumption and discontinued by another department to enable enough houses to be built cheaply, with no consideration for unintended consequences. Building standards are not ambitious enough and take years to change. Developers do not want to exceed these standards as this would increase their costs and reduce profits. The industry is fragmented, and operates in silos. </p>
<h2>Quality of workmanship</h2>
<p>Even when intentions are good and houses are designed to the best specifications, lack of training standards in construction mean they often aren’t built properly.</p>
<p>I started working in the construction industry while doing my PhD on the energy performance of a new <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/SE.-00268-83">“solar village” in Bournville</a>, Birmingham. The houses in this new village were what we call “passive solar”: they had been extremely well insulated and were designed to admit heat from the sun through large, south-facing glazing, and to retain warmth within the concrete floor slab and the dense concrete blocks in the walls. This heat, slowly emitted, warmed the houses, reducing the need for a central heating system much of the time.</p>
<p>As the desired effect is only achieved in an airtight building – so that heat cannot escape the house – my team tested the air tightness of a demonstration house. We were surprised to find that the test instruments were telling us that the building was not airtight at all – there was a significant air leak. The search for the air leak took us to the attic space, where we found that heating pipes running from the solar hot water system on the roof into the house were routed through unnecessarily large and unsealed holes. We sealed the holes and carried out a successful air tightness test. The year was 1985.</p>
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<img alt="Houses with solar panels on the roof." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441521/original/file-20220119-23-v45o4s.jpeg?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">
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<span class="caption">Modern houses with solar panels on the roof for alternative energy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/modern-houses-solar-panels-on-roof-491984632">Shutterstock/esbobeldijk</a></span>
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<p>This has happened to me many times over the years. Buildings are rarely as airtight as construction companies claim them to be. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Designing-Zero-Carbon-Buildings-Using-Dynamic-Simulation-Methods/Jankovic/p/book/9781138658318">This is often due to</a> large holes drilled for small electricity cables; window frames peppered with holes; air leaks through loft hatches and door thresholds; air leaks through electrical sockets in walls and through holes for pipes in the floors.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/embodied-carbon-why-truly-net-zero-buildings-could-still-be-decades-away-170401">Embodied carbon: why truly net zero buildings could still be decades away</a>
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<p>Big house builders consider that it is too onerous to improve air tightness, and some argue that this may be why the regulations <a href="https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/airtightness">haven’t changed for years</a>.</p>
<h2>Meaningless assessments</h2>
<p>Carbon dioxide emissions came on the horizon in the first decade of this century as something that needed to be better controlled in buildings.</p>
<p>In 2006, I was cautiously optimistic about the future of house building in the UK. The EU’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energy-performance-buildings-directive_en">Energy Performance of Buildings Directive</a> had just been adopted in <a href="https://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/Scotland/Energy_Performance_of_Buildings_Directive_(EPBD).pdf">Building Regulations</a> in England and Wales. This meant that the assessment of building energy performance would become mandatory in the UK. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) would be required for every commercial or residential building when constructed, sold or let, and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) would be required in buildings with a floor area of over 250m², occupied by public authorities and frequently visited by the public. </p>
<p>As an academic who is also a practising engineer, I received authorisation to assess energy performance of buildings and to issue EPCs and DECs. But soon I realised that there were various routes to the same qualification. Under some of these schemes, <a href="https://www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk/Domestic-Energy-Assessor-Condensed-5-Day-Classroom/25-04-2022">it became possible</a> for people with no previous qualifications or experience in building performance to retrain from unrelated vocational qualifications and become government-approved energy performance assessors in just a week.</p>
<p>Soon, the market was awash with poorly-trained energy performance assessors. While shadowing one of the on-site assessors, it astonished me that they did not even consider the orientation of the building, thus missing crucial information on heat gains and losses. Instead of improving the overall performance of the building stock, boxes were ticked and the buildings appeared to be better on paper, while in reality they were not much better than they had always been.</p>
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<img alt="Energy efficiency form and a calculator." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440752/original/file-20220113-1343-u3w2d4.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">
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<span class="caption">How much do these energy performance certificates really mean?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/colorful-energy-efficiency-chart-calculator-264753443">Niyazz/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<h2>Failed government initiatives</h2>
<p>Similar failures have followed. England’s Green Homes Grant, for example, was recently described as a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/01/uk-green-homes-scheme-was-slam-dunk-fail-says-public-accounts-committee">slam dunk fail</a>” by the public accounts committee. This scheme, launched in 2020, was to provide £5,000 grants for improving the thermal insulation of homes. Only 47,000 homes out of the 600,000 planned were upgraded, and more than £1,000 per upgraded home was spent on administration. The scheme was scrapped in 2021. </p>
<p>This is not the first time we’ve seen a government scheme scrapped. There have been multiple grants that have been poorly planned and have turned out to be inadequate, with some of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-heres-how-much-progress-the-uk-has-made-on-three-key-net-zero-pledges-169701">new ones</a> likely to only scratch the surface.</p>
<p>Looking back, the construction industry has a long history of substandard performance. The industry faces a <a href="https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/market-analysis-construction-skills-shortage-aging-workforce-reduced-immigration">titanic struggle for skills</a> that appears to be <a href="https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/modus/business-and-skills/better-business/closing-the-skills-gap-uk-construction.html">long term and structural</a>. Many energy performance assessors are not sufficiently trained and can qualify in five days with <a href="https://www.energy-trust.co.uk/training-courses/cat-2-domestic-energy-assessor/">no prior experience</a>, rendering energy performance certificates nearly meaningless. And the government has discontinued multiple green subsidy schemes, which is the only way the general public will be encouraged to retrofit or improve the housing stock. </p>
<p>Yet many new developments have been trumpeted as “green” in one way or another, with no rigorous analysis of that green status. For instance, it is not uncommon that a prefabricated building system is claimed to be net zero by its manufacturer without calculating the total embodied emissions contained in the individual materials used in its manufacture. This is due to the lack of long term coordinated thinking.</p>
<h2>We know how to do it</h2>
<p>The thing is: we actually know how to build a truly zero carbon house. So why are we not doing it, on a massive scale?</p>
<p>I have used the <a href="https://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk/">Birmingham Zero Carbon House</a> as evidence of this since 2010. This is a retrofitted house, based on an 1840, end-of-terrace brick house. Retrofitting is a process of adding something to a building that was not done or available at the time of construction. This includes thermal insulation, measures for improving air tightness, and adding renewable energy systems and other heat sources. In 2009, the house was extended and retrofitted with super insulation – thermal insulation that is two to three times thicker than regularly used. </p>
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<img alt="A modernist extension on a red brick traditional house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440658/original/file-20220113-23-mh4wqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">John Christophers’ Zero Carbon House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Ljubomir Jankovic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Three energy sources were installed: a photovoltaic system that converts the sun’s energy into electricity; a solar thermal system that uses the sun’s energy to heat and store water for domestic use; and a wood burning stove, run on fallen tree branches from the garden, which is used on a handful of days during the cold winter months. </p>
<p>The owner and architect of this house, John Christophers, did not have problems with poor workmanship during the retrofit. He avoided this by briefing the workforce on site before they started work and explaining the consequences of high quality work on building performance. Thanks to their superlative work, the house achieved a <a href="https://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk/technical/insulation-and-airtightness-technical/">record-breaking level of airtightness</a>, ten times lower than required by the UK’s building regulations.</p>
<p>In 2010, while I was installing scientific monitoring instruments in the house, a representative from a gas company showed up unannounced – they expected some wrongdoing, as the house had been disconnected from the gas supply and had never been reconnected. In fact, the gas supply was no longer required as the Christophers used electricity collected from the sun for cooking and fallen tree branches for heating.</p>
<p>On one cold winter’s night, when I brought my lab’s heat detecting camera to search for heat escaping from the house, the images it produced were almost completely dark – indicating minimum heat loss.</p>
<p>As early adopters of a Feed In Tariff when the house was retrofitted, the Christophers currently receive over £1,500 annually for electricity generation. Combined with the £4,200 they save annually in energy costs compared with a conventional house of the same geometry, they are £5,700 per year better off than living in a conventional home. </p>
<p>The return on investment of the Birmingham Zero Carbon House is 193% over the 25 years following the retrofit, and is forecast to make the owners just over £91,000 over that period. Christophers and his family are thrilled. He said:</p>
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<p>Living in the zero carbon house puts us more closely in touch with the rhythm of days and seasons: we’re very conscious of the abundance – or occasionally the precious scarcity – of solar hot water and electricity, and the quality of natural light. Even after 12 years, it still feels miraculous that it can be below freezing outside, yet warm inside and generating hot water at over 50°C while cooking on solar electricity.</p>
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<img alt="A crane lowers down a wall and windows over an existing house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440659/original/file-20220113-25-1qbfkn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Installing external insulation in the retrofit project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Ljubomir Jankovic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The benefits of living in efficient buildings are not just monetary or climate-related. They also impact on health and wellbeing. Emma*, who lives in a building I coordinated the retrofitting of in a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778818333395?via%3Dihub">different project</a>, told me: “I did not need heating when outside temperature dropped below freezing yesterday. The house feels like home now – no damp, no dust, no noise.” Cynthia*, who lived next door, said, “I have stopped using my asthma puffer.”</p>
<p>The last comment touched me deeply. This was the consequence of better internal conditions: no damp due to higher internal temperatures, and no dust due to filtering of air in the mechanical ventilation system. It was gratifying to see how much our work had transformed this person’s life. Retrofitting more of the UK’s buildings would not only drastically decrease the UK’s carbon emissions, but could also improve health across the population and put less pressure on the NHS.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Designing-Zero-Carbon-Buildings-Using-Dynamic-Simulation-Methods/Jankovic/p/book/9781138658318">We know</a> how to build or retrofit zero carbon houses – but we need to be doing a lot more of it. This is because big developers fear higher costs. This perception has resulted in zero carbon projects run as private and one-off initiatives.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-afford-to-just-build-greener-we-must-build-less-170570">We can't afford to just build greener. We must build less</a>
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<h2>Today’s housing</h2>
<p>My team and I wanted to look more deeply into how today’s housing can be improved, over and above building regulations, and went into collaboration with a local council in Hertfordshire. We looked for a housing development that had received planning permission, but had not yet been constructed. We found a cluster of six family houses with planning approval to be built in accordance with UK building regulations, with no requirement for net zero performance.</p>
<p>We wanted to find out what it would take to redesign these houses in a way that would make them net zero houses. Crucially, we also wanted to include embodied emissions in this assessment – not only taking into account the energy usage of the house once built, but also the carbon costs of the building materials and the actual construction of the house. What, we wanted to know, does it take to build a house that doesn’t contribute to the climate crisis at all?</p>
<p>We used computer modelling to redesign these houses with improved thermal insulation, heat pumps and solar electricity panels. We then calculated the embodied emissions of all the conventional materials which went into building the houses using the materials from the original design. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2021.754733/full">We found</a> that the combined emissions – when balanced out by the excess renewable energy generated by the completed house – would not reach zero until 2065. </p>
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<img alt="Blue architectural computer model of a building against green background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440656/original/file-20220113-23-1rrzeqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A computer model used in this research into embodied emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Ljubomir Jankovic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>But we found that replacing the brick, concrete blocks and conventional insulation with hempcrete – a form of naturally grown hemp bonded with lime – drastically cut the home’s embodied emissions. <a href="https://www.brebookshop.com/details.jsp?id=325431">Hempcrete has negative embodied emissions</a>: -108 kg CO₂ per cubic metre. This is because the hemp crop absorbs more CO₂ as it grows than is released while making it into hempcrete. By making the switch to hempcrete, the starting embodied emissions of the homes were 83kg of CO₂ per square metre of floor area. That was much lower than the 161kg per square metre if the same building was made using conventional materials.</p>
<p>When combined with renewable energy systems, we calculated that the total emissions of this hempcrete building would reach zero by 2045. Hempcrete is of course not the only possible material – straw bale and timber construction and other bio-sourced materials also have the potential to reduce embodied emissions.</p>
<p>In addition to drastically ramping up the energy efficiency requirements for new builds, we should also urgently develop regulations for retrofitting existing houses. In 2050, 19.1 million of <a href="https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Housing_stock_/_building_stock">today’s homes</a>, some 80% of the current 23.9 million, <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/members/article/uk-needs-to-retrofit-26-million-homes-by-2050-to-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions">will still be in use</a>. And to retrofit 19.1 million homes to net zero operational emissions by 2050 we need to retrofit approximately 1,870 homes every day. This is simply not going to happen given the current scale of government pledges and the state of the construction industry.</p>
<p>Even if retrofitted to meet the best energy efficiency standards, these existing buildings will take some time to reach net zero once combined embodied and operational emissions are taken into account. This is even true of the Birmingham Zero Carbon House, which was retrofitted from a Victorian brick building. I calculated that it will reach embodied and operational emission net zero in 2030.</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>I did some <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Designing-Zero-Carbon-Buildings-Using-Dynamic-Simulation-Methods/Jankovic/p/book/9781138658318">simple calculations</a> and found that the energy our planet receives from the sun in approximately one hour is sufficient to meet the world’s energy consumption requirements for an entire year. But we do not yet have the technology to take advantage of this. We need to scale up investment, research and development towards this goal. After all, it is often said that we <a href="https://theconversation.com/technologies-to-manage-climate-change-already-exist-but-uk-needs-to-scale-up-efforts-urgently-127150">already have</a> the tech to do this, it is just the willpower that’s missing.</p>
<p>Nothing should be off the table when it comes to bringing climate change under control. We need to tap into the vast amount of solar energy that literally goes over our heads while we continue to use fossil fuels. And we need to use <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/297/1/012023">innovative financial models</a> to supplement conventional finance, which is always in short supply and not easy to secure.</p>
<p>Better education of architects, engineers and construction managers is required. Increased understanding of the ingredients of good building performance will lead to better choices of building materials and distribution of these materials. It will become more widely understood that excessively glazed buildings use excessive energy for heating and cooling, and that buildings built from photosynthetic materials, such as hempcrete, straw bale, and others are superlative.</p>
<p>Detailed modelling of buildings will be required, too. The cost of high-end building simulation <a href="https://www.bdcnetwork.com/energy-modeling-payback-typically-short-one-two-months">pays for itself</a> within two months of construction – so education and training programmes for building simulation professionals must be developed to empower them to design better buildings. And every building should be equipped with built-in sensors, to inform the user of its performance in real time. This is already a standard practice in cars, but buildings are much more expensive and use more energy.</p>
<p>Most property developers will always comply with the minimum required standard. But these regulations are sub par. My hopes for change grew ahead of an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conservation-of-fuel-and-power-approved-document-l">update</a> to part of the UK Building Regulations last December. But my views after the update aligned with the “<a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/architects-slam-extremely-disappointing-changes-to-energy-efficiency-regs?tkn=1">extremely disappointing</a>” verdict of the wider professional community. Policy after policy falls far short of what is needed to achieve net zero targets. These regulations urgently need to be improved – along with guidance for the retrofitting of existing buildings. And all of these measures will only lead to improvements if we increase the quality of workmanship. </p>
<p>The construction industry, then, needs a radical overhaul. Only then can we expect the industry to meet net zero. If not, it simply will not happen.</p>
<p><em>*Some of the names in this article have been changed to protect anonymity.</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/oil-companies-are-ploughing-money-into-fossil-fuelled-plastics-production-at-a-record-rate-new-research-169690?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Oil companies are ploughing money into fossil-fuelled plastics production at a record rate – new research</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-my-20-years-in-afghanistan-taught-me-about-the-taliban-and-how-the-west-consistently-underestimates-them-167927?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">What my 20 years in Afghanistan taught me about the Taliban – and how the west consistently underestimates them</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-nothing-left-the-catastrophic-consequences-of-criminalising-livelihoods-in-west-africa-157454?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘We have nothing left’ – the catastrophic consequences of criminalising livelihoods in west Africa</a></em></p></li>
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ljubomir Jankovic received funding from EPSRC, EU, EUREKA, ARTEMIS, KTP, Innovate UK, Research England, and AHRC. </span></em></p>
We know how to build a truly zero carbon house. So why are we not doing it, on a massive scale?
Ljubomir Jankovic, Professor of Advanced Building Design, University of Hertfordshire
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171274
2021-12-07T17:30:13Z
2021-12-07T17:30:13Z
A year of COVID vaccines: how the UK pinned its hopes on the jab – and why those hopes are under threat
<p>A year ago, Margaret Keenan made history. On December 8 2020, she became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outside of a clinical trial. Ninety-year-old Keenan <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55227325">described it as</a> the “best early birthday present”. It was a moment of shining hope in what had been a dark year of deaths, lockdowns and disrupted lives.</p>
<p>Before the vaccines, death rates from COVID were very high, especially in older adults, with rates <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1">between 5% and 15%</a> in people over the age of 75 years. Other than pursuing a zero-COVID elimination strategy – an exceedingly difficult task in a globalised world with such an infectious virus – the only other option was to control and delay the spread of the coronavirus until vaccines arrived.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/zero-covid-worked-for-some-countries-but-high-vaccine-coverage-is-now-key-169327">Zero COVID worked for some countries – but high vaccine coverage is now key</a>
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<p>There was <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-hold-your-breath-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-in-2020-137441">no guarantee</a> in the early days of the pandemic that an effective vaccine could be developed in time to make a difference. However, we have seen not just one but several vaccines developed. Better yet, most of these vaccines are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/8/1030/htm">highly effective</a> at protecting against severe disease and death from COVID.</p>
<p>The UK was among the first countries in the world to start vaccinating its population, and a herculean effort was mounted to immunise the elderly and vulnerable adults, as well as health and care workers. From a standing start, the NHS rapidly ramped up vaccine deployment, aided to a large extent by the efforts of thousands of GPs, community health professionals and volunteers. </p>
<p>In the early months, the UK out-vaccinated most of the rest of the world. The pace of the rollout was phenomenal. The highest number of new vaccinations reported in one day in the UK <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-marks-one-year-since-approving-covid-19-vaccine-with-boost-day">was 844,285</a> (March 20 2021) - the equivalent of vaccinating the entire population of Liverpool.</p>
<p>However, rates of immunisation have slowed, and other nations, such as Spain, Japan and Canada, have <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/united-kingdom?country=GBR%7EFRA%7EESP%7ECAN%7EAUS">overtaken the UK</a>. One year on, though, it is still an amazing achievement. <a href="https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations">Almost 90%</a> of people aged 12 and over in the UK has had at least one dose. </p>
<p>In the first ten months of the vaccination programme, it is estimated the UK immunisation programme <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1029606/Vaccine-surveillance-report-week-43.pdf">saved 127,500 lives and averted more than 24 million infections</a>.</p>
<p>But the journey has not been smooth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart showing share of people vaccinated against COVID by country." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435864/original/file-20211206-27-1txv27r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">Our World In Data</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Vaccine scares</h2>
<p>Not long after the first jab was administered at University Hospital in Coventry, controversies and issues began to emerge. One of the earliest was concerns about the vaccine dosing interval. </p>
<p>The interval between the first and second dose of the Pfizer vaccine was meant to be three to four weeks. But faced with a rapidly spreading third wave of infections driven by the new alpha variant, the UK government decided to delay second-dose jabs to 12 weeks to <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/12/C0994-System-letter-COVID-19-vaccination-deployment-planning-30-December-2020.pdf">maximise vaccine coverage</a> and to “protect the greatest number of at-risk people overall in the shortest possible time”. The decision created a furore as it went against the vaccine manufacturers’ advised schedules. </p>
<p>There were concerns that vulnerable people who had only received a single dose would be <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n710.short">less protected</a> and that immune protection would not last as long. Fortunately, it was the right call and those fears have not transpired. Indeed, studies suggest the longer interval <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00528-6/fulltext?dgcid=hubspot_email_newsletter_lancetcovid21&utm_campaign=lancetcovid21&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114313022&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_wkj8TA1T5MIgEqDQATd-NwiIjuX8abWPgLhnNx3SbkRzsf574ZtfSH9Xti15kQPsZyDwVgbEqjYskJ6Bap-MRempm2g&utm_content=114313095&utm_source=hs_email">improved the vaccines’ effectiveness</a>.</p>
<p>There were also safety concerns about the vaccine, and two examples stand out. </p>
<p>First, in February 2021, it emerged that there was the risk of a rare blood-clotting disorder called <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhae/article/PIIS2352-3026(21)00306-9/fulltext">cerebral venous sinus thrombosis</a> (CVST) following vaccination with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. This led to <a href="https://www.cityam.com/why-have-almost-half-eu-countries-restricted-use-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine/">many countries</a> restricting the use of the vaccine to older adults where the risk was lower. In the UK, people under the age of 30 were <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-restricts-use-of-oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-in-under-30s-over-rare-blood-clots/">offered an alternative</a> to the AstraZeneca vaccine.</p>
<p>CVST, however, remains a rare event. Despite 25 million first doses of the vaccine being administered, to date, only <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1033095/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_03.11.2021_FINAL.pdf">154 cases</a> have been reported to the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority. </p>
<p>Second, there were concerns about the elevated risk of myocarditis (inflammation and damage to the heart muscle) particularly in males aged 12 to 29 following the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. However, the actual risk of myocarditis was again <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7027e2.htm?s_cid=mm7027e2_e">very small</a> and the benefits of vaccination far outweighed the risk. What’s more, the risk of myocarditis was much greater with COVID infection (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7988375/">220 per million</a>) than from vaccination. In the US where the vaccine is more extensively used in younger adults, the incidence of myocarditis after vaccination was reported to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8324414/">four per million doses</a>.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, safety concerns and <a href="https://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2021/11/01/archdischild-2021-323040">uncertainties of the risks and benefits</a> of immunising children have led the UK to adopt a much more cautious approach to rolling out vaccines to the entire population, particularly to younger age groups where cases of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01578-1">severe COVID are rare</a>. Some have argued that caution is needed because, in the long run, the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d42859-020-00024-5">loss of public trust</a> in national vaccination programmes could take a long time to regain.</p>
<p>However, the caution of rolling out vaccination to school-aged children meant an opportunity was missed to immunise children over the summer. Belatedly, the UK’s chief medical officers <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-15-years-against-covid-19/universal-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-15-years-against-covid-19">advised the government</a> to vaccinate children aged 12-15 years in September. This meant most children were susceptible to infection at the start of the school year. For many, the vaccines would come too late. </p>
<p>In the absence of adequate mitigation measures, such as more mask-wearing, isolation of contacts and better ventilation in schools, infections spread rapidly in schools in England over the next few months. By mid-November, rates of infection <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19latestinsights/hospitals">were highest</a> in young children and secondary school children. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vaccinating-teenagers-is-beneficial-even-if-their-vulnerability-to-covid-19-is-low-165690">Vaccinating teenagers is beneficial, even if their vulnerability to COVID-19 is low</a>
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<p>Vaccination uptake rates in the under 18s still lag behind the adult population quite considerably, with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/dec/05/covid-figures-reveal-extent-of-vaccine-disparity-in-england">less than half of 12- to 15-year-olds</a> having received their first dose so far.</p>
<h2>Vaccine disparities</h2>
<p>Despite the enthusiastic roll out of vaccines by the NHS in early 2021, disparities in the <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.25.21250356v3.full">coverage and uptake</a> of vaccines emerged. This particularly affected minority ethnic groups, people living in deprived areas and those with severe mental illness or learning disabilities. </p>
<p>Issues with the accessibility and acceptability of vaccines for these groups are possible explanations. In the pursuit of achieving high population vaccine coverage, this may come at the cost of bypassing underserved groups and risks further <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n986.short">entrenching health inequalities</a>. </p>
<p>Vaccine hesitancy is also <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandwellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandvaccinehesitancygreatbritain/13januaryto7february2021">more likely</a> in these groups. There are several reasons for vaccine hesitancy, including <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/9/8/900/htm">vaccine safety concerns</a> and misperceptions about the risk of getting COVID and of becoming seriously ill. To this end, the NHS, local authorities and community-based organisations have made considerable effort to contact and promote vaccine uptake in many of these groups where uptake is low. But it remains a persistent issue.</p>
<p>Social media, as well as some mainstream media, have also had a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/coronavirus-conspiracy-suspicions-general-vaccine-attitudes-trust-and-coronavirus-information-source-as-predictors-of-vaccine-hesitancy-among-uk-residents-during-the-covid19-pandemic/FEC34AA0D1972E3A761C784A39D26536">negative influence</a> on vaccine uptake through misinformation, disinformation or the spread of conspiracy theories. At the extreme end, an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c8eeyd509zet/anti-vaccination-movement">anti-vaccination movement</a> has emerged, some with links to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1286457920301581">anti-lockdown and COVID-denialists</a> views. Some of their activities have become increasingly aggressive, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/anti-vaxxers-target-uk-schools-across-for-protests-against-covid-vaccine-roll-out-for-12-to-15-year-olds/ar-AAOJ6Du">including targeting</a> schools, children, parents and health professionals. </p>
<p>Separately, to protect vulnerable patients and care home residents, the government has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-introduce-covid-19-vaccination-as-a-condition-of-deployment-for-all-frontline-health-and-social-care-workers">made it mandatory</a> for health and social care workers to be vaccinated in England. This has been a controversial decision, not least from an <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1903.full">ethical and civil liberties</a> perspective. Apart from concerns about the loss of personal choice in the matter, there are also concerns that such an approach may backfire, undermining trust in the establishment, potentially increasing marginalisation and vaccine scepticism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-uk-shouldnt-introduce-mandatory-covid-vaccination-173179">Why the UK shouldn’t introduce mandatory COVID vaccination</a>
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<h2>Vaccine passports</h2>
<p>A person’s vaccination status has not just been used as a requirement for certain occupations, it has also been used as a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-covid-pass">qualifier</a> for international travel and entry to sporting events, music festivals and theatres. The so-called vaccine passport is not a new idea, having parallels with the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, created by the World Health Organization for diseases such as cholera, yellow fever, plague and typhoid. </p>
<p>Vaccine passports have enabled many of these events to take place and have made international tourism <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56522408">possible once again</a>. While many countries have taken up the idea of vaccine passports, there is no universal vaccine passport accepted by all of them, and debates continue as to which vaccines qualify and the number of jabs needed. </p>
<p>There have also been questions about whether they <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01451-0%C2%A0">actually work</a>, fears about the loss of privacy and concerns that they <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n861.long">discriminate against</a> those who can’t or won’t be vaccinated. In particular, low- and middle-income countries are disadvantaged as they have lower vaccine coverage.</p>
<h2>Global vaccine inequity</h2>
<p>Indeed, the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">global disparities</a> in access to vaccines is stark. Over 54% of the world’s population has been vaccinated, but only 6% of the population in poor countries. Achieving high levels of vaccine coverage in rich countries would allow a degree of normality to return to them – but it would be a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7849482/pdf/main.pdf">fragile normality</a>. </p>
<p>While infections spread uncontrolled elsewhere in the world, there is a possibility that new variants of the virus will emerge, some of which might carry genetic mutations that allow it to evade vaccine immunity. These variants could easily be imported back into rich countries. This risk appears to be materialising in the form of the latest variant of concern, omicron, that emerged in late November. Initially reported in southern Africa, it has now been detected in <a href="https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events/epidemiological-update-omicron-data-30-november-2021">many countries around the world</a>.</p>
<p>If the aim is to achieve more enduring security, infections have to be tackled elsewhere, and this requires fairer distribution of vaccines. This echoes UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063132#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CIn%20an%20interconnected%20world%2C%20none%20of%20us%20is,of%20us%20are%20safe%E2%80%9D%2C%20the%20UN%20Secretary-General%20insisted.">message</a> back in May 2020 that, “None of us is safe until we all are.”</p>
<h2>Boosters</h2>
<p>The other worrying trend that has emerged since Keenan had that first COVID jab back in December 2020, is <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2114583">waning vaccine protection</a>, especially in older adults. Thankfully, vaccine protection against severe disease and death appears to <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.15.21263583v2">remain high</a>. That said, a small drop in vaccine protection could still lead to many infected people ending up in hospitals. </p>
<p>This led to the UK government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/most-vulnerable-to-be-offered-covid-19-booster-vaccines-from-next-week">recommending booster doses</a> of the vaccine in September, initially for the elderly and the clinically vulnerable. Boosters will <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.22.21266692v1">top up protection</a> and help to prevent infections, especially for the most vulnerable. </p>
<p>Going into winter, there is the added threat of <a href="https://acmedsci.ac.uk/file-download/4747802">other seasonal infections</a>. Many of these infectious diseases had initially been kept at bay by COVID measures. But with the relaxation of these measures since the summer and more population mixing, this enables the spread of these diseases as well as COVID. </p>
<p>This will place considerable pressure on overstretched health services dealing with a backlog of health activity due to COVID as well as continued high levels of COVID infections. Maximising vaccine protection against COVID to reduce the effect on health services is therefore vital. However, it will be difficult for the NHS to mount a similar immunisation programme to the one we witnessed in early 2021. </p>
<h2>Omicron – a worrying development</h2>
<p>Just as the world should have been getting ready to celebrate the first anniversary of the COVID vaccine rollouts, omicron came along to spoil the party. </p>
<p>The recent emergence of this latest variant of concern is worrying. It has many mutations that make it potentially more infectious and able to <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron">evade immunity</a> from vaccines and previous infection – indeed, reinfection rates appear to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/dec/02/omicron-may-cause-more-covid-reinfections-say-south-african-experts">three times</a> that of the delta variant. It is <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n3013">spreading rapidly</a> in South Africa and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/04/omicron-outbreak-at-norway-christmas-party-is-biggest-outside-s-africa-authorities-say.html">beyond</a>, including in <a href="https://www.samrc.ac.za/news/tshwane-district-omicron-variant-patient-profile-early-features">vaccinated people</a>.</p>
<p>This new threat prompted the UK government to extend booster jabs <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/all-adults-to-be-offered-covid-19-boosters-by-end-of-january">to all adults</a>. Whether the boosters will provide enough protection against the new variant is not certain. To date, the government has relied on vaccine protection as the “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/health-secretary-statement-on-vaccines-as-a-condition-of-deployment">wall of defence</a>” against COVID. Against omicron, the current vaccines might not be enough, and further public health measures could be needed to buy time until <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/26/biontech-says-it-could-tweak-covid-vaccine-in-100-days-if-needed">newer vaccines</a> can be developed.</p>
<p>Vaccines offer the best protection, but as good as they are, no vaccine gives total protection. Looking to the future, the threat of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867421010576?via%3Dihub">new variants</a> of the virus emerging has not gone away. Whether we need more vaccine boosters will depend on how lethal the infections are, whether there is vaccine escape (that is, the immunity from vaccines is less effective against infection), and how long immunity from past infection or vaccination lasts. </p>
<p>Like the seasonal flu vaccines, regular COVID vaccines may be needed, and the vaccines themselves may have to be adapted to protect against the latest variant. Don’t be surprised if annual COVID vaccinations, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable, become a regular feature. </p>
<p>But, before we get too downhearted, let’s pause for a moment to celebrate this past year of COVID vaccines – <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">8.24 billion doses</a> administered globally – and the countless lives they have saved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Lee has previously received research funding from the National Institute for Health Research. He is a member of the UK Faculty of Public Health and the Royal Society for Public Health.</span></em></p>
The UK has been rolling out COVID vaccines for a year. It’s been quite a ride.
Andrew Lee, Reader in Global Public Health, University of Sheffield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171236
2021-12-02T11:24:47Z
2021-12-02T11:24:47Z
Pubic hair, nudism and the censor: the story of the photographic battle to depict the naked body
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434824/original/file-20211130-23570-1svylh9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C4%2C799%2C576&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© David Hurn/Magnum Photo, Courtesy of Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I look at nude bodies all the time in my work. Art history is full of them – painted, sculpted and photographed – and they fill the walls of galleries and museums. I stand before them, projected on screens, as I lecture on the subject. Earlier in my career, I posed on the other side of the artist’s easel, as a life model, where I looked at artists looking at me. This dual perspective has given me a privileged position, as both subject and surveyor of the nude. </p>
<p><a href="https://gagosian.com/artists/jenny-saville/">Contemporary artists</a> might critique the nude’s traditions and ideals, but the naked body is still the ground on which debates play out. Nudes in art can now take a range of forms and styles but one key aspect prevails in art galleries: they are most likely to be of women and created by men. </p>
<p>Feminist activists <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/guerrilla-girls-do-women-have-to-be-naked-to-get-into-the-met-museum-p78793">the Guerilla Girls</a>, who style themselves as the conscience of the art world, have kept a running count of exhibited works by female artists (around 4%) compared to the number of nudes that are female (around 76%) in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art for more than 30 years. The disparities remain stark.</p>
<p>The naked body and its visual depiction has always attracted attention and generated heated debate. What and who should be seen and shown, by whom and where, form the basis of the social and moral codes that shape behaviour and belief.</p>
<p>Today, the display of nudity remains contentious, particularly in the context of social media. This is both in relation to photographs of “real nude adults”, as <a href="https://transparency.fb.com/en-gb/policies/community-standards/adult-nudity-sexual-activity/?from=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcommunitystandards%2Fadult_nudity_sexual_activity">Facebook describes them</a>, and in relation to “artistic or creative” depictions of nudity, which are wholly banned by Instagram and its parent company.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UZq3cVgU5AI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Flanders Tourist Board posted a satirical video on YouTube showing tourists at the Rubens House, in Antwerp, being ushered away from paintings featuring nudity.</span></figcaption>
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<p>While Facebook officially states that it permits nudity in images of paintings and sculptures, there have been famous recent cases where photographs of celebrated artworks, including the 25,000-year-old figurine, the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2018/02/27/facebook-censors-30000-year-old-venus-of-willendorf-as-pornographic">Venus of Willendorf</a>, and 17th century paintings by <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44936601">Peter Paul Rubens</a> have been taken down and described as “pornographic”. To circumnavigate the censor, some museums have even recently opened <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/oct/16/vienna-museums-open-adult-only-onlyfans-account-to-display-nudes">accounts on OnlyFans</a>, a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57269939">controversial social media platform</a> most often associated with the promotion and sale of material intended to sexually arouse, rather than the viewing of fine art. </p>
<p>How did we get here? In my new book, <a href="http://atelier-editions.com/store/nudism-in-a-cold-climate-by-annebella-pollen">Nudism in a Cold Climate</a>, I’ve been examining earlier attitudes to nude bodies, and their photographic depiction, especially in relation to legal restrictions around the representation of nudists (also known as <a href="https://www.bn.org.uk/">naturists</a>), and the depiction of nudes in photographs produced as art in mid 20th-century Britain. The historic parallels are striking. </p>
<p>Facebook, for example, currently does not permit the depiction of “visible genitalia”, with limited exceptions around birth and health contexts, and even in these cases, it requires photoshopping for nude close-ups. A century ago, photographic “retouching”, as it was called, was also required for male and female genitals to meet the requirements of obscenity law.</p>
<p>What this meant, in practice, was that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/naked-utopia-how-englands-first-nudists-imagined-the-future-94454">emerging nudist movement in Britain</a>, formally founded in the 1920s but achieving popularity from the 1930s, could only depict nude bodies in their publications by photographing members and models in strategic poses that concealed sex organs and pubic hair. Where this was not possible, they needed to manipulate photographic negatives to blur genitals out, visually smooth them over, or even paint on underpants. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Nude woman heavily retouched (blurred) from the waist down on a beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431944/original/file-20211115-23-12xrohj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A heavily retouched photograph by Roye [Horace Narbeth]. ‘Beauty on the Beach’, Health and Efficiency, September 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Vanessa Gibson of the Colin Narbeth Collection, and Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For a movement founded on liberation from convention and bodily visibility, this was a core contradiction, and the resulting photographs created a sense of forbidden fruit. This was exactly the message that nudists wished to avoid.</p>
<h2>Nude for health</h2>
<p>Early nudists insisted that going nude, outdoors, in groups, was good for physical and mental health. They also wanted a clear moral distinction to be made between nude bodies and sexual desire. They argued, in the 1930s, in the pages of their magazine, Sun Bathing Review, that “honest photography would induce mental honesty, and help sweep away the rude idea of sex-secrecy”. </p>
<p>Retouched photographs, on the other hand, were “more likely to create squeamishness, hypocrisy, and misunderstanding, and thus retard the progress we are trying to make towards freedom and sanity”. Retouched bodies were described as “mutilated”, yet nudists acknowledged that the alternative, “a pictorial world where everyone turns his or her back to the spectator”, risked monotony.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of men and women sit at tables, naked apart from their shoes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431943/original/file-20211115-21-gsid3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Uncredited photographer, ‘A Corner of the Restaurant’, Spielplatz Nudist Camp, 1948.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Spielplatz Estate Archive, Courtesy of Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early nudist magazines in Britain met constraints about what they could picture even when they didn’t agree with the law’s assessment of what was obscene. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Obscene-Publications-Act">The 1857 Obscene Publications Act</a> had been established to prosecute pornographic works – but as both obscenity and pornography depended on the eye of the beholder, for over a century fresh debate was required in each case. </p>
<p>Lord Chief Justice Cockburn’s 1868 definition of obscenity endured for much of the 20th century: that which could “deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall”.</p>
<p>Given its vague premise, obscenity prosecution rested on a range of factors including “circumstances of publication”. <a href="https://london.ac.uk/senate-house-library/our-collections/special-collections/printed-special-collections/craig-collection">Alec Craig</a>, an ardent nudist and vociferous anti-censorship campaigner, advised in the 1930s that “snaps taken in a nudist camp cannot be considered ‘obscene’”.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>But he warned: “What may be perfectly innocuous in one set of circumstances may be ‘obscene’ in another. To take an extreme example,” he noted, “nude photographs, quite unobjectionable in normal circumstances, might be held to be ‘obscene’ if circulated in a convent school.” Likewise, outside of the careful framing of the nudist magazine, a nude photograph carried a range of meanings that could prove hard to pin down in a court of law.</p>
<p>Nudist magazines published photographs to show the movement’s ideals but many members did not wish to be depicted for reasons of respectability. Few practitioners were professional photographers. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertram_Park">Those who were</a> preferred to use models as subjects. </p>
<p>The emerging imagery of nudism was a mixture of candid photographs of camp life, painterly depictions of young slim bodies in pastoral settings, and action photographs showing athletic bodies exercising. As men’s bodies needed to be doctored with a heavier hand to pass the censor, and as nudism was dominated at the outset by men (as members, photographers, writers, editors and readers), nude women were its central photographic focus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="On the left a photograph shows a naked woman leap-frogging another; on the right, a man in briefs holding a rock aloft." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431946/original/file-20211115-23-k2h1oj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photographs of outdoor nude and nearly nude bodies appeared in nudist magazines and art publications alike. Colin C Clark, 1952, (L) John Everard, 1955 (R).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(L): Colin R. Clark, 'Gymnasts', July 1952, © Colin R. Clark Estate; (R):John Everard, untitled [man and rock], 1955. Courtesy of the John Everard Estate and Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the 1930s, female photographic nudes could be found on the walls of photography exhibitions as well as in the pages of art, anatomy and anthropology books, men’s magazines, daily newspapers, photojournalist weeklies and naturist monthlies. In some cases, with adjusted context, the same images could appear in all these locations, challenging nudism’s claims that its publications and its photographs were morally and aesthetically distinct. </p>
<h2>The nude photograph on trial</h2>
<p>This was the case with photographs by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jun/21/guardianobituaries.arts">Horace Narbeth</a>, professionally known as “Roye”, whose prolific and commercially adaptable imagery was repurposed for a wide range of audiences and arguments. Roye’s photographs, always of young women, often posed in outdoor settings, simultaneously articulated abstract notions of “beauty” and “womanhood” in art books, and ideas about “freedom” and “nature” in nudist publications. They illustrated technical guidance in photography magazines and offered titillation in pin-up pamphlets.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A naked woman on a tiger-skin rug with her breasts and genitals concealed by blue pencils" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434429/original/file-20211129-13-wp5l7c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roye [Horace Narbeth], Phyllis in Censorland (London: Camera Studies Club, c. 1942, reprinted 1965).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the Colin Narbeth Collection and Nudism in a Cold Climate.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Roye had long been frustrated with British obscenity regulations and made play with what he perceived to be their hypocrisies in his 1942 publication, Phyllis in Censorland. The cover design showed burlesque dancer <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFRP5GGO4XE">Phyllis Dixey</a>, the so-called British queen of striptease, naked on a tiger skin rug, but with her breasts and genitals concealed by the blue pencils of the censor. Its contents comprised nude and near-nude photographs, accompanied by mocking verses. Each poem pilloried those who sought to protect public morals while enjoying privileged pleasures of surveillance.</p>
<p>Roye reissued his book during the mid-1950s when the seizure of printed material on obscenity grounds was at a new high. The 1951 Conservative government oversaw escalating destruction orders and extended punishments in a period when cheap magazines were booming. The desire to contain them led to a protracted legal power struggle. </p>
<p>In 1954, for example, around 167,000 books and magazines were seized, and imprisonments ranged from three to 18 months. In their enthusiasm to uphold public morals, magistrates ordered the destruction of eminent artistic and literary works including Boccaccio’s 14th century <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Decameron">the Decameron</a>.</p>
<p>In 1958, Roye went one step further and launched a private subscription series of un-retouched nudes under the title Unique Editions. Repurposing earlier negatives, including those previously included as retouched illustrations in nudist magazines, the buff-covered volumes each comprised photographs of nude female models with visible pubic hair, carefully interleaved between tissue pages that conferred both art value and a sense of revelation. </p>
<p>While the content included naturist-style nudes in rural environments, which could offer some legal protection, the photographs attracted police attention. A thousand copies were seized from Roye’s studio. He was called to court.</p>
<p>Before the jury, Roye positioned himself in the aesthetic avant-garde. Retouching, he argued, was a sacrifice of “artistic integrity”. His defence lawyer argued that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Standards had changed since 1868, when pictures of Venus, in the Dulwich Gallery, had shocked Londoners; and it would be unrealistic to say that, in 1958, a photograph of a woman without clothing was an obscene thing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Roye built a case that drew on both his gentlemanly standing and his professional photographer status. He compiled letters of support arguing for the public benefit of viewing nude photographs. His supporters shared arguments with nudists who believed that sex crimes would be eliminated and Victorian prudishness overturned. </p>
<p>In Roye’s case, however, the public need for openness and bodily display seemed only to apply to the viewing of young female models’ flesh. Nonetheless, he was acquitted. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A slim nude woman reclines on a rock against the sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431948/original/file-20211115-13-1lmmxbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1051&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Roye, ‘Contemplation’, c.1944.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Vanessa Gibson of the Colin Narbeth Collection, and Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Roye’s prosecution coincided with proposals to revise the <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/LLN-2019-0103/LLN-2019-0103.pdf">Obscene Publications Act</a>. Following public derision when acclaimed cultural works had been seized, 1959 amendments exempted from prosecution material with literary or artistic merit.</p>
<p>The nude was singled out for mention in <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1958-12-16a.992.0&s=speaker%3A19722+speaker%3A19722">parliamentary discussions</a> about the problem of definition. The home secretary, Rab Butler, noted that nudes could be used for art historical lectures “to provide inspiration for the painter or photographer or, on the other hand, be degraded for the purposes of the pornographer’s wares”. Although MPs argued that it was “easy to tell the difference between the Song of Solomon and a collection of salacious photographs”, the problem was the evaluation of material in between.</p>
<h2>Freedom of vision</h2>
<p>Not all nude photographers had such success in court. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175145208X373789">Ethelred Jean Straker</a> was a Bohemian Soho photographer who ran a busy studio throughout the 1950s and 1960s providing classes for amateurs – mostly male – in the production of “artistic figure studies”, or nude photographs of models – always women. Straker tested the revised obscenity laws, but unlike Roye, he received guilty verdicts.</p>
<p>In 1958, he produced a book of nude photographs featuring pastiches of classical paintings alongside experimental lighting treatments in eclectic settings. It depicted female models amid looming shadows, dustbin lids, cellophane and vegetables. </p>
<p>Published in three languages, Straker’s book secured positive reviews from artistic luminaries but showed only a small, sanitised selection of his nude output, which extended to some 10,000 examples and included close-ups of women’s breasts, buttocks and genitalia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A middle-aged man with a camera peers between the bodies of two young nude women." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431949/original/file-20211115-13-1r5x138.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">David Hurn, ‘Jean Straker, owner of the Visual Arts Club Soho, c.1960’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© David Hurn/Magnum Photo, Courtesy of Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The full range of Straker’s work could be viewed and ordered for purchase via his Femina gallery, above his Soho studio. In his advertisements for his services, Straker described the female nude rapturously as “a microcosm of the forces which play upon the mind and emotions of the creative person”. He claimed his studies offered “not only a sense of affective perception but also a source of unimpaired anatomical evidence”. </p>
<p>Despite Straker’s artistic, psychological and clinical framing, his nudes repeatedly drew the attention of the police. In 1961 police raided his premises, and seized nearly 2,000 display cards and negatives, of which the majority were deemed obscene. </p>
<p>In 1962, in the High Court, Straker was a thorn in the side of the prosecution. Highly informed about the 1959 Obscene Publications Act, Straker reminded the court of their obligation to “uphold and license the freedoms of expression of the artist”. </p>
<p>Using his trial as a soapbox, he declared that it was “no longer in the power of any magistrate to use a relegated heritage of authoritarian orthodoxy to lay down rules as to how a photographic artist should portray female anatomy or arrange a woman’s limbs”. Despite pleas for the value of his work to art and science, Straker lost the case and was fined £150 (about £5,000 at today’s value). </p>
<p>Undeterred, he continued to sell “unretouched” nudes by mail order until he was prosecuted again in 1965. By this time, Straker was aware of wider shifts in public attitudes to nude bodies, especially among the new generation, and he became a vocal anti-censorship campaigner, calling for “freedom of vision” alongside freedom of speech. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A nude woman in a studio applies sun cream under the shadow of a tree" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434430/original/file-20211129-59485-1fv2o1b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jean Straker, ‘Sun Worship’, c.1958.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jean Straker/Science Museum Group. Courtesy of the Jean Straker Photographic Collection and Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1967, he made headlines as Oxford University’s student magazine, Oxymoron, published one of his un-retouched female nudes. Entitled “Sun Worship”, the subject was a stylised studio portrait of a sun bather applying sun lotion under the shadow of a tree. The print had been among material previously seized in a police raid but a decade later it was published with university authorisation and escaped prosecution, illustrating the changing times.</p>
<p>By the end of the 1960s, the battle to show more flesh was complete. Largely fought by male photographers over the bodies of women, the so-called “pink wars” had been won. Un-retouched photographic nudes were openly published in pornographic magazines, naturist periodicals and art books alike. </p>
<h2>New nude censorship debates</h2>
<p>Whether this led to greater bodily liberation, especially for the young women who are most likely to be depicted, was a question raised by feminists at the time, and it remains open for debate. Even after permissive barriers were broken and greater bodily visibility was enabled, the trajectory of nude depiction has not been straightforward. Campaigns for visibility continue to arise in the present day with new agendas in nude representation. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_the_nipple">Free the Nipple</a>, for example, stakes similar claims in its calls for freedom from censorship on social media. Like earlier protests against the photographic retouching of genitals, its campaigners see the characterisation of women’s bodies as sexual and offensive – when male toplessness is considered neutral – as illogical. </p>
<p>But unlike earlier campaigners against retouching, it is now mostly young women leading the charge, creating the philosophies, taking the photographs and controlling consent.</p>
<p>Why has the showing of nudity remained so fraught? The issue remains one of context and intention. Naturists have argued hard that social nudity can be non-sexual, and naturism has fiercely protected legal status. </p>
<p>Photographs of nude bodies, however, naturist or otherwise, can serve a range of purposes and, like all photographs, they are open to a wide range of readings and meanings, reinterpretations and reuse. Photographers and publishers may argue for the value of full-frontal nudes to communicate health, artistry and freedom, but even photographs produced for non-sexual communication can serve sexual ends. </p>
<p>On social media, where photographic quantities are vast and mostly surveyed by machine, it is easier for Facebook to apply blanket bans than engage with individual nude images’ complexities. While it states that <a href="https://transparency.fb.com/en-gb/policies/community-standards/adult-nudity-sexual-activity/?from=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcommunitystandards%2Fadult_nudity_sexual_activity">its policies have become more nuanced over time</a>, they are still unable to cope with the sometimes subtle borderlines between categories. Facebook recognises that nudes can be used “as a form of protest, to raise awareness about a cause or for educational or medical reasons”, and says they make allowances “where such intent is clear”. </p>
<p>However, many forms of bodily display, including in artistic practice, do not fit Facebook’s frames, and intention is notoriously hard to gauge in a photograph. These were the technical and semantic distinctions on which nude photographers’ court cases were won and lost historically, and issues of intent and use remain today.</p>
<p>At the end of the second world war, nudist Michael Rutherford addressed “historians of the future” in his field guide, entitled British Naturism. He predicted that scholars would consider the practice “among the significant and important happenings of this, the 20th century”. He wrote: “If our grandchildren can say of us, as they grow up to a sane acceptance of their own bodies: ‘What was all that fuss about …?’ we shall have done our part.” </p>
<p>But a century after the founding of nudism as a social movement, and 50 years since non-manipulated nude photographs could be printed without fear of prosecution, the current censorship of nudes on social media seems regressive. </p>
<p>We are Rutherford’s grandchildren, but we certainly do not have the “sane” attitudes to nudity that he predicted. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article was amended on December 4. Peter Paul Rubens had been erroneously described as a 15th rather than 17th century artist.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annebella Pollen 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>
A century ago, early British nudists had to fight for the right to publish naked photos – the similarities with social media today are striking.
Annebella Pollen, Reader in the History of Art and Design, University of Brighton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/167927
2021-11-30T13:56:53Z
2021-11-30T13:56:53Z
What my 20 years in Afghanistan taught me about the Taliban – and how the west consistently underestimates them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434822/original/file-20211130-27-fxdhr8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1678%2C1245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author has an evening cuppa while searching for a lost convoy of medical supplies – in remote Zibok district (1996).
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was April 1995, and I was preparing to travel to Afghanistan for my first volunteer post with a UK charity. I had travelled to London to meet the Afghanistan director for the non-governmental organisation (NGO) I was going to be working for and now sat in their tiny office facing him. My father had travelled to Afghanistan in the 1970s and loved it. His stories had mesmerised me. After years of dreaming about going to Afghanistan, I would finally be on my way.</p>
<p>I was nervous and had no idea what to expect. Would I find the war-torn nation I had read about in the newspapers or the beautiful country photographed by Roland and Sabrina Michaud – photographers who roamed Afghanistan in the 1970s and captured a wealth of faces and landscapes in their incredible <a href="https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/afghanistan/author/michaud-roland-michaud-sabrina/used/">photobooks</a>? I asked the director about the threat of the Taliban. He said: “Sippi, by the time the Taliban take Afghanistan, I’ll be dead and you’ll be an old lady.” </p>
<p>How wrong he was.</p>
<p>Back then, the Taliban were generally considered to be just another faction of the Mujahideen, the Muslim fighters who rose up to push the invading Soviet army out of Afghanistan. Many thought they were so extreme that their early successes would be short-lived and of little consequence. I put them out of my head.</p>
<p>I was 25 at the time. But by the time I was 27, towards the end of 1996 – and still living in Afghanistan – the Taliban had taken most of the country. After the events of September 11, 2001, however, Afghanistan was invaded by US, UK and NATO forces, which displaced the Taliban and installed a new government. But the Taliban never went away and the new regime didn’t last. And in August this year, what I had long expected finally came to pass – once again, the Taliban were in power. Towns, checkpoints and any form of resistance had just toppled like so many dominoes before them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman on a donkey against a mountainous backdrop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432347/original/file-20211117-17-1ygow8z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author heading off into hill country to do a mother and child health survey (1996).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>First impressions</h2>
<p>I had been studying Afghanistan for some time before I landed on a dusty airfield in 1995 and began work in Faizabad, Badakhshan, a remote, conservative backwater in the remote and mountainous northeast of the country. It was inhabited mostly by Tajiks with a mix of other ethnic groups, including Pashtuns and Uzbeks. The country was poor before the war against the Soviet army. But after the war, what little infrastructure had been built was destroyed and there was no budget to restore it or even to employ civil servants.</p>
<p>Throughout my years in Afghanistan, I have always been taken aback by the number of communities where there has never been a school, clinic or government building. In Badakhshan, I watched children with empty oil cans on their backs collecting every animal dropping on the road to burn as fuel at home. In Kabul, I watched adults and children pick through the rubbish heaps looking for food to eat and material to recycle.</p>
<p>The small town of Faizabad, cut in half by the furious and noisy Kokcha river, was full of men with big beards and semi-automatic rifles. Women, meanwhile, all walked around in burqas in public places. I quickly made friends among them, being the only foreigner there at the time. When hailed by one of them in the local bazaar, I couldn’t always recognise the voice, so I would clamber in under their burqas to see who they were and we would have a chat in our private blue tent.</p>
<p>But the differences between the smaller villages and the capital, Kabul, could be stark. Once, during a visit to Kabul before the Taliban took power, I was shocked to see men in suits in offices and women working in the ministries. I wasn’t even allowed female visitors in my office in Faizabad, and had never seen a man in a suit there. So in 1996, when the Taliban arrived in Kabul, where I was living, they brought to the capital a way of life I had already experienced in Badakhshan. </p>
<p>After my initial volunteer stint, I went on to work for a range of NGOs in Taliban-controlled areas. From early 1997, alone with one Afghan driver, I travelled all over the country, doing work on rural development and often focused on helping women. </p>
<p>This was all very unusual. When I started working in Afghanistan, the atmosphere was often tense and fearful because of the actions of some local commanders – murder, rape and looting – were rife. I’d never travel alone for fear of rape and I’d be stopped at checkpoints where militants would ask for money or try to steal things out of my luggage. But things started slowly to change under the Taliban. The Taliban were fine with me accompanying female staff to work in villages and they supported limited activities for women.</p>
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<img alt="Three laughing women sit on a bench by a tree with children in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432357/original/file-20211117-21-r1xr88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The author talking to the only woman well-known for growing vegetables in Faizabad (1995).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Of course, women had to wear burqas and the activities had to be within the bounds of Islam, as the Taliban interpreted it. But before the Taliban – when much of Afghanistan was run by an array of Mujahideen warlords – it was dangerous taking any female staff on journeys because of the likelihood of rape, and at times we faced a lot of restrictions. People who ran projects in the 1980s I spoke with, for example, had great difficulties accessing women in communities and some struggled to get parents to accept that girls should be educated, even in home schools. But this, too, gradually began to change. Some NGOs were requested by communities to build schools for girls. I worked for one of them and we continued building girls’ schools after the Taliban took power.</p>
<p>At the height of Taliban power in the late 1990s, I was often in Kabul working on women’s issues and was once again able to negotiate women’s presence in projects. Throughout this period, I met Taliban ministers, governors, commanders, foot soldiers and the dreaded “vice and virtue” police.</p>
<p>I faced all sorts of attitudes and it was not an easy time for my Afghan colleagues. But we manoeuvred through it somehow. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001 I continued my work with NGOs, the UN, donors, NATO, the World Bank and the Afghan government. I continued my travels and my interest in the Taliban grew, especially thinking back to what I had witnessed from 1996 to 2001.</p>
<p>I began to think more deeply about how the Taliban was portrayed and how the situation wasn’t as black and white as many in the international community tried to paint it. I realised that my experiences were very different to the “official narrative” about the Taliban and I began to wonder why. I pondered whether framing the Taliban differently would have led to different outcomes for Afghanistan. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<h2>A movement for turbulent times</h2>
<p>Questions started to form in my mind about the Taliban’s identity and how it differed from other Mujahideen factions. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud">Ahmad Shah Massoud</a>, the photogenic leader of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamiat-e_Islami">Jamiat-I Islami</a>, one of the most powerful of the Afghan Mujahideen groups, was a typical Mujahideen warlord – a charismatic orator who was larger than life. </p>
<p>In contrast, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/30/mullah-omar">Mullah Omar</a>, the founder and original leader of the Taliban, who died in 2013, was a recluse. He had lost an eye during the war against the Soviets. In this sense, he reminded me of other, mystical figures from the region’s past, such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Muqanna">Al-Muqanna</a> (“the veiled one”). Born in Afghanistan in the eighth century and deformed when a chemical explosion went wrong, he led to a popular rebellion against the ruling Abbasid dynasty. </p>
<p>The followers of Al-Muqanna, like the Taliban in those early years, wore white. Was this a coincidence? History repeating itself? For the masses, all this added to the strangeness and, for some, allure of the Taliban.</p>
<p>I started researching the Taliban’s use of events – usually violent ones – to enact a performance demonstrating their power. I realised that this was not simply violence for violence’s sake. It was crafted to have an impact on a specific audience, conveying a message that was usually about projecting their power and legitimacy.</p>
<p>I realised that this kind of violent “performance” was their “language”. If we look at their actions as simplistic, savage, backward or misogynistic, as many do, we miss the opportunity to learn how to face them on this particular battlefield. And it is a battlefield on which they never really faced a sustainable challenge, as their return to power this year suggested.</p>
<p>It is worth remembering that the Taliban emerged during a hugely violent period in Afghan history. All of the major factions were involved in killing, raping and looting on an alarming scale. </p>
<p>The Taliban’s origin story tells how Mullah Omar was approached for help after local warlords raped some young girls at a checkpoint. The Taliban, then, emerged from vigilantism against local commanders whose depravity and violence against people had become intolerable in the southern province of Kandahar. For westerners who were shielded from the daily violence of life under the Mujahideen, the Taliban were only different in revealing their violence publicly. Other factions kidnapped, raped, tortured and executed – but often away from the western gaze.</p>
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<img alt="A woman wearing white leans against a car with two men." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432358/original/file-20211117-19-1stykz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Evacuating Faizabad as a precaution after the fall of Jalalabad to the Taliban in 1996.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>I remember troops arriving in Kabul from the Junbish faction, a Turkic political group, in 1996, shortly before Kabul fell. They had come to support Jamiat forces – from the oldest Muslim political party in Afghanistan – as they stood to lose Kabul. There was tangible fear throughout the population, especially among women. People remembered the disappearances, the rapes and the mutilated bodies from previous periods when Junbish had ravaged Kabul’s suburbs. Violence was always a grim background soundtrack to people’s lives at the time.</p>
<p>When I look back, it is clear that the Taliban were very visual and performative in their presence in the public space – and this is what gave them power. They did not, for example, simply tell people to keep their hair short; they would grab people and give them haircuts by force. They also had a stick specifically for checking whether men were shaving their genital area as instructed. Their actions spoke of domination and authority. They had a deep impact on Afghan society through fear. Every story told by Afghans since then links back to something which happened to them under the Taliban. They got inside people’s heads.</p>
<p>The Taliban movement developed out of a long-term process of Afghan state formation, transformation and collapse which left the Afghan people in poverty and a bloody civil war raging. What has become clear to me, with the benefit of hindsight, is that through violent performances around power, rule and justice, the Taliban created a political space which belonged only to them. In many ways, the behaviour of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, including the destruction of antiquities, mimicked the Taliban in this early period.</p>
<p>In my ongoing research, I am charting those early years. The sociologist Jeffrey Alexander, who has analysed power and performance during the Arab Spring and the turmoil during and after September 11, <a href="https://sociology.yale.edu/publications/performative-revolution-egypt-essay-cultural-power">states</a> that the ability to mobilise cultural elements to move audiences is the basis of political power. </p>
<p>The Taliban have mastered social performances of power using a language which is visual and visceral. They bring together shared narratives and beliefs from Afghan history and culture in the Muslim period to create new stories about who they are and the state they intend to create. </p>
<p>Three events in particular reveal the Taliban’s mastery of this kind of performance. They also mark major phases in how the Taliban identity developed.</p>
<h2>1. The Prophet’s cloak</h2>
<p>One of Mullah Omar’s first such actions, in 1996, was extraordinary. He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/19/international/asia/a-tale-of-the-mullah-and-muhammads-amazing-cloak.html">removed a holy relic</a> from a shrine in the city of Kandahar – itself a historic former capital where wars had been waged by mighty empires, as depicted in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5o__MoAOLU&ab_channel=MayapuriCut">Bollywood blockbuster</a>, Panipat.</p>
<p>This relic was a cloak which Muslims believe belonged to Mohammed, the holy prophet of Islam, who wore it on the famous journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, completed in one night, around 621AD. The object was brought to Kandahar in the 18th century from Bukhara, in modern day Uzbekistan, by Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani empire and the modern state of Afghanistan. It is a relic to which miracles are attributed. </p>
<p>Mullah Omar was famously camera-shy. So shaky and grainy, secret camera footage showing him – his arms inserted into the sleeves – with the garment, which he was holding aloft to a large Kandahar crowd, is uncharacteristic and dramatic. </p>
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<p>There was almost always a build-up to these events. In this case, religious leaders had come from across Afghanistan and beyond. The Taliban had to decide whether their fight would end in Kandahar or whether they would move on to claim Kabul. But Mullah Omar was declared <em>Amir ul-Mo’menin</em> (Commander of the Faithful), giving him the religious and political authority to lead the Taliban to Kabul and to establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. </p>
<p>By touching this venerated object before the gathered crowd, the leader of the Taliban was claiming Muslim and Afghan legitimacy by association with the Prophet Mohammad and Ahmad Shah Durrani. This action stated clearly that he had not arrived there solely by the power of the gun and that he was not an ordinary leader of a Mujahideen faction. He was putting himself in the line of descent from the Prophet of Islam and the Durrani kings of Afghanistan. He was claiming moral and religious authority to put his arms in the sleeves of this venerated object.</p>
<p>Although the Mujahideen had been branded holy warriors in their war against the Soviet army, and its leaders had claimed moral authority, none had stated it in such dramatic and symbolic terms before a crowd of thousands.</p>
<p>This relic had rarely been seen by the public – it had last been removed from the shrine decades before, during a cholera outbreak – so being confronted with it in this way was the closest thing to a miracle for those gathered. The crowd started chanting “<em>Allah-o akbar</em>” (God is great) and “<em>Amir al-Mo’menin</em>” (Commander of the Faithful). </p>
<h2>2. The dead president</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://digitalhayat.in/2021/08/16/when-taliban-killed-afghan-president-mohammad-najibullah-and-hanged-him-from-a-traffic-light-pole/">photograph</a> which exploded like a bomb the day after the Taliban first took Kabul in late September 1996, two young Taliban foot soldiers hug each other with joyful faces under the grotesquely deformed and bloodied figures of former President Najibullah and his brother, hanging from a traffic light pole in Aryana Square. </p>
<p>After establishing their religious credentials in Kandahar, the Taliban sought to convey anti-corruption and justice messages, especially in Kabul, which they considered a den of iniquity. Before arriving in Kabul, the Taliban had already started their acts of performative violence, indicating that they intended to dictate and dominate people’s private lives. </p>
<p>TVs, videos and music cassettes were banned – and not simply by edict: smashed TVs dangled at Taliban checkpoints like blinded eyes, cassette ribbons flew in the wind like the entrails of eviscerated creatures executed and displayed like trophies.</p>
<p>Indeed, the execution of the former president was the Taliban’s brutal and very public message to the people of Kabul on the first morning of their rule in the city. No exceptions would be made and everyone who deserved punishment would receive it. </p>
<p>But why Aryana Square and why President Najibullah?</p>
<p>Aryana Square is at a crossroads at the heart of Kabul’s historic centre. It is very close to the Arg, a fortress-palace built by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdur_Rahman_Khan">Abdur Rahman</a>, the “Iron Amir”, who consolidated Afghanistan and built the foundations of the modern Afghan state. The Arg was constructed after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bala_Hissar,_Kabul">Bala Hissar</a> fortress was destroyed by British Indian troops during the second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880. Occupation of the Arg has played a symbolic role in modern Afghan history, with the centre of Afghan state power remaining within its walls, except for the period when Mullah Omar ruled from Kandahar.</p>
<p>Regime change in Afghanistan is almost always bloody. Mujahideen commanders before the Taliban had done a great deal of killing, but these deaths were in secret, in assassinations or in firefights. There had never been a public execution of a prominent public figure with the body displayed like a common criminal. But in the case of the Taliban, there was no hiding the killing and torture of the former president, beloved by many for his charisma and loathed in equal measure by the thousands who had disappeared into prisons never to emerge. </p>
<p>This was not a senseless, spur of the moment killing. Najibullah was ethnically Pashtun – like the Taliban – and was under the protection of the UN. When the Mujahideen leaders and commanders abandoned Kabul prior to the Taliban takeover, they had offered to take him. Yet he stayed, confident he could talk the Taliban around because they were fellow Pushtuns. The killing can be interpreted in many ways: that the Taliban were not going to make exceptions for a fellow Pushtun; that the authority of the UN meant nothing when the Taliban wanted to mete out justice for those killed by the Communists; or that the Soviet invasion ended here with the killing of their last protégé. Some have accused Pakistan intelligence forces, ISI, of using the Taliban to dispose of one of their foes.</p>
<p>The bodies, castrated as a further expression of their powerlessness in the masculinised Taliban public sphere, were left to hang there for three days. Announcements had been made on the radio and thousands of people gathered to view the scene with shock and dismay. The spectacle of Najibullah’s execution was the first of many. It was meant to cow the population of Kabul into submission and to set the Taliban up as Islamic arbiters of justice and morality.</p>
<p>These killings made a deep impression which lasted long after the Taliban were toppled. After this, in Kabul as elsewhere, the burqa was forced on women and beards, short hair and head covers on men. Through the personnel of the Office for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, the Taliban policed how people behaved and dressed. And women’s presence in public had to be moderated by a <em>mahram</em> (a male relative).</p>
<h2>3. Vandalised antiquities</h2>
<p>One of the most dramatic actions of the Taliban was <a href="https://youtu.be/dBk5-zRUuNQ">the destruction</a> of the Bamiyan Buddha statues, located in the central highlands of Afghanistan in 2001. This event made the Taliban notorious globally.</p>
<p>One of the most celebrated tourist sites in Afghanistan before the war, the Buddhas were described as priceless artefacts – the largest standing Buddha carvings in the world. </p>
<p>The first attempt to destroy the Buddhas came when the Mughal emperor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangzeb">Aurangzeb</a> tried to use heavy artillery to destroy the statues in the 17th century. He only succeeded in damaging them during the attack. Another attempt was made by the 18th century Persian king, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nader_Shah">Nader Shah Afshar</a>, who directed cannon fire at them.</p>
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<p>It is also claimed that Afghan King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdur_Rahman_Khan">Abdur Rahman Khan</a> destroyed the face of one of the Buddhas during a military campaign against the Shia Hazara rebellion (1888-1893). And there were rumours about the British using the Buddhas for artillery practice in the 19th century. According to the ethnologist Professor Pierre Centlivres, 19th century travellers <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/992">were already noting</a> that the Buddhas lacked faces. The Taliban, however, in keeping with their violent power performances, went for something a bit more systematic and spectacular.</p>
<p>In 2000, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the Taliban to pressure them into breaking their ties with Osama Bin Laden and to close terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. In response, Mullah Omar issued a decree on February 26 ordering the elimination of all non-Islamic statues and sanctuaries from Afghanistan. The Taliban began smashing Buddhist statues in Kabul Museum from February 2001 onwards. </p>
<p>Inevitably, there was international outcry. In <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/my-life-with-the-taliban/">his memoirs</a>, Taliban minister Abdul Salam Zaeef notes that UNESCO sent 36 letters of objection to the proposed destruction. The Chinese, Japanese and Sri Lankan delegates were the most vociferous advocates for the preservation of the Buddhas. The Japanese offered a number of solutions, including payment. UNESCO, New York’s MET museum, Thailand, Sri Lanka and even Iran offered to buy the Buddhas, and 54 ambassadors of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference conducted a meeting and protested their destruction.</p>
<p>CNN <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/13/nr.00.html">reported</a> that Egypt had preserved its ancient pre-Islamic monuments as a point of pride, and Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, dispatched the mufti of the republic, the country’s most senior Islamic authority, to plead with the Taliban. </p>
<p>The 22 member Arab League condemned the destruction as a “savage act”. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf sent his interior minister, Moinuddin Haider, to Kabul to argue against the destruction on the basis that it was unIslamic and unprecedented. The southeast Asian media reacted with deep shock. The Indian media <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/992">blamed the US</a> for putting its interests in oil and gas ahead of saving the Buddhas.</p>
<p>The substantial task of destroying the statues in the Bamiyan valley started on March 2, 2001 and took place in stages, over 20 days, using anti-aircraft guns, artillery and anti-tank mines. Eventually, men were lowered down the cliff face to place dynamite into cavities to destroy what was left.</p>
<p>To ensure an international audience and widespread media coverage, 20 journalists were flown to Bamiyan to witness the destruction and confirm that the two Buddhas had been destroyed. Footage of clouds of dust billowing out of the niches, where two giant Buddha statues had stood watch over the Silk Route winding through the Bamiyan valley for millennia, was transmitted all over the world, as the international community watched in horror and dismay. </p>
<p>The Taliban had sought – unsuccessfully – to obtain acceptance of their regime by the international community. The sacrifice of the Buddhas can be interpreted as a symbolic act announcing the end of any conciliatory gestures. This was an assertion of power by spectacle. The internet, relatively new at that time, intensified the impact of the destruction of the Buddhas.</p>
<h2>Taliban #2</h2>
<p>Since 1994, the Taliban’s actions have all been part of a non-verbal soliloquy, responding to the ghosts of imperialism, colonialism, neo-imperialism and neoliberalism. The group uses public spaces in Afghanistan very much like a stage.</p>
<p>Violence is used as a kind of power performance to convey messages and responses to history. The performances are not random. They are thought through. They can be interpreted on many levels. They speak of discourses in worlds the western audience is not privy to.</p>
<p>The Taliban ushered in a new phase in a long discourse on Islam and the state in this region. Despite those initial dismissive analyses which saw the Taliban as madrasa-educated yahoos from Pushtun backwaters (and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-17/the-taliban-is-only-pretending-they-aren-t-barbaric">still</a> <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1478458/Carole-Malone-Taliban-savages-worse-than-before-Jeremy-Vine-news-video-vn">do</a>), it became clear that they had in fact been trying to communicate their world vision through these types of performances. If this had been understood, negotiations with the Taliban may have led to very different results and the long war, which has claimed so many lives, avoided.</p>
<p>This time round, the Taliban is tapping into other codes and symbols. In particular, their latest performances have involved their special forces, the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210825-taliban-shows-off-special-forces-in-propaganda-blitz">Badri 313 unit</a>. These soldiers are extremely well equipped and almost a mirror image of special forces units from other parts of the world. This simple act conveys messaging about the Taliban’s victory, and them being on an equal footing with the American soldiers in the same uniforms.</p>
<p>We have also seen shots of Taliban soldiers wearing clothes worn by southern Pushtun tribespeople. By wearing traditional clothes, outmoded hairstyles and flimsy sandals, they send a message about their claimed background and physical resilience. It also invokes hints of nostalgia, for a time of warriors past, when the Pushtuns were a formidable foe.</p>
<p>After entering Kabul, Taliban fighters and leaders posed for photos in the Presidential Palace, congregating at one point under a painting depicting the crowning of Ahmad Shah Durrani. Although some have commented that this is <a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/09/09/the-painting-behind-taliban-fighters-in-kabul-presidential-palace-is-worth-a-thousand-words/">incongruous</a> with the identity of the Taliban, I would argue that one has to look back to their previous rule. In my view, the Taliban symbolically established a political lineage reaching back to Ahmad Shah through Mullah Omar’s appearance with the cloak of the prophet in Kandahar. But the significance of many of the Taliban’s actions were missed at the time by commentators eager just to write them off. </p>
<p>Most interesting to me was when Sirajuddin Haqqani – leader of the powerful and feared Haqqani faction in the Taliban and now interior minister – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-praise-suicide-bombers-offer-families-cash-land-2021-10-20/">met with the families of suicide bombers</a>, praised their sacrifices and gave them gifts of land and money. Suicide bombing was a key part of the Taliban’s battle against the previous government. But the previous regime rarely publicly acknowledged the deaths of their ordinary soldiers and police – they were literally cannon fodder. They certainly did not have public ceremonies to honour the sacrifices of the Afghan people. The government had even hid casualty figures for a while to avoid demoralising the nation.</p>
<p>Months before the Taliban arrived in Kabul in 2021, I watched as they <a href="https://pajhwok.com/2021/04/03/taliban-bar-20000-jawzjan-girls-from-studying-beyond-6th-grade/">closed girls’ schools</a> in the north. This was also a power performance. It was a challenge, a gauntlet cast down for the Afghan government to pick up. It did not simply show that the Taliban objected to girls’ education. They were demonstrating their power by taking away one of the advances the Afghan government had consistently showcased to the international community as a major “gain”. Perhaps it was also a signal to outspoken Afghan women and their supporters that the Taliban were not interested in being conciliatory on women’s rights.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of a woman wearing a green headscarf against the night sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432359/original/file-20211117-23-bg6fe1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young woman who followed me to the toilet to catch me alone and tell me about her problems with her husband (1995).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I waited for an equivalent and “in kind” response from the Afghan government, women’s rights activists or the international community. A team sent to negotiate; a military unit sent to retake the schools; the girls offered education elsewhere – at the time, the Afghan and international military were present and could have made some sort of symbolic gesture in response.</p>
<p>But nothing happened. Nobody, it seems, understood the Taliban’s mode of power performance. The only response was the usual verbal condemnation on social media. The Afghan government showed itself as powerless and abandoned those school girls as it would eventually abandon the rest of the population. Once again, the world watched, frustrated and uncomprehending, as the Taliban rewound Afghanistan right back to the days before they were toppled in 2001. </p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam 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>
Violent performance is the Taliban’s language. If we view them as savage, backward or misogynistic, the opportunity to learn how to face them is missed.
Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam, PhD Candidate in International Relations, University of St Andrews
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/167417
2021-11-18T10:40:57Z
2021-11-18T10:40:57Z
Long COVID: my work with sufferers reveals that western medicine has reached a crisis point
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426512/original/file-20211014-23-ucn34j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=116%2C42%2C3970%2C2303&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/AF6N3WRsyk4">Jan Huber/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I walked her up the flight of stairs to my clinic room, Victoria* barely engaged with my small talk. I glanced back at her. Above her mask, she looked strained, miserable, and I saw that her reticence was because she was ready to burst into tears. I thought one more question might have tipped her over the edge, so we continued in silence until we reached the sanctuary of the outpatient room.</p>
<p>The tears were not long in coming. She told me that early in the pandemic, before COVID testing was widely available, she’d had what was assumed to be a mild case of the illness. Her doctor advised her to stay at home, which was the standard advice to everyone at that early stage of the pandemic. For the next few days, she lay in bed. A week passed, then two, and then steadily the weeks turned to months.</p>
<p>“I had long COVID before it had a name,” she told me. Yet even after it had a name, even after she had been assessed, X-rayed, had an MRI and countless blood tests, she was little better off. And even once people started talking about it, the name “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/long-covid-97731">long COVID</a>” offered no clues about how this illness was to be treated, how long it might last, or what the future would now hold for those with it. And so at each clinic appointment – “Good news! Your lung function tests are completely normal!” – Victoria began to feel more adrift. If they couldn’t find anything wrong with her, how was this ever going to be fixed?</p>
<p>This is a scenario that I have frequently seen over a long career working at the interface between mind and body: a place where the clean lines of diagnosis blur into the shades of grey that constitute the real world. It is an area in which medicine struggles to make sense of a person’s suffering, where patients feel neglected and abandoned, and where opinion replaces evidence. Instead of a cohesive pull towards a solution, there is confusion, uncertainty and fragmentation.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447553820544880647"}"></div></p>
<p>The treatment of any illness starts with a conceptualisation of the symptoms. What is causing the problem? Where are its origins? Our ability to peer into the body, to examine its organs and measure and make sense of the invisible elements in our blood, have persuaded us that illness is nothing more and nothing less than a bit of the body having gone awry. </p>
<p>Yet Victoria’s body had not gone wrong, at least not in any way that was apparent to the increasing number of medical specialists who had examined and investigated her. What did that say about her suffering? She began to doubt herself, as surely as she knew her family was beginning to wonder, too.</p>
<h2>Medical purgatory</h2>
<p>Stories like Victoria’s aren’t uncommon among the thousands of cases I have seen over the years. Not all of my patients have had long COVID, of course, but many have had one of the number of hard to define illnesses, where a person’s suffering isn’t accompanied by any abnormal test results. They inhabit that flat grey hinterland, neither one thing nor another. </p>
<p>My own journey to this point involved a steadily increasing understanding that medicine often does not serve patients like Victoria well. Patients referred to me had often seen several teams of hospital specialists with problems such as persistent pain, fatigue, dizziness, unexplained abdominal symptoms and seizures that were shown not to be epileptic. Following the law of diminishing returns, each round of investigations brought smaller and smaller yields, until a referral to a hospital psychiatrist became the only card left to play. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>A dawning realisation that things had to change struck me from early on in my career. Back then, even as a sprightly junior doctor specialising in internal medicine, I could not help noticing that many patients did not benefit from medicine as it was being practised. And so I found myself wondering if I could do more good as a psychiatrist than as a physician in a general hospital. </p>
<p>Eventually, I worked my way up the career ladder, specialising in the interface between medicine and mind – a field known as <a href="https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors/roles-doctors/psychiatry/liaison-psychiatry">liaison psychiatry</a>. More recently, I have written about my experiences of how the mind and the body are inextricably connected in <a href="https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/head-first/">a book</a>.</p>
<p>I remember seeing Finlay*, a young man whose life was put on hold after he went to see his doctor complaining of dizziness. Over the following months, he was passed around different specialist departments including cardiology, ENT (ears, nose and throat) and neurology. He was subjected to dozens of investigations, all of which came back normal. He was no longer sure if he was really ill, and found it hard to make sense of his situation. His employers started to lose patience with him, and his relationship with his partner came under strain. The doctors had moved on, but Finlay was stuck. He was frustrated, scared and still dizzy, and like his referring doctors, just wanted an explanation for his symptoms that made sense. </p>
<p>I have lost count of the number of times a patient has wished on themselves a serious illness, even one with a poor prognosis, as long as it has clear investigative results. At least they would then be able to justify their suffering and plan for the future.</p>
<p>The problem is one of culture. Western culture has become so steeped in its current thinking of the human body – a simplistic mechanistic approach – that to suggest physical symptoms may not always have a direct physical correlate in the body is, for many patients, a provocation and, for doctors, something that is often not considered.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="These anatomical cut outs of a man, showing muscles, bones, heart, lungs and intestines." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426500/original/file-20211014-20-t8jea1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Man as machine: anatomical diagrams from 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/abggf5x7/images?id=marfym78">Wellcome Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In some respects, this is surprising, because western culture likes to think of itself as more open, inclusive and accepting of things that fall outside the conventional paradigm. Yet this openness does not often extend to healthcare, in which medicine’s narrow view of health and illness continues to constrain its thinking. </p>
<p>When a doctor is unable to find a clear-cut physical cause for a patient’s illness, many will hear in this that their symptoms are not quite real, their suffering suspect. Doctors can become reluctant to even suggest that physical symptoms may not have an obvious or demonstrable physical cause, for fear of the offence that it seems to imply. One <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC139034/">2002 research paper</a>, published in the BMJ, encapsulated the difficulties in the title: “What should we say to patients with symptoms unexplained by disease? The ‘number needed to offend’.” </p>
<h2>Everything must make sense</h2>
<p>The west’s present medical culture is a continuation of a process that began in antiquity. It is a reflection of human nature, the need to try to find order in the world, to delineate a set of rules, so that the world around us makes sense. It gives us a feeling of security. We want to explain and contain those things that frighten us, such as ill health. This, in turn, leads to a drive to simplify complex phenomena.</p>
<p>In some scientific disciplines, simplifying to a set of fundamental rules is a perfectly legitimate goal. By doing so, we have understood the relationship between energy, mass and the speed of light, the structure of atoms, and much of the physical world around us. But in medicine, the urge to simplify has nearly always led to overly simplistic theories. These theories explain everything and nothing at the same time. </p>
<p>Take, for example, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/humor-ancient-physiology">four humours theory</a> of medicine. It began in ancient Greek times when Hippocrates and then Galen developed the idea which, almost unbelievably, became the leading medical theory for the next two millennia, with barely a challenge to its legitimacy. It explained everything. </p>
<p>Misalignment of the four humours – black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood – needed to be corrected to ensure good health, and so poultices, emetics, blood lettings and a variety of other benign, and not so benign, treatments were developed. It was a unifying theory, at once elegant, simple and persuasive. Its power was reflected in its longevity. And yet it explained nothing at all. It was nonsense accepted as truth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Diagram showing the interaction between the four humours and all they sought to explain." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426502/original/file-20211014-25-1l9a5qc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The four elements, four qualities, four humours, four seasons, and four ages of man. Lois Hague, 1991.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ww7c2sdj/images?id=abnxub7n">Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our urge to simplify the complex has remained unchanged in modern times. It is only the parameters that have changed.</p>
<p>The current conceit is of the body as a machine. A complex machine, for sure, and one that needs a great deal of scientific effort to explain its workings. We have made substantial progress over the past half century, with a deeper understanding of the workings of the body, from microscopic cellular function to nerve cell transmission, from microbiomes to genomics. It has allowed us to understand disease processes and offer treatments that could not have been conceived of a century ago. Treatments like dialysis, which has extended countless lives, and organ transplants, which have been made possible by our understanding of the immune system to prevent rejection. </p>
<p>Such achievements have been an undoubted benefit to many people, and are obviously to be welcomed. Yet the understanding of the body has not translated into an understanding of illness and health. There is a ghost in the machine. Health, as experienced, is not simply a reflection of whether our bodily machine is working as it should. For many patient encounters, it’s not even close.</p>
<p>This is reflected in the many examples that we experience on a daily basis. We know for example that depression commonly presents with physical symptoms, such as headache or constipation, a finding that <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199910283411801">appears to be consistent</a> across different cultures. Similarly, it is well known that placebos can improve physical symptoms – in <a href="https://journals.lww.com/pain/Fulltext/2016/12000/Open_label_placebo_treatment_in_chronic_low_back.17.aspx">one study</a> improving lower back pain even when the subjects were told that they were taking an inactive placebo tablet.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-still-not-fully-understood-how-placebos-work-but-an-alternative-theory-of-consciousness-could-hold-some-clues-165999">It's still not fully understood how placebos work – but an alternative theory of consciousness could hold some clues</a>
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<hr>
<h2>The case of psychiatry</h2>
<p>As the west’s current model of medicine became the global standard, it began to shape the way we thought about and treated physical health problems. The potential contribution of psychiatry to physical health problems in the UK was little considered before the 1950s, with the speciality of <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.559.9285&rep=rep1&type=pdf">liaison psychiatry</a> developing in the second half of the 20th century. Even now, nearly all psychiatry is practised in the community or specialist psychiatric hospitals, rather than in acute medical settings. </p>
<p>In the general hospital, psychiatry is mostly to be found in the emergency department, with the focus firmly on self-harm, suicide attempts and extreme psychological distress. This means that where patients have medically unexplained symptoms, or long-term medical conditions in need of psychological care, psychiatry is often not around to help manage them. </p>
<p>Yet there is an ongoing need for psychiatry to address problems such as unexplained seizures or tremors, pain that persists despite a lack of any objective disease, the assessment of patients refusing life-saving treatments, and the many other problems that can have less obvious presentations, such as the long-term effects of abuse presenting with urological symptoms. All of the hospital specialities end up interacting with a good liaison psychiatry service, if it is available.</p>
<p>But even if psychological support is available, the problems do not end there. </p>
<p>For illnesses like heart disease, psychological support (for example, to improve stress management and help address mood and anxiety-related exacerbations of symptoms) is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/article/22/10/1290/5927040?login=true">generally accepted</a>, because the bona fides of the diagnosis are not brought into question.</p>
<p>Yet for illnesses like Victoria’s, where the physical basis of the diagnosis remains unclear or unknown, experience tells us that a psychological approach implies for many patients that the illness is not being taken seriously. If there is no demonstrable physical cause, then any non-medical treatment is seen as suspect, dismissive of the physical, and an implied trivialising of suffering. Western medicine has become trapped in a simplistic and one-dimensional view of illness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close-up photo of woman's eyes above surgical mask." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=28%2C7%2C4659%2C2790&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426481/original/file-20211014-17-bvt57v.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">Many long COVID patients struggle with what they see as a lack of medical affirmation of their symptoms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/vu-DaZVeny0">Ani Kolleshi/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The consequences of this current medical approach are unsustainable – and the statistics speak for themselves. Consider this: one <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0002934389902933">large 1989 study</a> in the US showed that doctors found an underlying physical cause in just 16% of cases of common symptoms, such as fatigue, dizziness, chest pain, back pain or insomnia. This is a jaw-dropping figure, almost hard to fathom, although typical of a <a href="https://www.psychiatrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/15010_medically-unexplained-symptoms-primary-care.pdf">number</a> of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033318211000533?casa_token=Tvw0mubFKNEAAAAA:TMYqNgm8k8tOhW9fk3lJnrFUgMUFTj5R76LsB-eS77ngyiGg-i8g6D-_6Am2jYwld-1sPKSFwA">studies</a> over the 30 years since that have produced similar results in diverse settings.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399901002239?via%3Dihub">one study</a> in London, no medical explanation accounted for 66% of patient encounters in a gynaecology clinic. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/psychiatric-disorders-in-relation-to-medical-illness-among-patients-of-a-general-medical-outpatient-clinic/649C62D7912B6715EDBE0D2B072D2899">In the Netherlands</a>, just under half of all hospital medical encounters had a definite medical diagnosis to account for the patients’ symptoms. For a large number of symptoms that people see their doctor for, “no medical cause” is one of the most common, if not most common, finding for the patient’s symptoms. This is true in both primary care as well as secondary care at the hospital.</p>
<p>The costs of this to the NHS are eye watering. It is estimated by the King’s Fund that <a href="https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/physical-and-mental-health">at least £11 billion</a> each year is spent on poor management of medically unexplained symptoms as well as the consequences of untreated mental health conditions among those with long-term health conditions. </p>
<p>Yet the money is far from the worst of it. It is the human costs that are the real story. Added to the protracted ill health and disability are unemployment, financial adversity, strain on relationships and an overall reduction in quality of life.</p>
<h2>Looking beyond</h2>
<p>Psychiatry and psychology can make a meaningful difference to patient outcomes, although they are rarely invited to do so, and there is commonly little will or resource to fund such services in any case. </p>
<p>This is now a real cause for concern around long COVID. We are still finding our way towards explaining what exactly this illness is. It appears to encompass a range of conditions. There are some cases showing demonstrable pathology, with abnormal blood tests and imaging, and many, like Victoria’s, which do not. </p>
<p>This may be because our understanding of how the body develops and perceives symptoms has its limits. But the patient’s suffering is very real, whether or not a physical cause can be shown. Whatever the cause, we know that depression, anxiety, fatigue and insomnia frequently accompany a chronic and often disabling illness. We also know that there is often no association between the severity of the original infection and the subsequent long-term disability: people with initially mild infections can suffer long-term effects. </p>
<p>Without addressing these issues, offering practical rehabilitation and physiotherapy, and addressing the fear and despair that patients experience when facing a poorly defined but seemingly chronic health problem, we can make the patient’s situation worse. </p>
<p>The starting point of any successful treatment has to be a shared understanding of the nature of the problem. We need to have an open conversation in society about the mind and body, health and illness. We need to be realistic about our current understanding of the body, celebrating the truly impressive treatments and innovations that the past half a century of medicine has brought us, and honest about the limitations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Red cross-section of a brain against black background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430308/original/file-20211104-13-1rithqc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Healthy adult human brain viewed from above.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/qvje92k6/images?id=hynkfb6g">© Dr Flavio Dell'Acqua</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Victoria, the hardest part of her treatment was managing her doubt and uncertainty about what was wrong with her. After months of normal investigations and an increasing sense of feeling like she was being told that she was “not really ill”, she needed some validation of her illness – to know that doctors believed in it. It says something about our current medical system that this needs to be said at all. Of course she was ill, just probably not within the narrow construct of illness that we currently employ.</p>
<p>It is possible that, one day, we will discover all of the physiological processes that go wrong, and the huge number of currently unexplained illnesses will have demonstrable abnormalities to find and benefit from crisp, targeted physical treatments. I hope so. It is a worthy – albeit, in my view, unlikely – goal.</p>
<p>Yet this still disregards the psychological components that all illnesses have. All illnesses have a perceptual and psychosocial component, which is to say that our experience of symptoms can be very subjective and influenced by a variety of non-medical factors. It is well known that <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-00216-006">experience of pain</a> is influenced by our expectations, how serious we think the cause might be, our culture, our mood, even the language we use to describe pain. By addressing all these factors, psychological approaches can reduce and even cure symptoms. </p>
<p>When assessing a patient with medically unexplained but persistent physical symptoms, a psychiatrist needs to explore all these other factors that could be important in ameliorating the symptoms. This includes identifying any current mood disorders, such as depression, as well as anxiety disorders, which may be maintaining or exacerbating the problems. Focusing on the symptoms is an understandable but unhelpful means of perpetuating problems. This is often driven by fear of what the symptoms may represent, so an understanding of the person’s views on the illness, how serious they believe it is, whether they believe it to be controllable or not. All these are all important to elicit and address.</p>
<p>Psychological approaches are not meant to replace medical care, any more than they would replace insulin therapy in diabetes or cardiac drugs for heart disease. But they can complement that care. Their use is not meant to suggest the patient’s symptoms are not real, nor imply they may not have a real, physical basis. </p>
<p>Yet this debate has been going on for so long that I am not sure if medicine can rise to the challenge. The insatiable demand for spending on health and the relatively low priority of psychiatry, mean that outside of a few bigger centres, the kind of specialist, integrated treatments needed are not commonly available. </p>
<p>With an estimated <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01292-y">2.3%</a> of COVID patients having symptoms beyond 12 weeks, how long can we keep mind and body separate? We have had centuries of a mind-body split. Perhaps helping to bridge this divide will be COVID’s next surprise.</p>
<p><em>* Names and patient details have been changed to protect patients’ anonymity.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/james-mccune-smith-new-discovery-reveals-how-first-african-american-doctor-fought-for-womens-rights-in-glasgow-166233?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">James McCune Smith: new discovery reveals how first African American doctor fought for women’s rights in Glasgow</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/drugs-robots-and-the-pursuit-of-pleasure-why-experts-are-worried-about-ais-becoming-addicts-163376?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Drugs, robots and the pursuit of pleasure – why experts are worried about AIs becoming addicts</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/loneliness-loss-and-regret-what-getting-old-really-feels-like-new-study-157731?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Loneliness, loss and regret: what getting old really feels like – new study</a></em></p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alastair Santhouse is the author of Head First: A Psychiatrist's Stories of Mind and Body.</span></em></p>
Western medicine has always split the mind and the body. Long COVID reveals just how damaging this approach has been.
Alastair Santhouse, Consultant Psychiatrist & Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168322
2021-10-28T10:28:49Z
2021-10-28T10:28:49Z
WitchTok: the rise of the occult on social media has eerie parallels with the 16th century
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427245/original/file-20211019-21-14im19l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-fortune-teller-reads-tarot-cards-1818760505">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s 1.30am in the morning, and I’m about to watch a duel between magicians. One is a “demonolater”, a word I have never heard before, someone who claims they worship demons and can petition them in return for knowledge or power. The other describes themselves as a “Solomonic magician”, and claims to be able to command demons to do his bidding, as some Jewish and Islamic traditions have believed of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Solomon">King Solomon</a>, who ruled Israel in the 10th century BC.</p>
<p>I first discovered this debate because, in the course of studying 16th century books of magic attributed to Solomon, I had found, to my astonishment, that “Solomonic magic” is still alive and well today, and growing in popularity. Twitter had suggested to me that I might be interested in an account called “Solomonic magic”, and a few clicks later I had found myself immersed in a vast online community of young occultists, tweeting and retweeting the latest theories and controversies, and using TikTok to share their craft.</p>
<p>To my further bemusement, it seemed that the tradition of Solomonic magic had recently faced accusations that its strict and authoritative approach to the command of demons amounted to a form of abuse, akin to domestic violence. As I had made a note in my diary of a public debate that I wanted to attend out of sheer curiosity, it seemed astonishing to be asking myself whether Solomonic magic, the same found in books of necromancy dating back hundreds of years, was on the brink of cancellation in 2021.</p>
<p>At 28, I’m slightly too old to be familiar with the platform Twitch, mostly used for live video streaming, but tonight I’ve managed to get it working for this particular debate. As an atheist, I’m very likely in the minority, though I’m not the only Brit to have turned up in spite of it being such an ungodly hour this side of the pond. The chat box is buzzing as occultists of various stripes arrive to hear the arguments.</p>
<p>My mum would hate this, I can’t help thinking to myself. She didn’t even let me read Harry Potter.</p>
<p>When people ask me what I do, it’s always fun to tell them, “I study magic at Cambridge University.” It’s technically true. I’m researching the representation of magic on the early modern stage, and am interested in the ways in which dangerous, forbidden or “occult” knowledge was theorised by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. My <a href="https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/renaissance/?page_id=71">research</a> combines my fascination with the mechanisms of belief with my love of storytelling and the stage. When I’m not researching plays, I’m writing them: I’m an award-winning playwright, whose <a href="https://www.rebekahkingwriter.com/music">work</a> has been performed across the UK and abroad.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427015/original/file-20211018-21-8gqtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">British painter George Romney was only one of many artists whose imagination was inspired by the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=shakespeare+witches&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suspending disbelief is my forte, but actually believing is something I’ve never been very good at. The history of magic fascinates me because it is a history of people – of human faults and foibles, vanities, hopes and needs – rather than because of any genuine investment in the esoteric. This is why I’m here to listen to articulate and likeable young people across the globe discussing theories of knowledge and the supernatural – beliefs to which I myself cannot subscribe.</p>
<p>Even more astonishingly, these Generation Z occultists, with their substantial followings on Twitter and TikTok, are about to debate a form of magic that lies at the heart of my research into Shakespeare’s England.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<h2>The rise of WitchTok</h2>
<p>While the <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/the-year-on-tiktok-top-100">most</a> <a href="https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/the-year-on-tiktok-top-100">watched</a> TikTok videos may appear asinine to anyone who doesn’t enjoy teenagers lip syncing to popular songs, some surprising subcultures have <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/09/tiktok-app-musically-guide.html">arisen</a> since the platform’s inception in 2017. One of these is the “WitchTok” community. Videos <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/witchtok?lang=en">labelled</a> #WitchTok have so far clocked up an impressive 18.7 billion views.</p>
<p>I accidentally found WitchTok because I had – to my shame, I’ll admit – found it calming to watch compilations of Cottagecore TikTok videos in my breaks during PhD research. <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/what-exactly-is-cottagecore">Cottagecore</a> is a popular fashion and lifestyle aesthetic that evokes the bucolic idyll of country living. Cottagecore videos are saccharine and safe: jam is preserved, mushrooms are picked, and flowing dresses stream across ripe fields while a girlfriend holds the camera and gentle music plays.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bZAEIAydA74?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cottagecore TikToks are perfect means of escapism, featuring castles, fields, elf ears, and magic flutes, among other elements of wonder.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In short, it is pure escapism, and so is WitchTok; creators of WitchToks often also make Cottagecore videos. Yet, where Cottagecore offers hope for a good, green world that just might be baked and planted into existence, WitchTok audaciously skips past the bounds of possibility, and promises supernatural means of making life more bearable.</p>
<p>The abundance of magic on TikTok piqued my interest, representing as it does a new frontier in popular belief. It has also caught the attention of mainstream media. In April 2021, for example, the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ed8dd8b7-77d2-4c9c-8da8-2fa06230daf4">Financial Times</a> consulted anthropologists and theologians who scrambled to interpret this strange turnout of events. Its author noted with astonishment that #WitchTok had surpassed #Biden by over 2 billion views and is now leading by around 6 billion and counting.</p>
<h2>Practical magic</h2>
<p>TikTok allows its users to make 15-second video clips, or a string of 15-second clips of no more than 60 seconds in total. This format lends itself to fast-paced, visually appealing content, and this has shaped the kind of magic found on WitchTok. Spells using <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@hellgirrl/video/6926387569697574149">candles</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@caspercrafting/video/6908368436359957765">bottles</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@crystal.and.craft/video/6975195104722177285">crystals</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@witchofsouthernlight/video/6981061126108777733?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1">herbs</a> make for snappy and succinct tutorials which can be readily imitated by the viewer.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fH6GiNqBY4A?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tarot reading has become a viral trend on WitchTok.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Interactive WitchToks are particularly popular, usually using <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@raysradiance/video/6919569187098660101">tarot cards</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@elementually/video/6859721092261514501">pendulum boards</a>,
where a crystal is dangled over a set of words, supposedly swinging over the truth when asked a simple question. By urging the viewer to participate, to “think of a question you want an answer for”, creators are conspicuously gaming TikTok’s algorithm, keeping people watching and encouraging engagement, while claiming that it was supernatural power that drew them to a video. </p>
<p>Brevity is the soul of WitchTok, where complex tarot spreads are abandoned for a one or three card message told to an audience of millions in 30 seconds. Carving a magical symbol into a candle upstages convoluted and expensive ritual magic from more formal, structured esoteric systems, where a single spell can take a day or more.</p>
<p>What, then, are TikTok users looking for in their magical clips of 60 seconds or less? The most common functions of a spell seem to be love, money, healing or revenge, particularly vengeance on behalf of a loved one, whether wronged by a <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theemuses/video/6903298614047689989">school bully</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lante_scary_lives/video/6965873773694258437">abusive husband</a>. Magic appeals because life is unfair, and power is a pleasant fantasy. In this regard, WitchTok is no different from any other magical tradition.</p>
<h2>Witchtok hunters</h2>
<p>The occult subculture is a controversial one, and the witches of TikTok are a particularly powerful magnet for outrage and mockery. They have come under fire from three main types of enemies who appear in turn as caricatures in WitchTok videos. </p>
<p>The first one of these is an interloper who I’ll call “the angry Christian”. When pantomimed in a WitchTok, the angry Christian <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@kawaiite/video/6858422392864247045">blazes</a> with furious indignation, railing against the evils of magic, till they are silenced with a sassy retort or threat of a hex. The angry Christian believes in magic, in Satan and in the occult. They simply think you’ll risk your soul if you engage with it. The Christians I grew up with are cut from precisely this cloth.</p>
<p>Less common than the angry Christian but occupying a similarly villainous role is “the smarmy sceptic”, the unbeliever who has no interest in any kind of faith. WitchTok videos often dramatise fantasy conversations with them, imagining ominous <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@gothictrashpanda/video/6836797381837606149">retorts</a>: “Don’t believe in curses? Sure! Just give me a lock of your hair then … no?” In some ways the smarmy sceptic is worse than the angry Christian, refusing point blank to be “spiritual” at all. I’m afraid this is probably the category into which I would be placed.</p>
<p>Intriguingly, however, a third opponent has arisen from within the occult community itself. This is what I am calling “the learned magician”, a practitioner who takes the occult seriously as a complex and scholarly pursuit, delighting in the theory, the complexity of rituals, and the broader philosophical implications of their beliefs. </p>
<p>Not quite so TikTok-friendly, they tend to make an occasional appearance when the trends of WitchTok deviate from the logic of a particular magical system, stepping in to correct the new “baby witches” and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@daatdarling/video/7006693454294142214?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1">expressing</a> exasperation with controversies that will sound familiar even to those with no interest in the occult. (Is it cultural appropriation to wear an evil eye pendant? Does calling for discipline in magical ritual equate to a form of fascism?)</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z2Vi5ESTJ2I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Learned magicians sometimes take to TikTok to set the record straight for ‘baby witches’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some learned magicians are attempting to bridge the gap. Gen-Z occultist Georgina Rose or “Da’at Darling” – who has convened the debate between the demonolater and Solomonic mage to which I am about to listen – puts out a prolific array of content ranging from introductory YouTube lectures to witty tweets and TikToks. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2021/07/why-we-need-to-defendoccultbooks/">Upset</a> by the “rise of anti-intellectualism in Generation-Z heavy online occult spaces”, she responded, appropriately, with a successful TikTok hashtag: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/defendoccultbooks?lang=en">#DefendOccultBooks</a>. Perhaps not an outright “enemy” of Witchtok, after all – as “Da’at Darling” puts it, “it is important to reach this platform, so new practitioners can have good information on the occult” – the learned magician is still, at best, tolerant of the trends of TikTok spirituality.</p>
<p>Here, then, is a new theatre of ideas where innovative technology has not quelled ancient magical practices but has advanced them, giving rise to new forms of faith and schism. If the unbelieving reader is asking themselves how a new age of occultism has arisen in a supposedly enlightened modern age, when surely the tech-literate young know better than to return to ancient superstition, they need look no further than a parallel series of events in Shakespeare’s England. This was a time when innovations in technology and culture served to reinvent and energise ancient magical beliefs.</p>
<h2>The occult renaissance</h2>
<p>In medieval England, getting your hands on a book of magic was a tricky business. Prior to the invention of the printing press, handwritten texts were passed around in manuscript form between those lucky enough to have been taught how to read. Costly and time-consuming, the production of a book was simply not worth the effort unless the contents truly mattered.</p>
<p>In spite of this, from the mid-13th century onwards, a series of treatises that dealt with occult knowledge were translated into Latin and various European languages, slipping covertly between the personal libraries of wealthy men. If the Renaissance can be characterised more widely as a period of translation of classical wisdom, so too was it an era when occult “wisdom” began to circulate more widely than before.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427202/original/file-20211019-25-mfapou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grimoires, or ‘spellbooks’, had a great influence on science and religion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=grimoire&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Books of magic, or “grimoires”, a word which derives from the French <em>grammaire</em>, promised, like ordinary school grammars, to teach the reader the rudiments of a new language, though this was the language of spell-making and devil-raising. Grimoires were frequently attributed to famous men of esoteric learning, and the wise king Solomon in particular appealed to Christian readers. If Solomon had authored such a text, could not the wise Christian reader likewise practice the occult without endangering his soul?</p>
<p>Rumour of the grimoires and their grim rituals would circulate widely throughout the medieval era while the actual, often comparatively bland contents, remained obscure.</p>
<h2>The occult reformation</h2>
<p>The introduction of printing press technology to Europe in the 15th century revolutionised the speed and scale by which all texts could be produced. It was the printing press which facilitated the Protestant Reformation, and it was also the printing press which was responsible for the introduction of the occult grimoires to a larger audience than ever before.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, this occult reformation was enacted not by magicians themselves, but by a series of sceptics who believed that, by revealing in print the content of infamous esoteric manuscripts, they could expose them to the ridicule that they deserved.</p>
<p>Dutch scholar Johann Weyer’s Latin treatise <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_praestigiis_daemonum"><em>De Praestigiis Daemonum</em></a> or “On the Tricks of Demons” was published in 1563. It was one of the first great sceptical works debunking magic, criticising notorious witch hunting manuals like the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malleus-maleficarum"><em>Malleus Maleficarum</em></a> and, indeed, successfully curbing some of the continental witch trials. Weyer’s work had a huge influence on one Englishman in particular, Reginald Scot, who borrowed from it in his own book, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60766/60766-h/60766-h.htm">The Discovery of Witchcraft</a>, first published in 1584.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427206/original/file-20211019-18-uz3867.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Malleus Maleficarum is a manual for hunting witches that would serve as guidance for 15th century witch trials.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=malleus+maleficarum&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scot’s The Discovery is a thrilling exposé of both the folk magic practised by witches and the “learned” magic found in grimoires, particularly those attributed to Solomon. Weyer had included, as an appendix to <em>De Praestigiis Daemonum</em>, a direct translation of a Solomonic grimoire which listed the names and ranks of various demons, and how a magician might go about conjuring and commanding them as, supposedly, could Solomon.</p>
<p>Scot “Englished” much of this appendix for his book, concluding scathingly: “He that can be perswaded that these things are true … may soone be brought to beleeve that the moone is made of green cheese.”</p>
<p>Though by no means an atheist – nobody was, at least not openly, in the 1500s - Scot was certainly a smarmy sceptic, and The Discovery shares the exasperated horror of Richard Dawkin’s The God Delusion (2006) at the excesses of superstition and belief. Joined by George Gifford’s <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A01718.0001.001?view=toc">A discourse of the Subtill Practices of Deuilles by Vvitches and Sorcerers by which Men are and Haue Bin Greatly Deluded</a> (1587) and Henry Howard’s <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A03738.0001.001?view=toc">A Defensatiue Against the Poyson of Supposed Prophesies</a> (1583), Scot’s treatise seemed to ride the crest of a new wave of scepticism concerning the whole project of magic in general.</p>
<p>Surely the genie was out of the bottle (or demon out of the brazen bowl, as the Solomonic grimoires would describe it). Now that occult beliefs had been so thoroughly exposed and ridiculed, how could they possibly survive?</p>
<h2>King James and the witches</h2>
<p>In 1597, King James VI of Scotland, who would inherit the English throne in 1603, published an extraordinary treatise: <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/king-james-vi-and-is-demonology-1597"><em>Daemonologie</em></a>. The book was not, as the name might suggest, a grimoire-like guide to the conjuration of demons, but rather a serious study of demonic power and the harm it could inflict. King James did not accept the suggestion that any man, even if he was as wise as Solomon, could seriously practise magic without risk to his soul. Nor did he believe, as the smarmy sceptics did, that there was no real threat whatsoever.</p>
<p>James was an angry Christian, a man who believed, sincerely, in the power of the occult and felt duty-bound to protect his people from it in all its forms. He had nothing but contempt for the likes of Scot, whom he regarded, in much the same way as a modern Christian fundamentalist might regard an unbeliever, as a dangerous mocker who did the Devil’s work for him by dismissing the real threat that magic posed.</p>
<p>Even worse, Scot and his fellows had inadvertently introduced into printed English, for the first time, the detail of dangerous grimoire magic which had formerly reached only limited circulation. While it is a myth that James ordered copies of The Discovery to be burned, extracts from the text were indeed consigned to the fire during the witch trials of the 17th century, when sections were found, freed from their original sceptical context, in the documents of those accused of witchcraft.</p>
<h2>One devil too many</h2>
<p>My PhD looks specifically at the fallout of this fascinating cultural clash in the work of the early modern dramatists, and I am particularly interested in the overlooked presence of Solomon in these debates. Most famously, it was Marlowe’s <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/779/779-h/779-h.htm">Doctor Faustus</a> which sparked a vogue for plays that dealt with the question of the learned magician. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427210/original/file-20211019-20-pnszw0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doctor Faustus raised many objections due to its interplay with the demonic realm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=marlowe+faustus&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Written in around 1588, Doctor Faustus drew on Scot’s The Discovery in its representation of magic, yet discarded its dismissive tone. Faustus succeeds in summoning the demon Mephistopheles, and signs away his soul in a contract written with his own blood in return for 24 years of power. After wasting his time on petty vengeances, greed and lust, Faustus is finally sent to hell. </p>
<p>Rumour circulated that an extra devil had been seen on stage during the play, a fact which the Puritan William Prynne would gleefully repeat as proof of the evils of theatre in his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Histrio-Mastix-The-Players-Scourge-or-Actors-tragoedie"><em>Histriomastix</em></a>, 1632. Magicians who both did and did not achieve their hoped-for Solomonic command of occult forces would populate the English stage for decades.</p>
<p>Scot and the sceptics had indeed laid bare the detail of occult belief, and their work was highly influential, but it had precisely the opposite of their desired effect. Advances in technology, accessible English translations and an entertainment industry hungry for a good story had conspired to democratise magic. The process they unwittingly began continues today on TikTok and elsewhere.</p>
<h2>Solomon on trial</h2>
<p>It’s a strange truth that grimoire magic is more widely available in 2021 than ever before, and that it is the internet which has popularised exactly the same material that was hidden in a handful of libraries for the first few hundred years of its presence in Europe.</p>
<p>With the debate about the ethics of Solomonic magic underway on Twitch, I hardly dare imagine Scot’s horror, much less King James’s, to hear phrases like “pro-demon rights” from a young person describing themselves as a “demonolater” and “magic is the scientific study of conversations with spiritual beings” from a self-professed “Solomonic mage”.</p>
<p>The latter has done a good job of persuading the Twitch stream that commanding demons is not inherently disrespectful, though a poorly-judged comparison between the authority of the magician and that of the policeman sparks momentary indignation in the chat.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the debate is civil and ends with discussions of new online editions of the rare grimoires. It seems the magical incarnation of King Solomon will live to exorcise another day, and I can’t say I’m surprised. The historical inability of sceptical dismissals and technological advances to do anything other than encourage belief in magic has persuaded me that the fundamentalists are right in one respect: speak of the devil and he shall appear – and that goes for TikTok too.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebekah King 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>
What’s behind Gen Z’s appetite for tarot and spells? 16th century debates about witchcraft help explain why the occult has become viral on TikTok.
Rebekah King, PhD Candidate, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/167092
2021-10-06T11:02:03Z
2021-10-06T11:02:03Z
Climate crisis: how science fiction’s hopes and fears can inspire humanity’s response
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422608/original/file-20210922-22-1chs8lr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/zpUsOQzByFg">David Menidrey/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You see the forest of cranes before you reach the coast. In the heat’s haze, machinery resounds in the middle distance, shifting and tamping dirt with earth-shattering force. Beyond the construction site, the sea sparkles under the Sun, traversed by ships old and new. It seems the whole city takes its cue from the coast – there is always so much being built, demolished and rebuilt. </p>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Those in power push ahead with their enduring programme to reshape the world by building new land. This is a society that is being transformed for a particular vision of the future: to build new worlds able to meet the challenges of a soaring population, more space and new modes of living. But what kind of future is being built, and at what cost?</p>
<p>This isn’t science fiction. This is the real story of <a href="https://earth.org/land-reclamation-hong-kong/">land reclamation</a> in 1980s-90s Hong Kong, where I grew up. Land reclamation involves the filling of water bodies with soil to extend land or create artificial islands. Housing and infrastructure on the scale seen in Hong Kong is only possible because of how much land – over <a href="https://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/resources/mapping-information/hk-geographic-data.html">70km²</a> of it – was reclaimed. But this has come at a cost to people, biodiversity and the integrity of wildlife habitats alike.</p>
<p>It was during my childhood in this city, part of which was so recently submerged beneath the ocean, that I first began to speculate about the drastic ways we transform space – and the unforeseen impacts this has.</p>
<p>As a child immersed in science fiction classics such as Frank Herbert’s Dune, I quickly realised that fiction can help us consider, imagine, and work through these unforeseen impacts. And so it is no surprise that climate fiction – or “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/26/stories-to-save-the-world-the-new-wave-of-climate-fiction">cli-fi</a>” – has quickly become a recognised genre in recent years. From Barbara Kingsolver’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/11/flight-behaviour-barbara-kingsolver-review">Flight Behaviour</a> to Omar El Akkad’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/04/american-war-omar-el-akkad-review">American War</a>, people are clearly interested in imagining possible futures as a way of considering how we are going to get ourselves out of this mess.</p>
<p>If there is something that we can be fairly sure of, it is that the future will be radically different to what we had imagined, and that it will demand adjustment. This is why authors of science fiction are <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2011/01/science-fiction-teaches-governments-and-citizens-how-to-understand-the-future-of-technology.html">consulted by organisations and governments</a>: to help us think about the risks and challenges of the future in ways inaccessible to other disciplines. As COP26, the delayed 2020 UN climate change conference in Glasgow, approaches we urgently need more of this imaginative impulse.</p>
<p>Science fiction has certainly already played a part in this narrative. Harnessing the Sun’s energy has a long history in science fiction, and Arthur C. Clarke is often credited with coming up with the idea of the <a href="https://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/outreach/the-space-race/the-story-of-vanguard">solar cell-powered geostationary communications satellite</a>. <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/">NASA’s satellite system</a>, meanwhile, is crucial for monitoring climate change and can plausibly be traced back, in part, to science fiction’s capacity for thinking about worlds and systems. And of course, spaceships and space stations – indeed, our expansion into space – is an invention of science fiction.</p>
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<img alt="COP26: the world's biggest climate talks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong>This story is part of The Conversation’s coverage on COP26, the Glasgow climate conference, by experts from around the world.</strong>
<br><em>Amid a rising tide of climate news and stories, The Conversation is here to clear the air and make sure you get information you can trust. This story was commissioned by The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">Insights</a> team. <a href="https://page.theconversation.com/cop26-glasgow-2021-climate-change-summit/"><strong>More.</strong></a></em></p>
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<p>Inspired by my early days in Hong Kong, I went on to shape a career researching science fiction with a focus on technical systems that transform the planet we live on: the idea of terraforming and geoengineering. If terraforming is the modification of other planets to enable habitation by life on Earth, <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/08/09/615/what-is-geoengineering-and-why-should-you-care-climate-change-harvard/">geoengineering</a> can be defined as the planetary modification of the Earth – such as the deliberate intervention in the climate system.</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/25/top-us-scientists-back-100m-geoengineering-research-proposal">controversial debate</a> about geoengineering becomes increasingly urgent given <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/09/1025898341/major-report-warns-climate-change-is-accelerating-and-humans-must-cut-emissions-?t=1630510734735">the catastrophic failure</a> to curb emissions, science fiction about terraforming and geoengineering can help us imagine possible configurations of solutions to the climate crisis and their implications. A closer look at this particular example will also show why embracing this form of thinking is so crucial for the climate crisis more generally too.</p>
<h2>The power of storytelling</h2>
<p>Proposals for geoengineering and terraforming are informed both by history and by the stories we tell one another. What science fiction can do is imagine and think through the political, as well as the scientific, implications of the technological choices we make. Science fiction stories speculate on, diagnose and illustrate the experiences and the problems wrapped up in global debates about mitigation and adaptation.</p>
<p>The aim of science fiction is not to solve society’s problems (though specific works of science fiction do offer solutions that we as readers are invited to critique, revise, advocate for, and even adopt); nor is science fiction about prediction. We therefore shouldn’t evaluate science fiction according to its success or failure in this regard. Rather, the role of science fiction is to <a href="https://www.peterlang.com/view/9781788740746/xhtml/chapter13.xhtml">speculate on possibilities</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Giant Earth globe hangs in modern building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422888/original/file-20210923-22-1qy61xb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">We need to imagine the future before we can get there.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/oWKN3h9CnPs">Romain Tordo/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
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<p>Science fiction, then, shouldn’t be read in isolation. The fictional space is an imaginative realm for testing ideas and values, and for attempting to imagine futures that could inform our societies now. The genre seeks to push beyond the assumptions of a singular time and place by providing a range of alternative ways of conceiving ideas, contexts and relationships. Science fiction asks to be challenged; it asks for us to hold one story up against another, to consider and interrogate the worlds portrayed and what they might tell us about our stances on crucial contemporary issues.</p>
<p>Reading such fiction can help us to think speculatively beyond the technical aspects of adaptation, mitigation and, indeed, intervention, and to understand the stances that we as people and as societies take toward these concerns.</p>
<p>This is the idea behind <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/30066">my book</a>, in which I survey the history of stories about terraforming, geoengineering, space and climate change. What science fiction teaches us is that technologies are not simply technical systems. Science is not simply a theoretical and technical endeavour. Rather, the practice of science and the development of technologies are also fundamentally social and cultural. This is why many researchers use the word “sociotechnical” to describe technological systems.</p>
<h2>A geoengineered planet</h2>
<p>In the real – policy – world, fictions inform the imagination. Some imagine a future world <a href="https://www.axios.com/co2-sequestration-iceland-climeworks-carbfix-74ac0180-e668-4848-939a-0e55a6b70686.html">covered by machines</a> sucking CO₂ out of the air and pumping it into the porous rock below. Others imagine one powered by a portfolio of vast wind and solar farms, hydroelectric and geothermal plants. Some imagine business largely continuing as usual, with only moderate changes in how we produce and use energy, and little to no change to how we organise our economies and our lives.</p>
<p>And some suggest we send planes into the stratosphere, pumping out particulates that will reflect sunlight back into space and turn the sky white.</p>
<p>It is this last vision, <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-six-ideas-to-limit-global-warming-with-solar-geoengineering">solar radiation management</a> (SRM), that has been the subject of particularly intense debate. SRM involves controlling the amount of sunlight trapped in Earth’s atmosphere. A number of scientists, including <a href="https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/FICER">Ken Caldeira and David Keith</a> (sometimes referred to as the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/dec/05/clique-geoengineering-debate">geoclique</a>”) advocate for further research into SRM, but they are strongly opposed by various <a href="https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/climate-change-introduction-sgr-s-work">pressure</a> <a href="https://www.etcgroup.org/issues/climate-geoengineering">groups</a>.</p>
<p>Bill McGuire, a patron of Scientists for Global Responsibility and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at UCL, recently wrote a science fiction novel, <a href="https://medium.com/predict/sky-seed-a-chilling-story-29068e1821fd">Skyseed</a> (2020), which imagines the terrifying failure of a nanotech-based approach to solar radiation management. This novel describes the impossibility – given our current state of knowledge – of foreseeing the consequences of this speculative technology.</p>
<p>Proposals for solar radiation management vary enormously, but the most common forms involve brightening marine clouds or injecting particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth. Doing so, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.2019.0255">it is proposed</a>, would help to cool the Earth, though it would do nothing to remove carbon and other carbon equivalent gases from the atmosphere, nor would it address ocean acidification.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-repair-three-things-we-must-do-now-to-stabilise-the-planet-163990">Climate repair: three things we must do now to stabilise the planet</a>
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<p>More extravagant ideas include building <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/04/ask-ethan-could-we-just-build-a-space-shade-to-counteract-global-warming/?sh=4a8fca7a43bc">sunshades</a> in space and placing them in various orbital configurations. If this idea sounds like it comes straight out of a science fiction novel, that’s because it does: such orbital mirrors feature in James Oberg’s 1981 work <a href="http://www.jamesoberg.com/earth.html">New Earths</a> and Lois McMaster Bujold’s 1998 novel <a href="http://www.baen.com/chapters/komarr_1.htm">Komarr</a>.</p>
<h2>Transforming planets</h2>
<p>But what can terraforming tell us about geoengineering and Earth? The idea of transforming places beyond Earth – planets or other spatial bodies – to make them more amenable to human life has been a mainstay of science fiction for decades. The necessity of maintaining life support systems in space habitats and spaceships draws on the same science that underpins technologies for addressing climate change. Such stories pose many pertinent questions that we should heed as we consider next steps on Earth – or beyond it.</p>
<p>In its broadest sense, terraforming refers to transforming other planets or cosmic bodies so that life from Earth can live there. Entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, have brought terraforming and the colonisation of Mars to our imagination through an ambitious project to put people on the planet <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/27/tech/elon-musk-spacex-mars-danger-scn/index.html">within the decade</a>. Musk is not alone: other entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origins) are also competing to <a href="https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3141232/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-and-richard-branson-space-luxurys-new">exploit space</a> and get humankind out there.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511">Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth</a>
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<p>Contemporary visions of terraforming Mars must contend with recent assessments that show it is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming">not possible</a> to terraform the planet with present day technology, given the lack of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would enable an atmosphere to be created on Mars. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214552419301415?via%3Dihub">scientific</a> <a href="https://nerc.ukri.org/planetearth/stories/459/">research</a> into terraforming continues to carve out a space for its future possibility.</p>
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<img alt="A man in a spacesuit walks across a Martian landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422889/original/file-20210923-20-1ec0ewd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Will humanity ever terraform Mars?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/kGtFjYdm7DI">Nicolas Lobos/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
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<p>Although it is the subject of current scientific research, the word “terraforming” was in fact coined by science fiction writer Jack Williamson (writing as Will Stewart) in the 1942 short story, <a href="https://archive.org/details/Astounding_v29n05_1942-07_dtsg0318/page/n79/mode/2up">Collision Orbit</a>, set on a terraformed asteroid. The story describes terraforming technologies that include a “paragravity installation” sunk into the heart of the asteroid, which provides some gravity. Oxygen and water, meanwhile, are generated from mineral oxides, a process that releases “absorptive gases to trap the feeble heat of the far-off Sun”.</p>
<p>In the story, the greenhouse effect is harnessed to make other cosmic bodies habitable. What makes terraforming possible here are new ways of manipulating atomic matter. But Williamson is also concerned with the unintended consequences of new inventions and new ways of generating energy. New energy systems make terraforming feasible for small groups and large institutions alike, promising a re-configuration of power throughout the solar system by the story’s end.</p>
<h2>Lessons from fiction for the future</h2>
<p>I’ve focused here on the ideas of geoengineering and terraforming because they represent the most outlandish theories or proposals when it comes to potential “solutions” to the climate crisis. But of course, everything I’ve written applies just as much to thinking about less grandiose proposals.</p>
<p>The questions and speculations offered by science fiction are endless, and it would be a fool’s errand to attempt to outline those that are the most pertinent, or important, or relevant to COP26. So instead I’d like highlighting those books that have stayed with me the most in my time working in this area, and explain why I think they might prove fruitful food for thought for anyone attending, debating, or simply following COP26.</p>
<p><strong>1. Ursula K. Le Guin’s <a href="https://www.ursulakleguin.com/the-word-for-world-is-forest">The Word for World is Forest</a> (1972).</strong></p>
<p>This short novel by science fiction heavyweight Ursula K. Le Guin describes a forest world, populated by an indigenous society, that early on in the novel is occupied and aggressively deforested to provide Earth with wood. This is not simply a technical project. It is also social because it involves the complete transformation of the indigenous society, who are violently gang-pressed to provide a freely exploitable labour force. It is also social insofar as this supply chain is oriented to the demands and desires of those on Earth.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=933&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422890/original/file-20210923-19-18iu3rb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1173&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>We might see echoes of this story in James Cameron’s film <a href="https://www.avatar.com/movies/avatar/">Avatar</a> (2009); only, in Avatar the target for extraction is “unobtainium”. In Herbert’s iconic novel Dune, it’s a substance called “geriatric spice mélange”. It’s not important what these resources are, but that they are scarce and valuable in the stories’ worlds.</p>
<p>Portrayals of extensive afforestation and deforestation are a form of terraforming or geoengineering because they transform the planet’s ability to regulate its climate. This isn’t addressed directly in Le Guin’s novel; but Le Guin does explore the issue of terraforming in her 1974 novel <a href="https://www.ursulakleguin.com/dispossessed">The Dispossessed</a>, which focuses on the political and economic relationship between an anarchist state on a moon called Anarres and its historical home planet, Urras. This novel explores what life might look like on a Moon that has long been undergoing terraformation.</p>
<p>What these examples tell us is that, <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/3091-after-geoengineering">in some contexts</a>, afforestation or deforestation that transforms societies and their environments function as a form of terraforming or geoengineering. We must recognise prior claims to the land and work with communities to develop an ethics of care for these environments that resist aggressive exploitation. </p>
<p><strong>2. Kim Stanley Robinson’s <a href="https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/content/mars-trilogy">Mars Trilogy</a> (1992-1996)</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps the author who has most consistently explored contemporary debates about climate change is Kim Stanley Robinson. </p>
<p>Named the 2008 TIME “<a href="http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841778_1841779_1841803,00.html">Hero of the Environment</a>”, Robinson addresses climate change politics in works set on Earth and the solar system. I’ve written <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/climate-and-literature/planetary-climates-terraforming-in-science-fiction/C04496E7FFD5E68A377CA02C3DEC9BFF">extensively</a> about Robinson’s work, which speculates on a portfolio of sciences and technologies to supplement the creation of new ways of living centred on social and ecological justice. Most importantly, Robinson ties these technologies to the communities being portrayed, and traces the struggles and injustices that such developments risk.</p>
<p>Robinson imagines the terraformation of Mars in his trilogy Red Mars (1992), Green Mars (1993) and Blue Mars (1996). A host of technologies appear, including orbital mirrors, referred to as <a href="https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/content/soletta">solettas</a>, technologies for engineering soil and biologically engineered lichens to transform the atmosphere, among many others. </p>
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<p>Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Mars trilogy is the consistent reflection on the vision for transformation: for whom is the planet being transformed? Corporate interests on Earth, or the entirety of the Martian population? And what relationship does the transformation of Mars bear for the peoples on Earth? </p>
<p>As one of the key members of the terraforming project on Mars, the scientist Sax Russell’s technocratic, top-down approach to the terraformation of Mars undergoes a sea change after a traumatic brain injury during a Martian revolution. This injury prompts him to reflect on language and communication and leads him to understand that the technical approach that he had thus far adopted — an approach that erases the perspectives and experiences of his fellow Martians — is insufficient for building a truly open society. In his own imperfect way, he begins to move toward an understanding of science as a firmly sociotechnical system, and to realise that the human element cannot be ignored.</p>
<p>The fictional adventures of Russell might as well inform our own response to climate change. By hearing only the voices of specialists and politicians, other avenues for addressing climate change might be overlooked. Worse, we may inadvertently lock ourselves into a technological system that cannot hope to address the effects of climate change, or which may exacerbate the precariousness of many peoples across the globe. </p>
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<p>Science fiction offers ways to discuss speculative technologies without presenting them as ready made technological fixes, enabling wider public deliberation about our approach to climate change. Fiction asks crucial questions, revises and reconsiders aspects of science and society in relation to their contemporary moment. But it also transmits a way of thinking – it identifies our assumptions about the worlds we want to live in and challenges dominant narratives about climate change. Most importantly, it offers a range of possible technological solutions, which could and should inform our response to the climate crisis. </p>
<p><strong>3. Ian McDonald’s Luna Trilogy (2015-2019)</strong></p>
<p>McDonald considers the exploitation of resources and people, along with the extension of financial speculation to all aspects of life on the colonised Moon in his trilogy <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/moon-even-harsher-ceo/">Luna: New Moon</a> (2015), <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-earth-strikes-back-post-thatcherite-neoliberalism-in-ian-mcdonalds-luna-wolf-moon/">Luna: Wolf Moon</a> (2017) and <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/banking-on-the-future-ian-mcdonalds-luna-moon-rising/">Luna: Moon Rising</a> (2019).</p>
<p>In this story of power and the exploitation of the Moon’s resources, families who control key industries on the Moon struggle for dominance against the backdrop of an Earth that is adapting to climate change. The trilogy imagines and interrogates the extension of the logic of development outward to the solar system and encourages readers to think about the inevitable economic and political clashes this will bring.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422937/original/file-20210923-27-14x3e90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Science fiction can help us think about our own stories of climate mitigation and adaptation. Such stories are experiments in envisioning future possibilities and creating solutions to future problems. Central to many of these visions is an emphasis on social and ecological justice, and an awareness of the dangers of erasing populations from the story.</p>
<p>It is true that attempts to imagine the future are the product of utopian thinking – but don’t imagine for a moment that utopian in this sense equates to a naive idealism. Rather, utopian thinking is a commitment to working through the difficulties and impasses of our contemporary moment without losing sight of the possible futures that we imagine and would like to create.</p>
<p>What makes science fiction valuable in our efforts against climate change is that it does not offer us a final word, but rather invites an open ended exploration and experimentation with stories and ideas. Science fiction encourages us to build worlds and to question the worlds that we are building. It asks us to choose a future from a range of possibilities and to put in the work to create it. Science fiction was crucial in helping me make sense of the radical transformations of 20th century Hong Kong and the UK, and it led to my engagement with the politics of climate change. This is precisely the work of public deliberation and engagement that is crucial as we move toward and beyond COP26.</p>
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/there-arent-enough-trees-in-the-world-to-offset-societys-carbon-emissions-and-there-never-will-be-158181?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/drugs-robots-and-the-pursuit-of-pleasure-why-experts-are-worried-about-ais-becoming-addicts-163376?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Drugs, robots and the pursuit of pleasure – why experts are worried about AIs becoming addicts</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Pak 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>
Attending, debating or simply following COP26? Here’s why you should be reading science fiction.
Chris Pak, Lecturer in English Literature, Swansea University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163376
2021-09-14T09:02:58Z
2021-09-14T09:02:58Z
Drugs, robots and the pursuit of pleasure – why experts are worried about AIs becoming addicts
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411932/original/file-20210719-23-1fx0vl0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/R4WCbazrD1g">Rock'n Roll Monkey/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1953, a Harvard psychologist thought he <a href="http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2807/">discovered pleasure</a> – accidentally – within the cranium of a rat. With an electrode inserted into a specific area of its brain, the rat was allowed to pulse the implant by pulling a lever. It kept returning for more: insatiably, incessantly, lever-pulling. In fact, the rat didn’t seem to want to do anything else. Seemingly, the reward centre of the brain had been located.</p>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>More than 60 years later, in 2016, a <a href="https://openai.com/blog/authors/dario-amodei/">pair</a> of artificial intelligence (AI) <a href="https://openai.com/blog/authors/jack-clark/">researchers</a> were training an AI to play video games. The goal of one game – Coastrunner – was to complete a racetrack. But the AI player was rewarded for picking up collectable items along the track. When the program was run, <a href="https://openai.com/blog/faulty-reward-functions/">they witnessed</a> something strange. The AI found a way to skid in an unending circle, picking up an unlimited cycle of collectables. It did this, incessantly, instead of completing the course.</p>
<p>What links these seemingly unconnected events is something strangely akin to addiction in humans. Some <a href="https://e563b909-928d-4538-97f1-e473938f7515.filesusr.com/ugd/421795_c5b62fc2a0c741e7930cb2204c649acf.pdf">AI researchers</a> call the phenomenon “<a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/tag/wireheading">wireheading</a>”.</p>
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<p>It is quickly <a href="https://deepmind.com/blog/article/Specification-gaming-the-flip-side-of-AI-ingenuity">becoming a hot topic</a> among machine learning experts and <a href="https://openai.com/blog/concrete-ai-safety-problems/">those concerned</a> with AI safety. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/team/anders-sandberg/">of us</a> (Anders) has a background in computational neuroscience, and now works with groups such as the <a href="https://ai.objectives.institute/">AI Objectives Institute</a>, where we discuss how to avoid such problems with AI; the <a href="https://thomasmoynihan.xyz/">other</a> (Thomas) studies history, and the various ways people have thought about both <a href="https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-humanity-discovered-its-possible-extinction-timeline/">the future and the fate</a> of civilisation throughout the past. After striking up a conversation on the topic of “wireheading”, we both realised just how rich and interesting the history behind this topic is.</p>
<p>It is an idea that is very of the moment, but its roots go surprisingly deep. We are currently working together to research just how deep the roots go: a story that we hope to tell fully in a forthcoming book. The topic connects everything from the riddle of personal motivation, to the pitfalls of increasingly addictive social media, to the conundrum of hedonism and whether a life of stupefied bliss may be preferable to one of meaningful hardship. It may well influence the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a_ZR81Z25z0C&pg=PA489&dq=At+a+recent+discussion+I+ran+on+designing+our+future,+one+of+the+biggest+fears+of+many+participants+was+that+we+would+become+wireheads.&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjnOC9l5zxAhXklFwKHX_tAoMQ6AEwAHoECA8QAg#v=onepage&q=At%20a%20recent%20discussion%20I%20ran%20on%20designing%20our%20future%2C%20one%20of%20the%20biggest%20fears%20of%20many%20participants%20was%20that%20we%20would%20become%20wireheads.&f=false">future of civilisation</a> itself. </p>
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>Here, we outline an introduction to this fascinating but under-appreciated topic, exploring how people first started thinking about it.</p>
<h2>The sorcerer’s apprentice</h2>
<p>When people think about how AI might “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_control_problem">go wrong</a>”, most <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/stop-using-terminator-images-10b2feb79c78">probably picture</a> something along the lines of malevolent computers trying to cause harm. After all, we tend to anthropomorphise – think that nonhuman systems will behave in ways identical to humans. But when we look to <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.06565">concrete problems</a> in present-day AI systems, we see other — stranger — ways that things could go wrong with smarter machines. One <a href="https://vkrakovna.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/specification-gaming-examples-in-ai/">growing issue</a> with real-world AIs is the problem of wireheading.</p>
<p>Imagine you want to train a robot to keep your kitchen clean. You want it to act adaptively, so that it doesn’t need supervision. So you decide to try to encode the <em>the goal</em> of cleaning rather than dictate an exact – yet rigid and inflexible – set of step-by-step instructions. Your robot is different from you in that it has not <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004370221000862">inherited a set of motivations</a> – such as acquiring fuel or avoiding danger – from many millions of years of natural selection. You must program it with the right motivations to get it to reliably accomplish the task.</p>
<p>So, you encode it with a simple motivational rule: it receives reward from the amount of cleaning-fluid used. Seems foolproof enough. But you return to find the robot pouring fluid, wastefully, down the sink.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is so bent on maximising its fluid quota that it sets aside <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/tag/perverse-instantiation">other concerns</a>: such as its own, or your, safety. This is wireheading — though the same glitch is also called “<a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/reward-hacking-in-evolutionary-algorithms-c5bbbf42994b">reward hacking</a>” or “<a href="https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Data-Science/Sneaky-AI-Specification-Gaming-and-the-Shortcomings-of-Machine/ba-p/348686">specification gaming</a>”.</p>
<p>This has become an issue in machine learning, where a technique called <a href="https://deepsense.ai/what-is-reinforcement-learning-the-complete-guide/">reinforcement learning</a> has lately become important. Reinforcement learning simulates autonomous agents and trains them to invent ways to accomplish tasks. It does so by penalising them for failing to achieve some goal while rewarding them for achieving it. So, the agents are wired to seek out reward, and are rewarded for completing the goal.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Deep reinforcement learning in action.</span></figcaption>
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<p>But it has been found that, often, like our crafty kitchen cleaner, the agent finds surprisingly counter-intuitive ways to “cheat” this game so that they can gain all the reward without doing any of the work required to complete the task. The pursuit of reward becomes its own end, rather than the means for accomplishing a rewarding task. There is a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vRPiprOaC3HsCf5Tuum8bRfzYUiKLRqJmbOoC-32JorNdfyTiRRsR7Ea5eWtvsWzuxo8bjOxCG84dAg/pubhtml">growing list</a> of examples.</p>
<p>When you think about it, this <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.1201/b18612-8/wireheading-addiction-mental-illness-machines-roman-yampolskiy">isn’t too dissimilar</a> to the stereotype of the human drug addict. The addict circumvents all the effort of achieving “genuine goals”, because they instead use drugs to access pleasure more directly. Both <a href="https://ai.objectives.institute/blog/8gwiqyoxcbuzfuc707vz0qb4zugp2g">the addict and the AI</a> get stuck in a kind of “behavioural loop” where reward is sought at the cost of other goals.</p>
<h2>Rapturous rodents</h2>
<p>This is known as wireheading thanks to the rat experiment we started with. The Harvard psychologist in question was <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/psychology/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/olds-james-1922-1973">James Olds</a>.</p>
<p>In 1953, having just completed his PhD, Olds <a href="https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/2807/1/olds.pdf">had inserted</a> electrodes into the <a href="https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-septum">septal region</a> of rodent brains – in the lower frontal lobe – so that wires trailed out of their craniums. As mentioned, he allowed them to zap this region of their own brains by pulling a lever. This was later <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?cluster=10174450524035796509&hl=en&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5">dubbed</a> “self-stimulation”.</p>
<p>Olds found his rats self-stimulated compulsively, ignoring all other needs and desires. Publishing his results <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13233369/">with his colleague Peter Milner</a> in the following year, the pair reported that they lever-pulled at a rate of “1,920 responses an hour”. That’s once every two seconds. The rats seemed to love it.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WIRQRN8AAAAJ&hl=en">Contemporary neuroscientists</a> have since questioned Olds’s results and offered a more complex picture, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004012/">implying that</a> the stimulation may have simply been causing a feeling of <em>“wanting”</em> devoid of any <em>“liking”</em>. Or, in other words, the animals may have been experiencing pure craving without any pleasurable enjoyment at all. However, back in the 1950s, Olds and others <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24941787">soon announced</a> the discovery of the “pleasure centers” of the brain.</p>
<p>Prior to Olds’s experiment, pleasure was a dirty word in psychology: the prevailing belief had been that motivation should largely be explained negatively, as the avoidance of pain rather than the pursuit of pleasure. But, here, pleasure seemed undeniably to be a positive behavioural force. Indeed, it looked like a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-00789-006">positive feedback loop</a>. There was apparently nothing to stop the animal stimulating itself to exhaustion.</p>
<p>It wasn’t long until a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=09tqAAAAMAAJ&q=%22popular+and+misleading+accounts+of+an+experiment%22&dq=%22popular+and+misleading+accounts+of+an+experiment%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXs-uCvKHxAhXd6OAKHWlEAxUQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg">rumour began spreading</a> that the rats regularly lever-pressed to the point of starvation. The explanation was this: once you have tapped into the source of all reward, all other rewarding tasks — even the things required for survival — fall away as uninteresting and unnecessary, even to the point of death.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Self-stimulation experiments.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like the Coastrunner AI, if you accrue reward directly – without having to bother with any of the work of completing the actual track – then why not just loop indefinitely? For a living animal, which has multiple requirements for survival, such dominating compulsion might prove deadly. Food is pleasing, but if you decouple pleasure from feeding, then the pursuit of pleasure might win out over finding food.</p>
<p>Though no rats perished in the original 1950s experiments, later experiments did seem to demonstrate the deadliness of electrode-induced pleasure. Having ruled out the possibility that the electrodes were creating artificial feelings of satiation, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0031938471901442">one 1971 study</a> seemingly demonstrated that electrode pleasure could indeed <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6SFIAQAAIAAJ&q=%22a+full+competitor+with+pain+and+the+basic+needs%22&dq=%22a+full+competitor+with+pain+and+the+basic+needs%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjSv4qFu6HxAhUXxBQKHb6JDRcQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg">outcompete other drives</a>, and do so to the point of <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03326713.pdf">self-starvation</a>.</p>
<p>Word quickly spread. Throughout the 1960s, identical experiments were conducted on <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/physrev.1962.42.4.554">other animals beyond</a> the humble lab rat: from goats and guinea pigs to goldfish. Rumour even <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/uclalr15&div=19&id=&page=">spread</a> of a dolphin who had been allowed to self-stimulate, and, after being “left in a pool with the switch connected”, had “delighted himself to death after an all-night orgy of pleasure”.</p>
<p>This dolphin’s grisly death-by-seizure was, in fact, more likely caused by the way the electrode was inserted: with a hammer. The scientist <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1963-02563-001">behind this experiment</a> was the extremely eccentric <a href="https://www.johnclilly.com/">J C Lilly</a>, inventor of the flotation tank and prophet of inter-species communication, who had also turned monkeys into wireheads. He had reported, in 1961, of a particularly boisterous monkey becoming overweight from intoxicated inactivity after becoming preoccupied with pulling his lever, repetitively, for pleasure shocks.</p>
<p>One researcher (who had worked in Olds’s lab) <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24955852">asked</a> whether an “animal more intelligent than the rat” would “show the same maladaptive behaviour”. Experiments on monkeys and dolphins had given some indication as to the answer. </p>
<p>But in fact, a number of dubious experiments had already been performed on humans.</p>
<h2>Human wireheads</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k4kqDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=robert+galbraith+heath+pleasure+shock&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-vcK_wKHxAhUS_BQKHVr4BxQQ6AEwAHoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=robert%20galbraith%20heath%20pleasure%20shock&f=false">Robert Galbraith Heath</a> remains a highly <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/07/the-1970s-gay-cure-experiments-written-out-of-scientific-history/">controversial figure</a> in the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28859564/">history of neuroscience</a>. Among other things, he performed experiments involving <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13424746/">transfusing blood</a> from people with schizophrenia to people without the condition, to see if he could induce its symptoms (Heath claimed this worked, but other scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0964704X.2010.487427">could not replicate</a> his results.) He <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xof4BkbI1DQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=tulane:+the+emergence+of+a+modern+university&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22heath%22%20%22cia%22&f=false">may also</a> have been involved in murky attempts to find military uses for deep-brain electrodes.</p>
<p>Since 1952, Heath <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y&id=27prAAAAMAAJ&dq=Studies+in+Schizophrenia%3A+A+Multidisciplinary+Approach+to+Mind-Brain+Relationships+heath&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22pleasurable+reaction%22">had been recording</a> pleasurable responses to deep-brain stimulation in human patients who had had electrodes installed due to debilitating illnesses such as epilepsy or schizophrenia.</p>
<p>During the 1960s, in a series of questionable experiments, Heath’s electrode-implanted subjects — anonymously named “B-10” and “B-12” — were allowed to press buttons to stimulate their own reward centres. They reported feelings of extreme pleasure and overwhelming compulsion to repeat. A journalist later commented that this made his subjects “zombies”. One subject <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14086435/">reported</a> sensations “better than sex”.</p>
<p>In 1961, Heath attended <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xukdjy8p">a symposium</a> on brain stimulation, where another researcher — <a href="https://www.wireheading.com/jose-delgado.html">José Delgado</a> — had hinted that pleasure-electrodes could be used to “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1965/05/17/archives/matador-with-a-radio-stops-wired-bull-modified-behavior-in-animals.html">brainwash</a>” subjects, altering their “natural” inclinations. Delgado would later play the matador and bombastically demonstrate this by pacifying an implanted bull. But at the 1961 symposium <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=17990224062094327735&hl=en&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5">he suggested</a> electrodes could alter sexual preferences.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/23pXqY3X6c8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Delgado ‘brainwashing the bull’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Heath was inspired. A decade later, he even tried to use electrode technology to “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0005791672900298">re-program</a>” the sexual orientation of a homosexual male patient named “B-19”. Heath thought electrode stimulation could convert his subject by “training” B-19’s brain to associate pleasure with “heterosexual” stimuli. He convinced himself that it worked (although there is no evidence it did).</p>
<p>Despite being ethically and scientifically disastrous, the episode – which was eventually <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-man-who-fried-gay-people-s-brains-a7119181.html">picked up</a> by the press and condemned by gay rights campaigners – no doubt greatly shaped the myth of wireheading: if it can “make a gay man straight” (as Heath believed), what can’t it do?</p>
<h2>Hedonism helmets</h2>
<p>From here, the idea took hold in wider culture and the myth spread. By 1963, the prolific science fiction writer Isaac Asimov was already extruding worrisome consequences from the electrodes. He feared that it might lead to an “addiction to end all addictions”, the results of which are “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y&id=g4ErAQAAMAAJ&dq=Isaac+Asimov%2C+The+Human+Brain%3A+Its+Capacities+and+Functions&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22distressing+to+contemplate%22">distressing to contemplate</a>”.</p>
<p>By 1975, philosophy <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42588515?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">papers</a> were using electrodes in thought experiments. One paper imagined “warehouses” filled up with people — in cots — hooked up to “pleasure helmets”, experiencing unconscious bliss. Of course, most would argue this would not fulfil our “deeper needs”. But, the author asked, “what about a "super-pleasure helmet”? One that not only delivers “great sensual pleasure”, but also simulates any meaningful experience — from writing a symphony to meeting divinity itself? It may not be really real, but it “would seem perfect; perfect seeming is the same as being”.</p>
<p>The author concluded: “What is there to object in all this? Let’s face it: nothing”.</p>
<p>The idea of the human species dropping out of reality in pursuit of artificial pleasures quickly made its way through science fiction. The same year as Asimov’s intimations, in 1963, Herbert W. Franke published his novel, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6398163-the-orchid-cage">The Orchid Cage</a>.</p>
<p>It foretells a future wherein intelligent machines have been engineered to maximise human happiness, come what may. Doing their duty, the machines reduce humans to indiscriminate flesh-blobs, removing all unnecessary organs. Many appendages, after all, only cause pain. Eventually, all that is left of humanity are disembodied pleasure centres, incapable of experiencing anything other than homogeneous bliss.</p>
<p>From there, the idea percolated through science fiction. From Larry Niven’s 1969 story “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_Ecstasy">Death by Ecstasy</a>”, where the word “wirehead” is first coined, through Spider Robinson’s 1982 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindkiller">Mindkiller</a>, the tagline of which is “Pleasure — it’s the only way to die”.</p>
<h2>Supernormal stimuli</h2>
<p>But we humans don’t even need to implant invasive electrodes to make our motivations misfire. Unlike rodents, or <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/dolphin-intelligence-and-humanitys-cosmic-future">even dolphins</a>, we are <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/anthropocene-2770">uniquely good</a> at <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-fiction-scenario-of-an-artificial-planet-is-already-here-155574">altering our environment</a>. Modern humans are also good at inventing — and profiting from — artificial products that are abnormally alluring (in the sense that our ancestors would never have had to resist them in the wild). We manufacture our own ways to distract ourselves.</p>
<p>Around the same time as Olds’s experiments with the rats, the Nobel-winning biologist <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1973/tinbergen/biographical/">Nikolaas Tinbergen</a> was researching animal behaviour. He noticed that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4532715?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">something interesting</a> happened when a stimulus that triggers an instinctual behaviour is artificially exaggerated beyond its natural proportions. The intensity of the behavioural response does not tail off as the stimulus becomes more intense, and artificially exaggerated, but becomes stronger: even to the point that the response becomes damaging for the organism.</p>
<p>For example, given a choice between a <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100543339">bigger and spottier</a> counterfeit egg and the real thing, Tinbergen found birds preferred hyperbolic fakes at the cost of neglecting their own offspring. He referred to such preternaturally alluring fakes as “<a href="https://www.sparringmind.com/supernormal-stimuli/">supernormal stimuli</a>”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t1pOZbytOhE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Supernormal stimuli.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some, therefore, have asked: could <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Jq73GozjsuhdwMLEG/superstimuli-and-the-collapse-of-western-civilization">it be</a> that, living in a <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Supernormal-Stimuli/">modernised and manufactured world</a> — replete with fast-food and pornography — humanity has similarly <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nireyal/2013/01/11/how-technology-is-like-bug-sex/">started surrendering</a> its own resilience in place of <a href="http://readthis.wtf/writing/hyperplastic-supernormal/">supernormal convenience</a>?</p>
<h2>Old fears</h2>
<p>As technology makes artificial pleasures more available and alluring, it can sometimes seem that they are out-competing the attention we allocate to “natural” impulses required for survival. People often point to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/science-and-technology/2020/02/gaming-disorder-rise-of-21st-century-epidemic">video game addiction</a>. Compulsively and repetitively pursuing such rewards, to the detriment of one’s health, is not all too different from the AI spinning in a circle in Coastrunner. Rather than accomplishing any “genuine goal” (completing the race track or maintaining genuine fitness), one falls into the trap of accruing some faulty measure of that goal (accumulating points or counterfeit pleasures).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing depicts a smiling man and a woman with wires coming out of their heads, leading to buttons in each others' hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411909/original/file-20210719-21-152p0uu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1290&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration from a 1970 James Olds paper: ‘Pleasure Centers in the Brain’. Engineering and Science, 33 (7). pp. 22-31.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechES:33.7.olds">Caltech Magazine</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But people have been panicking about this type of pleasure-addled doom long before any AIs were trained to play games and even long before electrodes were pushed into rodent craniums. Back in the 1930s, sci-fi author <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933190-600-last-and-first-men-review-an-epic-2-billion-year-history-of-humanity/">Olaf Stapledon</a> was writing about civilisational collapse brought on by “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gPR4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31&lpg=PT31&dq=%22It+worked+not+through+the+sense+organs,+but+direct+stimulation+of+the%22&source=bl&ots=ZbfoiTDUT3&sig=ACfU3U3go7alUu7Wnmaa1sGhUBha8do5kw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiGlpStypzxAhWogP0HHUi2C68Q6AEwAHoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=%22It%20worked%20not%20through%20the%20sense%20organs%2C%20but%20direct%20stimulation%20of%20the%22&f=false">skullcaps</a>” that generate “illusory” ecstasies by “direct stimulation” of “brain-centers”.</p>
<p>The idea is even older, though. Thomas has studied the myriad ways people in the past have feared that our species could be sacrificing genuine longevity for short-term pleasures or conveniences. His book <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/x-risk">X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered its Own Extinction</a> explores the roots of this fear and how it first really took hold in Victorian Britain: when the sheer extent of industrialisation — and humanity’s growing reliance on artificial contrivances — first became apparent.</p>
<h2>Carnal crustacea</h2>
<p>Having digested Darwin’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin/On-the-Origin-of-Species">1859 classic</a>, the biologist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-Ray-Lankester">Ray Lankester</a> decided to supply a Darwinian explanation for parasitic organisms. He noticed that the evolutionary ancestors of parasites were often more “complex”. Parasitic organisms had lost ancestral features like limbs, eyes, or other complex organs.</p>
<p>Lankester <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/degeneration-a-view-of-evolution">theorised that</a>, because the parasite leeches off their host, they lose the need to fend for themselves. Piggybacking off the host’s bodily processes, their own organs — for perception and movement — atrophy. His favourite example was a parasitic barnacle, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crab-castrating-parasite-that-zombifies-its-prey-27200">named the <em>Sacculina</em></a>, which starts life as a segmented organism with a demarcated head. After <a href="https://blog.rsb.org.uk/sacculina-parasite/">attaching to</a> a host, however, the crustacean “regresses” into an amorphous, headless blob, sapping nutrition from their host like the wirehead plugs into current.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white drawings of sea creature and their larvae." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411911/original/file-20210719-15-ozukb8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drawings of crustaceans and larvae. The sacculini is depicted in the bottom left corner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evolution_and_animal_life;_an_elementary_discussion_of_facts,_processes,_laws_and_theories_relating_to_the_life_and_evolution_of_animals_(1907)_(14586636580).jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the Victorian mind, it was a short step to conjecture that — due to increasing levels of comfort throughout the industrialised world — humanity could be evolving in the direction of the barnacle. “Perhaps we are all drifting, tending to the condition of intellectual barnacles,” Lankester <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.216849/page/n71/mode/2up?q=intellectual+barnacles">mused</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, not long prior to this, the satirist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Butler-English-author-1835-1902">Samuel Butler</a> had speculated that humans, in their headlong pursuit of automated convenience, were withering into nothing but a “<a href="https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/butler-samuel/1872/erewhon/ch24.htm">sort of parasite</a>” upon their own industrial machines.</p>
<h2>True nirvana</h2>
<p>By the 1920s, Julian Huxley <a href="https://archive.org/details/essaysofbiologis1923huxl/page/68/mode/2up?q=darwinian+tapeworms">penned a short poem</a>. It jovially explored the ways a species can “progress”. Crabs, of course, decided progress was sideways. But what of the tapeworm? He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Darwinian Tapeworms on the other hand<br>
Agree that Progress is a loss of brain,<br>
And all that makes it hard for worms to attain<br>
The true Nirvana — peptic, pure, and grand. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The fear that we could follow the tapeworm was somewhat widespread in the interwar generation. Huxley’s own brother, Aldous, would provide his own vision of the dystopian potential for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/nov/17/classics.margaretatwood">pharmaceutically-induced pleasures</a> in his 1932 novel <a href="https://theconversation.com/brave-new-world-the-pill-popping-social-media-obsessed-dystopia-we-live-in-72511">Brave New World</a>.</p>
<p>A friend of the Huxleys, the British-Indian geneticist and futurologist <a href="https://theconversation.com/futurology-how-a-group-of-visionaries-looked-beyond-the-possible-a-century-ago-and-predicted-todays-world-118134">J B S Haldane</a> also worried that humanity might be on the path of the parasite: sacrificing genuine dignity at the altar of automated ease, just like the rodents who would later sacrifice survival for easy pleasure-shocks.</p>
<p>Haldane warned: “The ancestors [of] barnacles had heads” – and in the pursuit of pleasantness — “man may just as easily lose his intelligence”. This <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_(novel)">particular fear</a> has not <a href="https://www.nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution.html">really</a> <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/">ever</a> <a href="https://arxiv.org/ftp/astro-ph/papers/0408/0408521.pdf">gone</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanence_(novel)">away</a>.</p>
<p>So, the notion of civilisation derailing through seeking counterfeit pleasures, rather than genuine longevity, is old. And, indeed, the older an idea is — and the more stubbornly recurrent it is — the more we should be wary that it is a preconception rather than anything based on evidence. So, is there anything to these fears?</p>
<p>In an age of increasingly <a href="https://theconversation.com/nz/topics/social-media-addiction-53153">attention-grabbing algorithmic media</a>, it can seem that faking signals of fitness often yields more success than pursuing the real thing. Like Tinbergen’s birds, we prefer exaggerated artifice to the genuine article. And the <a href="https://dianaverse.com/2020/10/30/uncanny-vulvas/">sexbots</a> have not even <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-bots-virtual-friends-vr-lovers-tech-is-changing-the-way-we-interact-and-not-always-for-the-better-159427">arrived yet</a>.</p>
<p>Because of this, some experts conjecture that “wirehead collapse” might well <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ZLPEju49nGxy4cFkf/wireheading-as-a-possible-contributor-to-civilizational">threaten</a> civilisation. Our distractions are only going to get more attention grabbing, not less.</p>
<p>Already by 1964, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-beautiful-mind-bending-of-stanislaw-lem">Polish futurologist</a> Stanisław Lem <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZO5zDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT352&dq=%22olds+and+milner%27s+article+is+well+known+by+now%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihtsj-gtbxAhWHDsAKHb1lDxIQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=%22olds%20and%20milner's%20article%20is%20well%20known%20by%20now%22&f=false">connected</a> Olds’s rats to the behaviour of humans in the modern consumerist world - pointing to “cinema”, “pornography”, and “Disneyland”. He conjectured that technological civilisations might cut themselves off from reality, becoming “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZO5zDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT354&lpg=PT354&dq=%22phantomatics+seems+to+be+a+sort+of+pinnacle+around+which+various+contemporary+technologies+of+entertainment+converge%22&source=bl&ots=d4TVmXeJ8S&sig=ACfU3U3bZ19WSYhQHfRISAAwx0jXzr2NfA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjuzovrgtbxAhUMT8AKHWXkCQoQ6AEwAHoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=%22phantomatics%20seems%20to%20be%20a%20sort%20of%20pinnacle%20around%20which%20various%20contemporary%20technologies%20of%20entertainment%20converge%22&f=false">encysted</a>” within their own virtual pleasure simulations.</p>
<h2>Addicted aliens</h2>
<p>Lem, and others since, have even ventured that <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.02404">the reason</a> our telescopes <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-world-a-history-of-how-a-silent-cosmos-led-humans-to-fear-the-worst-120193">haven’t found</a> evidence of advanced spacefaring <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/fermi-paradox-35915">alien civilizations</a> is because all advanced cultures — here and elsewhere — inevitably create more pleasurable virtual alternatives to exploring outer space. <a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/intro-to-reinforcement-learning-the-explore-exploit-dilemma-463ceb004989#:%7E:text=After%20the%20exploration%2C%20he%20may,current%20acquired%20knowledge%20or%20information.&text=This%20is%20the%20explore%2Dexploit%20dilemma%20in%20reinforcement%20learning">Exploration</a> is difficult and risky, after all.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sketch of an alien above an insular domed civilisation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408144/original/file-20210624-15-l7323d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration to a journal article on the ‘intelligence paradox’. The caption reads: ‘Evolution of intelligence will always lead to a drive for environmental utopia. Hence, many species may well get fat and spend much of their GDP on healthcare. Life may be everywhere, but due to obesity-related medical issues, it might have to pay a healthcare tax and simply not be able to afford space travel.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-11-34">© 2014 Nunn et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in the countercultural heyday of the 1960s, the molecular biologist <a href="https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/inmemoriam/html/gunthersstent.html">Gunther Stent</a> suggested that this process would happen through “global hegemony of beat attitudes”. Referencing Olds’s experiments, he helped himself to the speculation that hippie drug-use was the prelude to <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Coming_of_the_Golden_Age/jz5eAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=gunther%20stent%20golden%20age">civilisations wireheading</a>. At a 1971 conference on the search for extraterrestrials, Stent <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Communication_with_Extraterrestrial_Inte/iXIsAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%22archipelago%20whose%20tenants%20are%20mostly%20concerned%20about%20their%20inner%20life%20and%20not%20anxious%20to%20communicate%22">suggested</a> that, instead of expanding bravely outwards, civilisations <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2011.11.006">collapse inwards</a> into meditative and intoxicated bliss.</p>
<p>In our own time, it makes more sense for concerned parties to point to <a href="https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11475">consumerism, social media</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25089149/">fast-food</a> as the culprits for potential collapse (and, hence, the reason no other civilisations have yet visibly spread throughout the galaxy). Each era has its own anxieties.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vLmuDmd9Ymk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Wall-E.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what do we do?</h2>
<p>But these are almost certainly not the <a href="https://theprecipice.com/">most pressing</a> risks facing us. And <a href="https://qualiacomputing.com/2016/08/20/wireheading_done_right/">if done right</a>, forms of wireheading could make accessible <a href="https://www.hedweb.com/">untold vistas</a> of joy, meaning, and value. We shouldn’t forbid ourselves these peaks ahead of weighing everything up.</p>
<p>But there is a real lesson here. Making adaptive complex systems – whether brains, AI, or economies – behave safely and well is hard. Anders works precisely on solving <a href="https://foresight.org/salon/grand-futures-thinking-truly-long-term-anders-sandberg-future-of-humanity/">this riddle</a>. Given that civilisation itself – as a whole – is just such a complex adaptive system, how can we learn about inherent failure modes or instabilities, so that we can avoid them? Perhaps “wireheading” is an inherent instability that can <a href="https://ai.objectives.institute/blog/8gwiqyoxcbuzfuc707vz0qb4zugp2g">afflict markets</a> and the algorithms that drive them, as much as addiction can afflict people?</p>
<p>In the case of AI, we are laying the foundations of such systems now. Once a <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/22/ai-researchers-on-ai-risk/">fringe</a> concern, a growing number of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566677/human-compatible-by-stuart-russell/">experts</a> agree that achieving smarter-than-human AI may be close enough on the horizon to pose a <a href="https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/">serious concern</a>. This is because we need to make sure it is <a href="https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/research/research-areas/#aisafety_tab">safe</a> before this point, and figuring out how to guarantee this will itself take time. There does, however, remain significant disagreement among experts <a href="https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/">on timelines</a>, and how pressing <a href="https://aiimpacts.org/ai-timeline-surveys/">this deadline</a> might be.</p>
<p>If such an AI is created, we can expect that it may have access to its own “source code”, such that it <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Superintelligence/C-_8AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22can+short-circuit+such+a+motivational+regime+by+directly+changing+its+internal+state+into+the+desired+configuration:+the+external+actions+and+conditions+that+were%22&pg=PA122&printsec=frontcover">can manipulate</a> its motivational structure and administer its own rewards. This could prove an immediate path to wirehead behaviour, and cause such an entity to become, effectively, a “super-junkie”. But unlike the human addict, it may not be the case that its state of bliss is coupled with an unproductive state of stupor or inebriation.</p>
<p>Philosopher <a href="https://www.nickbostrom.com/">Nick Bostrom</a> conjectures that such an agent might devote all of its superhuman productivity and cunning to “reducing the risk of future disruption” of its precious reward source. And if it judges even a nonzero probability for humans to be an obstacle to its next fix, we might well be in trouble.</p>
<p>Speculative and worst-case scenarios aside, the example we started with – of the racetrack AI and reward loop – reveals that the basic issue is already a real-world problem in artificial systems. We should hope, then, that we’ll learn much more about these pitfalls of motivation, and how to avoid them, before things develop too far. Even though it has humble origins — in the cranium of an albino rat and in poems about tapeworms — “wireheading” is an idea that is likely only to become increasingly important in the near future.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/from-crossroads-to-godzilla-the-cinematic-legacies-of-the-first-postwar-nuclear-tests-163280?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">From Crossroads to Godzilla: the cinematic legacies of the first postwar nuclear tests</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-soviet-miner-from-the-1930s-helped-create-todays-intense-corporate-workplace-culture-155814?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How a Soviet miner from the 1930s helped create today’s intense corporate workplace culture</a></em></p></li>
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<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>
When people think about how AI might ‘go wrong’, most probably picture malevolent computers trying to cause harm. But what if we should be more worried about them seeking pleasure?
Thomas Moynihan, Visiting Research Associate in History, St Benet's College, University of Oxford
Anders Sandberg, James Martin Research Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute & Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/165641
2021-08-30T16:02:41Z
2021-08-30T16:02:41Z
COVID variants: we spoke to the experts designing a single vaccine to defeat them all
<p>SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, has turned the world upside down. Experts have predicted that it will claim the lives of <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2021/08/21/the-world-needs-a-proper-investigation-into-how-covid-19-started?utm_source=pocket_mylist">between 9-18 million worldwide</a>. This is in addition to destroying the livelihoods, mental health and education of countless others. The pandemic will probably wreak havoc for many years to come, despite the remarkable speed of vaccine development. This is not helped by the emergence of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55659820">new variants</a> sweeping the world, which pose a serious threat to the success of vaccination and upcoming treatments.</p>
<p>It is difficult to predict the future pattern of SARS-CoV-2. Many scientists believe it will continue to circulate in pockets around the globe, meaning that it will become endemic in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00396-2">same way as flu</a>. In this context the number of infections remains relatively constant with occasional flare-ups that run the danger of turning into a pandemic. A lot depends on how widely the population around the world can be vaccinated and <a href="https://www.immunology.org/news/immunity-and-covid-19-what-do-we-know-so-far">how long immunity</a> lasts after natural infection or vaccination. </p>
<p>Long term, the best solution would be to develop a universal vaccine – one that would help protect against all current variants of the coronavirus and any others that arise in the future. Without it, the world runs the risk of recurrent pandemics.</p>
<p>Given <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-universal-flu-vaccine-is-still-some-time-off-18525">the difficulties encountered</a> in creating a universal flu vaccine, this may seem a tall order. But a number of scientists <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/vaccines-can-protect-against-many-coronaviruses-could-prevent-another-pandemic">believe it is possible</a> based on the rapid development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>COVID-19 is in fact the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2622-0">third major infectious disease outbreak</a> to have been triggered in the last two decades by a new coronavirus jumping from animals into humans, the other two being Sars and Mers.</p>
<p>To get a sense of how far a pan-coronavirus vaccine has progressed we spoke to a number of key players in the field. We are both experts in this area but come at it from very different angles – <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hbWrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=Engineering+Health+marks&source=bl&ots=2YlYovrn_U&sig=ACfU3U3uLXIXZDBqYJUSyAWW6vxxjKcSzQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwinq5mE-pvyAhVLPcAKHVrNDdkQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=Engineering%20Health%20marks&f=false">Lara Marks</a>
is a historian of medicine with an interest in biotechnology and vaccines, while Ankur Mutreja has experience in tracking outbreaks and developing vaccines for infectious diseases. From our conversations, there appear to be a number of encouraging vaccine candidates on the horizon – it is even possible that one could be developed for use in humans within 12 months.</p>
<h2>‘The holy grail’</h2>
<p>One of the first people we spoke to was <a href="https://whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/covid/index/hatchett">Richard Hatchett</a>, the CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi). Set up in 2017, Cepi is a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil society organisations that aims to compress the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases into 100 days – a third of the time achieved with the first COVID-19 vaccines. </p>
<p>Envisaging equitable access to vaccines for all countries, in March 2021, Cepi announced it would raise and <a href="https://endpandemics.cepi.net/">invest US$3.5 billion</a> in vaccine research and development to strengthen global preparedness to pandemics, of which US$200 million has been put aside to develop a universal coronavirus vaccine. Such a vaccine would offer protection against a broad range of coronaviruses, regardless of their variants. This would reduce the need to modify the vaccine on a regular basis. </p>
<p>Hatchett described these vaccines as the “holy grail”. But he argued it may take years of investment. He said: “If you want to grow a tree, the best thing to have done is to have planted it 20 years ago. And if you didn’t do that, then the next best thing is to plant it today.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Photo of a man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417814/original/file-20210825-25-lomf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Richard Hatchett: ‘We just have to be vigilant.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cepi.net/about/whoweare/">CEPI</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When asked about what the best vaccine would be going forward to deal with SARS-CoV-2, Hatchett replied:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We do not actually know specifically yet. This is really our first engagement with this virus, obviously, and we’ve watched it expand and unfold over time … We’re still gathering data and gaining experience on this. I think we need to have some humility about what we know currently and what we can know. We just have to be vigilant.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why is SARS-CoV-2 mutating?</h2>
<p>None of the scientists we interviewed were surprised to see SARS-CoV-2 mutating. All viruses mutate. They often undergo random genetic changes because the virus replication machinery is not perfect. It is a bit like a game of “telephone” where children repeat what they thought they heard, making mistakes all along the way so that the final message is very different from the original one. Whenever a virus develops one or more mutations it is considered a “variant” of the original virus.</p>
<p>The mutation process helps viruses to adapt and survive any onslaught from the host’s immune system, vaccination or drug treatment and natural competition. Viruses change faster when under such pressures. </p>
<p>Scientists have been monitoring the genetic variations in SARS-CoV-2 since the start of the pandemic. They do this by sequencing the total RNA (genome) of the virus collected from patient samples. The genome is the complete set of genetic instructions an organism needs to function and thrive.</p>
<p>Scientists in China managed to sequence the first SARS-CoV-2 genome just one week after the first patient was hospitalised with unusual pneumonia in Wuhan. First drafted on January 5 2020, the sequence revealed the virus to be a close relative of SARS-CoV-1, a human coronavirus which caused an outbreak of a severe respiratory disease <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/severe-acute-respiratory-syndrome#tab=tab_1">SARS</a> that first appeared in China in 2002 and then spread to many other countries. It also resembled a SARS-like coronavirus <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001017">found in bats</a>.</p>
<p>Comprising a single-strand of RNA, the SARS-CoV-2 genome turned out to be the <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/genome-analysis-of-the-coronavirus-suggests-two-viruses-may-have-combined">longest genome</a> of any known RNA virus. With the aid of sequencing scientists were quickly able to pinpoint the genes that carry the instructions for the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/03/science/coronavirus-genome-bad-news-wrapped-in-protein.html">spike protein</a>, the part of the virus that helps it to invade human cells. This became an important target for the development of COVID-19 vaccine.</p>
<p>Initial genome sequencing data suggested that SARS-CoV-2 mutated much slower than most other RNA viruses, being half the rate of the virus responsible for flu and a quarter of that found for HIV. But its mutation rate has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02544-6">gathered speed</a> over time, helped by the large reservoir of people it has infected and selection pressures.</p>
<p>Not all mutations are bad news. In some cases, they weaken the virus with the variant disappearing without a trace. But in other cases, they enable the virus to enter a host’s cells more easily or to escape the immune system more effectively, making it <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/scientific-brief-emerging-variants.html">more difficult</a> to prevent and treat.</p>
<p>So far, five new <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/scientific-brief-emerging-variants.html">variants of concern</a> have emerged with SARS-CoV-2. The first (alpha) was detected in south-east England in September 2020. Others were found shortly thereafter in South Africa (beta), Brazil (gamma), India (delta) and Peru (lambda). What is troubling about these new variants is that they are more transmissible, making them <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciab014/6076528">spread faster</a>, which increases the likelihood of re-infection and a resurgence in cases. Every SARS-CoV-2 virus out there today is a variation of the original and new variants will <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/25-covid-variants-being-monitored-and-without-restrictions-delta-variant-could-push-r-to-7-phe-chief-says-12333869">continue to appear</a>.</p>
<p>Preliminary research <a href="https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/covid-19-vaccine-effectiveness-affected-by-variants/">suggests</a> that the first-generation of vaccines offer some protection against the new variants, helping to reduce severe disease and hospitalisation. However, they will probably become less effective over time as the virus mutates further and the immunity that people have gained, either through vaccination or natural infection, wanes. </p>
<h2>Looking for weak spots</h2>
<p>In terms of a universal coronavirus vaccine, the ultimate question, Hatchett believes, is whether there are any weak spots that are “conserved across coronaviruses as a viral family to which you can develop immune responses that effectively protect you”.</p>
<p>The key issue in creating a universal vaccine is how broad a coverage the vaccine should offer. This was also pointed out to us by <a href="https://whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/covid/index/ward">Andrew Ward</a> at the <a href="https://www.scripps.edu/faculty/ward/">Scripps Research Institute</a> in California. As he put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Should it be SARS-CoV-2 and variants? Should it be SARS-1 and SARS-2? Should it be all sarbecocoviruses [a subgroup of SARS viruses of which SARS-CoV-1 and 2 are notable members] or SARS-like viruses? That’s unknown. We know that SARS viruses exist in bats and pangolins and they’ve never been as big of a problem as now. But it’s one of those things, that if it’s not really a problem do we go after it and try to proactively get vaccine programmes deployed and get people either vaccinated or stockpile vaccines?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Creating a universal vaccine is itself highly challenging. For example, scientists have tried for years but not yet succeeded in developing a universal vaccine for flu. Nor have they yet managed to create one for HIV. In part, this is because the surface proteins found on these viruses frequently change their appearance. This makes it difficult for our immune system to recognise the virus.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Headshot of a man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417816/original/file-20210825-13-fz1ka7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Andrew Ward is using cryo-electron microscopy in his attempt to design a vaccine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan L. Torres.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But scientists have made enormous advances in recent years in understanding the interaction between the immune system and viruses that cause flu and HIV. They are now deploying this knowledge to build a universal vaccine for coronaviruses, which <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-021-00589-w">do not change as fast</a>.</p>
<h2>A long history of vaccine innovation</h2>
<p>One of the reasons for optimism with a universal coronavirus vaccine is the successful development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Made in record time, the foundation for the vaccine was laid many years ago. Until the 1980s most vaccines were developed by modifying a virus or bacteria to make it no longer dangerous.
This was achieved by weakening or inactivating the pathogen so that it could be injected safely to stimulate an immune response. While highly successful for protecting against a host diseases like measles, polio, rabies and chickenpox, this approach didn’t prove effective in all diseases.</p>
<p>By the 1980s vaccine production stood on the cusp of change helped by the emergence of biotechnology. Where this was first successfully applied was in the development of a <a href="https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/exhibitions/hepb/index/hepatitisb">vaccine against hepatitis B</a>, which is estimated to cause <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07592-7">more deaths worldwide than TB, HIV or malaria</a>.</p>
<p>The first hepatitis B vaccine was developed by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7150172/">Maurice Hilleman at Merck</a>. Approved in 1981, it was the first vaccine to protect against cancer. Chronic hepatitis B is a major cause of liver cancer. In fact, it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2013/jul/03/genomic-virus-fossils-evolution-hepatitis-b-viruses">second only to tobacco as a human carcinogen</a>. What was novel about the hepatitis B vaccine was that instead of using the whole hepatitis B virus, which was difficult to grow in the laboratory, it used only a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/184248">coat surface particle of the virus</a>. This was a major breakthrough for vaccine technology.</p>
<p>Another vaccine that uses virus particles is the one against the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer, a disease that globally kills 260,000 women every year. First licensed in 2005, the HPV vaccine took years to develop. It consists of tiny proteins that look like the outside of four types of real HPV <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1218">produced in yeast</a>.</p>
<h2>Synthetic vaccines</h2>
<p>Vaccine technology underwent a further revolution following the outbreak of the swine flu pandemic that swept the world for 19 months from January 2009. The pandemic killed <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/spotlights/pandemic-global-estimates.htm">between 151,700 and 575,400</a> people worldwide. Caused by an H1N1 influenza virus, the episode was an important reminder of the speed that pandemics can strike and the chaos they can sow. It was also a salutary lesson for companies who developed hundreds of millions of licensed vaccine doses to counter the pandemic. Although achieved within just six months, a historical record, this was not fast enough – by then the peak of infections had passed.</p>
<p>Part of the delay was because of the time it took to grow enough of the virus in eggs or cultured mammalian cells. Another method, using genetic engineering to produce the virus, proved much faster, but was hampered by regulatory hurdles. Determined to accelerate vaccine availability for future pandemics, from 2011, vaccine experts put in place a new strategy that took advantage of advances in genomics and the open sharing of electronic sequence data. Coupled with a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23677594/">new ability</a> to synthesise genes, these tools gave scientists the power to design genome segments from a virus to prepare vaccines to train the body to recognise and target a real virus if it invaded.</p>
<p>Critically, the new synthetic approach moved vaccine development away from the time-consuming process of isolating and shipping viruses between different sites and then growing them at scale. All that was needed was to download the relevant sequence data from the internet and synthesise the right genes to generate relevant viral components to start vaccine development. Speed was not the only advantage the new method offered. It also reduced any potential <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22723412/">biohazard risks</a> involved in manufacturing the vaccine.</p>
<p>Attention was also paid to making the testing process more efficient. Usually the slowest part of vaccine development, such testing often takes years to complete. Tests are first conducted in animals, to assess the safety, the strength of the immune response stimulated and protective efficacy of the vaccine candidate. Once this is done it is tested in humans. </p>
<p>Human trials are run in three phases, each with increasing numbers of people and escalating costs. One means to reduce the time needed and cut costs was to take advantage of new biomarkers. These provided a means to measure both normal and pathological processes as well as responses to a drug. Such biomarkers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03626-1">made it possible</a> to determine the toxicity and efficacy of a candidate much earlier in the clinical trial process and to run multiple trials in parallel without compromising on safety.</p>
<p>In 2011, a group of scientists from the companies Novartis and Synthetic Genomics, as well as the Craig Venter Institute (a non-profit research organisation) proved they could develop a vaccine candidate in a matter of days. </p>
<p>Their approach was first successfully put to the test in March 2013 when Chinese health officials reported a novel strain of avian influenza had infected three people. Within just a week of gaining access to the virus’s genome sequence, the Novartis team, headed by Rino Rappoli, managed to create a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26038486/">fully synthetic RNA-based vaccine</a> ready for pre-clinical testing, which proved safe and elicited a good immune response.</p>
<p>Marking the switch from what Rappouli calls “analogue vaccines” to “digital vaccines”, the 2013 work provided a template for when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed by Moderna, was ready for phase I testing in humans by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2622-0">March 16 2020</a>. Many other vaccine candidates soon entered the pipeline thereafter. </p>
<h2>New understandings</h2>
<p>What also helped propel the first COVID-19 vaccines forward was the explosion in knowledge about the atomic structure of proteins found on the surface of viruses and antibodies that bound to them. According to Ward this was greatly helped by advances in cryo-electron microscopy which as he says “opened up the door for HIV and other pathogens”. With the technique, Ward and his colleagues <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/35/E7348">discovered</a> that coronaviruses gained entry and fused with human cells with the help of a small loop of amino acids, called S-2P, on the top of their spike proteins. This laid an important foundation for creating the COVID-19 vaccines.</p>
<p>Another critical development was the discovery of broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs). First isolated in the early 1990s in the serum of people living with HIV-1, these antibodies only appear in some people after years of infection. Such antibodies have the advantage that <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/33/20077">they can neutralise</a> multiple diverse strains of the virus in one stroke.</p>
<p>Finding the bNAbs critically opened up a new avenue for vaccine design. In particular, it offered the possibility of creating a universal vaccine against flu and also a vaccine for HIV which so far has been difficult to do because it mutates so fast. Several groups had already made progress in this field before COVID-19 struck, which they quickly turned towards coronaviruses. Their goal was to create a vaccine to stimulate the production of bNAbs targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) located on the coronavirus’ spike protein.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Headshot of a man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417410/original/file-20210823-28-1ajfedw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barton Haynes outlined his approach to creating a universal vaccine for coronavirus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_0yGATqdHw">Youtube/DukeHealth</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One approach, outlined to us by <a href="https://whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/covid/index/haynes">Barton Haynes</a>, an immunologist at Duke University, involves attaching little bits of the RBD, from multiple coronaviruses, to a protein nanoparticle for use as a vaccine candidate. Promisingly <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03594-0">this was shown</a> in monkeys to not only block SARS-CoV-2 and its new concerning variants but also SARS-CoV-1 and a group of bat coronaviruses which could spill over to humans in the future.</p>
<p>Another potential vaccine was described to us by <a href="https://whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/covid/index/bjorkman">Pamela Bjorkman</a>, a <a href="https://www.bbe.caltech.edu/people/pamela-j-bjorkman">structural immunologist</a> at the <a href="https://www.caltech.edu/">Caltech</a>. Her team developed it based on a virus particle platform first devised at Oxford University, in 2016. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My lab really does structural biology, which means that we look at the 3D structures of the targets of the immune system, which are usually spikes that come out of the virus. So coronaviruses have the famous spikes, and so does HIV and flu.</p>
<p>One of the things we’ve been trying to do [for a vaccine] is to make a nanoparticle, which is a small, little thing that looks like a miniature soccer ball. And attach pieces of the spike to that using a very easy technology that was developed at Oxford University.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A female scientist in a lab." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417815/original/file-20210825-15-1y0xjcg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pamela Bjorkman’s lab focuses on structrual biology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bjorkman Pamela Faculty</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their vaccine presents many different RBD fragments, from a variety of animal coronaviruses, grafted onto small proteins attached to a nanoparticle scaffolding. Tests in mice <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6530/735">showed</a> a single dose of the vaccine could neutralise multiple human and animal coronaviruses, including ones not included in the vaccine design. </p>
<p>According to our interview with <a href="https://whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/covid/index/heeney">Jonathan Heeney</a>, a comparative pathologist at the the University of Cambridge, his group has also developed a promising broad coverage coronavirus vaccine. Based on detailed screening of the virus’s structure they have synthesised DNA constructs to plug into conventional vaccine platforms and the latest mRNA vaccine technology. </p>
<p>The vector is specially designed not to trigger unintentional hyper-inflammatory responses, which can sometimes be life threatening. In animal studies, their candidate <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cambridge-developed-sars-cov-2-vaccine-receives-ps19million-from-uk-government-for-clinical-trial">provided protection</a> against a variety of sarbecoviruses, which cover SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 and many bat coronaviruses.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1323985485220532229"}"></div></p>
<p>All three outlined approaches have yet to be tested in humans. The Cambridge one is set to enter phase 1 trials in the autumn and the one at Duke University is nearing that milestone too. Both the Cambridge and Caltech candidates have the attraction that they can be produced as a heat-stable and freeze-dried powder. This will make their storage and distribution much easier than the current mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer). It will also make production much cheaper, which is vital to ensuring equitable access to the vaccine across the world and bringing the pandemic under control.</p>
<h2>New pandemics</h2>
<p>While scientists have the tools to develop a pan-coronavirus vaccine within a year, its creation would not be the end of the story. Growing population density, human mobility and ecological change means that the world will continue to face the threat of new pandemics.</p>
<p>Meeting this challenge will require a high degree of outbreak vigilance, political will and international cooperation as well as continued investment in vaccine development well beyond the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the WHO <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/press/2021/5/60a7fc9b4/statement-no-one-safe-safe-need-global-response-covid-19.html">put it</a> in September 2020, “a global pandemic requires a world effort to end it - none of us will be safe until everyone is safe”.</p>
<p>Access to vaccines is also only one arm of what is needed to combat pandemics. What SARS-CoV-2 has also taught us is the importance of rapid frontline genomic sequencing on the ground to swiftly detect newly emerging threats. As Hatchett argues, the key to radically reducing epidemic and pandemic risk to the world is through “earlier detection, earlier sequencing, and earlier more tailored public health responses”.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap</a></em></p></li>
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165641/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lara Marks receives funding from the UK Medical Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ankur Mutreja receives funding from UKRI, NIHR-BRC, Wellcome, DBT, Hamied Foundation and BMGF.
</span></em></p>
A universal vaccine has been described as the ‘holy grail’ – but how close are we to getting one?
Lara Marks, Visiting Research Fellow, History of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cambridge
Ankur Mutreja, Group Leader, Global Health (Infectious Diseases), University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160895
2021-08-26T08:06:12Z
2021-08-26T08:06:12Z
‘You couldn’t leave your husband. It wasn’t done’ – the story of the women behind the first domestic violence refuges
<p>The women who set up the first women’s refuges in the UK in the 1970s changed the world. They saved the lives of many women. And the projects and political actions they began have grown into an international movement which campaigns for justice and supports all survivors and victims of domestic violence. These brave women didn’t know they were changing the world, but they did know they wanted to challenge domestic violence as feminists and to provide strong support to women experiencing abuse. Because help and support was drastically needed.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I did leave a few times with the children. I got us all out. But it was so frowned on … You couldn’t leave your husband. It wasn’t done. I would have been horribly ashamed if anyone found out. And if I left, how would I support them? And there was never anywhere to go to … I didn’t have the money for a rented flat – I didn’t have any money at all of my own … just what I sneaked from the housekeeping he gave me, without him noticing. What could I do? After a few hours – or once we spent a night in a cheap hotel – we always went back.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These are the words of Edna*, who was speaking to me with great sadness in 1994 about her experiences of trying to leave home because of long-term and extreme domestic violence in the 1950s and 1960s. The interview was carried out towards the very end of Edna’s life, when she was aged about 80. She died shortly afterwards. </p>
<p>It had been shatteringly difficult for her to decide to speak. She had never talked about it before. But she did so in the hope it might help younger women suffering through similar abuse. Edna told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The way the violence ruined my life. It undermined my whole personality. I’m bitter that my life was gone and wasted, I lost it. It’s over now. It was wrecked. I lost my one life. I am old now and I am so profoundly saddened. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, many survivors of domestic abuse these days speak in somewhat similar terms about how hard it is to leave their homes to escape violence. But the situation is unrecognisable now compared to how it was then. In the UK of the 1950s and 1960s, women facing abuse in their own homes were trapped. There were almost no domestic violence services, no specialist laws, no counselling and few housing options. There were no refuges at all. And people didn’t talk openly about it (just as Edna had not). </p>
<p>So there was virtually nothing to help women experiencing violence, little public recognition that such violence happened and almost <a href="https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Boys-Blue-Womens-Challenge-Police-Dunhill/420788586/bd">no assistance</a> from the police who, if called to a “domestic”, tended to regard a man’s home as most certainly his castle.</p>
<p>Then, the women’s movement against violence burst onto the scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Finally, things began to change. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>It’s important to say at this point that this article – and indeed a lot of present service provision and research by myself and others – focuses on women from all backgrounds and heritages. But domestic violence can be experienced by men, including gay and transgender men, and by non-binary people. </p>
<p>All victims and survivors deserve support and assistance. However, men form the huge majority of perpetrators. And <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwalesoverview/november2020">official statistics</a> tell us that women form by far the largest percentage of those abused (and may include lesbians and transgender women). </p>
<p>At a time when society has seen domestic violence surge due to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-56032316">coronavirus lockdowns</a>, it is more important than ever to understand the history of the movement – to combat domestic violence and to raise awareness.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1410172037188960256"}"></div></p>
<p>I have been deeply involved in the history of this movement for close to 50 years – since its inception. And I have spent much of my life as an activist and academic researching this period. My <a href="https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/history-and-memories-of-the-domestic-violence-movement">new book</a> tracks this momentous period and is dedicated to all activists, victims and survivors of domestic violence around the world. It was written in memory of Ingrid Escamilla Vargas, whose horrific murder led to the huge “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-51458949">Zapatos rojos</a>” (red shoes) demonstration in Mexico City in 2020. </p>
<p>My aim was to record the dynamic history of this struggle and I was fortunate to be able to speak with many of the activists who played key roles and whose crucial contributions help make the book the beginnings of a collective memory. It records a time of great verve and innovation which, sadly, may be beginning to fade from view.</p>
<h2>The early movement</h2>
<p>Going back to the beginning, the activists of the domestic violence movement in the UK and in many other (by no means solely western) countries in the early 1970s built a women’s movement full of passion and zeal. The first refuge – possibly in the world – was set up in Chiswick, London, by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/feminism-mens-rights-activism-cancel-culture/607057/">Erin Pizzey</a> in 1971. Many other refuges were then established one after the other, more often than not by groups of extremely dedicated women, working with almost no money and little help. </p>
<p>These new groups proliferated rapidly. Scotland quickly had seven independent groups – the first in Edinburgh was set up in 1973, followed by Glasgow in 1974. More than 40 refuges came into being across the UK just in 1974 alone, with new ones being set up all the time. As well as providing safe and secure accommodation for women and children escaping violence in the home, the new groups campaigned about and publicised the issue of domestic abuse for the first time. And as soon as a refuge was <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Women-Violence-and-Social-Change/Dobash-Dobash/p/book/9780415036108">up and running</a>, abused women and children <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Domestic_Violence.html?id=3E3VAAAACAAJ">appeared at the door</a>.</p>
<p>These developments also began happening in <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Indian_Feminisms.html?id=BE4qAAAAYAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">other parts</a> of the world too in culturally specific ways. It can be claimed that the new women’s movements in the UK and internationally confronted – in concrete and undeniable ways – men’s rights and power within the family. At the time, the male-headed nuclear family could be viewed as the heart and bedrock of how personal, family and sexual relations were organised in society. And then suddenly, women were <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/227416">taking action</a> to leave husbands who they had probably promised to “obey”. They were trying to get themselves out of violent marriages and partnerships, often without warning. </p>
<p>This act of defiance alone was extraordinary at the time. But these women went further. They began living together in groups with other women in safe houses (also run by women) at secret locations. It was quite a remarkable and entirely unpredicted development, stunning in its daring. The fabric of personal and sexual relations between men and women in marriage was suddenly being challenged. </p>
<h2>Radical collectives</h2>
<p>The new domestic violence projects were innovative and experimented with new ways of working. This included organising as <a href="https://visiblenetworklabs.com/2019/03/26/collective-impact-is-hard-part-1/">collectives</a> – non-hierarchical structures where everyone is involved in decision making and work together, as equals, in egalitarian ways. Collective working is a hard and brave way to organise any project, let alone one dealing with something as distressing as domestic abuse, because working with others, equally, without a defined “boss” is a complex endeavour.</p>
<p>But the new refuges and women’s campaigns set up from the mid-1970s were all committed collectives. The women worked out novel ways of making decisions by consensus and of working collaboratively. This was usually understood, not as meaning that everyone did the same work, but rather that individuals might do specialist jobs. For example, working with women using the service, or working specifically with children, or perhaps conducting finance work. The point was that all jobs were of equal value and paid equally. Collective working continued to be widely practised until the early 2000s.</p>
<p>One way that collectivity was encouraged at this time was to try to break down power differences between the women providing the services and those using them. For example, the women living in the refuges were often regarded as members of the collective. <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/about-us/history/">In 1974</a>, the National Women’s Aid Federation was set up to coordinate the many new refuges and quickly divided into four separate Women’s Aids federations, representing each country in the UK.</p>
<p>All decisions were made collectively across these federations and women who lived, or had lived, in refuges were able to be involved in decision making at both local and national levels, if they wanted. These were brave and pioneering moves forward to flatten hierarchies and share power. </p>
<p>The women who I spoke to who had lived in these refuges greatly appreciated the way they tried to make things more equal. Annie, for example, had experienced domestic violence in the 1980s. When she learned about what Edna had been through – and how profoundly it contrasted with her own situation in terms of the total lack of support Edna had experienced – she was pained and almost tearful. She was deeply moved by how improved her personal experiences had been 30 years later.</p>
<p>Annie talked about how different it would have been for her if, instead of being able to leave home and go to a refuge, she had ended up in some kind of homelessness hostel – or on her own with her child in a cheap, alienating bedsit.</p>
<h2>‘A precious stepping-stone’</h2>
<p>Instead, women like Annie and their children could get help from Women’s Aid and other domestic abuse projects. By the 1980s, most refuge groups were funded (even if insecurely) and well established at confidential locations, working as collectives and consulting domestic violence survivors about all aspects of their work. Annie first sought help from Welsh Women’s Aid and, due to the nature of the abuse she had experienced, was referred to a distant refuge.</p>
<p>She was offered a safe roof over her and her daughter’s heads, deep and sustaining emotional help, a chance to take a decision-making role in the house and assistance to get rehoused after some months. She spoke about how transformative it was, after years of confidence-shattering isolation and coercive abuse, to be in a situation where she was regarded with respect and could participate in the running of the project, along with the paid workers. </p>
<p>She was also able to meet women who had been in the same situation as her, to talk about the violence they had experienced and to offer each other support. Now in her 60s, Annie said that she doubts she would still be here without the committed help of the refuge and described how she made deep friendships. “It was a precious stepping stone – precious and priceless,” she added. It turned her life around in every way. </p>
<p>This offering of grounded, skillful support remains the case to a large extent today in Women’s Aid member groups and other feminist-connected domestic violence services. Even though some of the earlier polices like collective working are rarely practised these days, the “refuge way of doing things” is an <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/our-approach-change-that-lasts/expert-voices/">important contribution</a> to egalitarian social care. It showed – and, to a large extent, still shows – how to provide women’s services in an equal and empowering way and how to involve violence survivors in the process.</p>
<p>Another woman, Narina, who now has a successful career working with survivors of sexual violence, was able to transform her life, thanks to her time in a refuge as a young child, 30 years ago. She told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When my family and I first got help, what I felt as a child was that I met this kind lady who I sensed in my gut was safe. I was about nine or ten years old, and the kind lady was at the women’s refuge that my mother had taken me to. I knew the moment we stepped in the door that we were safe, no more walking on eggshells, no more shouting, screaming, banging, bruises, lies, then sorry, and the cycle starting again. That’s what the refuge meant to young me: safety and escape.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Narina went on to say that the refuges “saved” her and that the world is a safer place for many people because of them. She added: “They pass the torch on to women everywhere (including myself) to carry on the work. And they continue to inspire new generations to carry it on. Those refuge workers didn’t just work on violence against women, they sat right alongside the women and really listened and then influenced change.” </p>
<p>Annie agreed strongly with Narina’s insights in terms of her own and her daughter’s refuge experience. She explained how it was unbelievable to her that suddenly she was being taken seriously and listened to, after all those years of the exact opposite. Like Narina’s mother, she was regarded as a collective member. Both were in a position where they could be involved in the project, while there and after they left, if they wished. </p>
<p>The power-sharing policies enabled Annie to build her confidence and skills, to know that she was worth something and to make friends – 30 years later, those strong friendships are still in place, full of warmth, memories and mutual commitment. </p>
<p>Annie said she was helped to grow strong by other women in the refuge and by the workers. Having someone to talk to about her abuse who understood gave her a new autonomy. Being treated as an equal by the workers enabled her to develop a successful life and to feel and be respected and worthwhile. She later worked as a volunteer worker at the collective’s office for some years, and her work included interviewing applicants for jobs as new refuge workers.</p>
<h2>Racism and discrimination</h2>
<p>Women from black and minority ethnic communities also started forming autonomous feminist groups in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as part of the independent black women’s movement. They often did so as a result of dissatisfaction with the wider women’s movement and of feeling they did not fit into it. </p>
<p>Social theorists and activists like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bell_hooks">bell hooks</a>, Angela Davis and Patricia Hill Collins developed <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203900055/black-feminist-thought-patricia-hill-collins">theoretical</a> and <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314/314707/women--race---class/9780241408407.html">practical understandings</a> of these failures. The Brixton Black Women’s Group was set up in 1973 as a direct response, and was the first feminist black women’s centre in the UK.</p>
<p>While some mainly white groups working on domestic abuse did make serious attempts to take on issues of racism, others were seemingly oblivious and failed to deal adequately with the racist oppression that black women faced. By the 1980s and 1990s, the challenges faced by the black women’s movement led to the establishment of specialist projects on domestic violence for black, minority ethnic and refugee (BMER) women, as well as campaigns taking on diversity and difference. </p>
<p>Key organisations set up to deal with violence against BMER women included <a href="https://southallblacksisters.org.uk">Southall Black Sisters</a>, established in 1979, <a href="https://www.asianwomencentre.org.uk/">Asian Women’s Resource Centre</a> (in Brent, London), the network of refuges for South Asian women across the UK and key developments in Scotland and Wales (for example, <a href="https://shaktiedinburgh.co.uk/">Shakti</a> Women’s Aid in Edinburgh and <a href="https://bawso.org.uk/about-us/">Bawso</a> in Cardiff).</p>
<p>Projects for Latin American, Jewish, Chinese, African and Middle Eastern women followed, together with groups that supported lesbian and disabled women facing violence. These all worked alongside the general projects (which remained open to all) and lent their voices to movements and protests against violence against women all around the world, such as the huge demonstrations which have been taking place in Mexico sparked by the murder, noted earlier, of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-51458949">Ingrid Escamilla Vargas</a>. </p>
<h2>Later developments</h2>
<p>As time went on, the domestic abuse sector and the wider provisions for what is now termed violence against women and girls (or <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/violence-against-women-and-girls-vawg-call-for-evidence">VAWG</a>) broadened with the setting up of inter-agency projects, criminal justice initiatives, training, awareness-raising and strategy development. These were steered by organisations, along with Women’s Aid, like <a href="https://avaproject.org.uk/">Ava</a>, <a href="https://www.standingtogether.org.uk/">Standing Together</a>, <a href="https://safelives.org.uk/">SafeLives</a>, <a href="https://www.solacewomensaid.org/">Solace Women’s Aid</a> and <a href="https://www.refuge.org.uk">Refuge</a> which provides the most refuge services in the UK within a single organisation. </p>
<p>These organisations work alongside the Women’s Aid Federations, which are nearly 50 years old now, and still guided by their feminist principles, informed by the views and input of domestic violence survivors through survivors forums and survivor-led consultations. Between them, the four federations oversee many hundred domestic violence services.</p>
<p>The work <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mopac_harmful_practices_pilot_final_evaluation_report.pdf">has widened</a> to take on harmful practices like so-called “honour”-based violence, forced and early marriage, trafficking and female genital mutilation. In almost all cases, attention to these issues has been pioneered by dedicated black, minority ethnic and refugee projects.</p>
<p>The way the sector as a whole has developed to widen its support network is extremely encouraging. But it is not all good news. Some of the latest developments include local councils in the UK developing extremely demanding commissioning frameworks that enable access to finance. This means that domestic abuse services have to compete relentlessly with each other to get funding – and smaller grassroots projects are likely to be disadvantaged. </p>
<p>One example was the London Black Women’s Project losing out in funding applications to a larger organisation in 2019 and <a href="https://www.wrc.org.uk/save-london-black-womens-projects-refuges">facing closure</a> after 32 years of providing dedicated services in Newham in east London. After a powerful and inspiring campaign, the project has currently been reprieved.</p>
<p>Despite occasional successes, commissioning practices for funding over the last 15 years have often resulted in women’s domestic violence services being forced to move away, to some extent, from the passionate campaigning zeal of old – in order to meet the demands, time-consuming constraints and managerial conditions of these frameworks and those of other funders and regulatory bodies – and to fight against subsequent cutbacks. </p>
<p>Since the 2010s, austerity policies have resulted in closures and cuts in many domestic violence projects. Women’s Aid says funding has <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/network-of-refuges-in-england-depends-on-services-running-with-no-funding">become fragile</a>, with projects for women and children from BMER communities <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/womens-aid-report-says-393-million-a-year-is-needed-to-fund-domestic-abuse-services-in-england/">disproportionately affected</a> by the <a href="https://irr.org.uk/article/bame-women-fight-to-retain-refuge">cuts</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, compared to what went before, the sector remains substantial. We have indeed come further than many people might think.</p>
<p>The commitment and zeal of the old days remains for many. Perhaps, the work has lost some of its organic, holistic approach. But, as one senior manager from Women’s Aid in England told me, Women’s Aid and others are still driven by the passionate values of feminism and the women’s movements of the world, and by the views of survivors. “Sometimes”, she said, with a warm smile, “the magical moments are still there”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Text of a poem." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/416775/original/file-20210818-17-1gqxv95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&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">An excerpt from a poem written by Gill Hague about a reunion of Women’s Aid collective members who had run a refuge together, and met up again 30 years later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Looking back, it is clear that these were radical times. The attempts made in the early domestic violence movements to do things differently were inspiring and pioneering. But they are in danger of being forgotten now. It is perhaps worth returning to the ideas around collectives and empowering services as we think of new ways to face old challenges.</p>
<p>As this article was completed, I met once more with Annie. She talked again of the refuge as a “helpful and healing” place of sanctuary, safety and renewal amid the chaos. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was a step for freedom, to achieve a life away from fear and for me from violence and control. It wasn’t as successful for everyone but it was for most of us. And the network is still going strong, even though there have been cuts.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As we talked, we both remembered a woman, Paula, from the late 1980s who was sitting one day with everyone in the refuge kitchen. She looked around slowly at the scruffy condition of the house and said, somewhat ironically: “Well, this place is a shit-house isn’t it?” Before adding: “A shit-house with a heart of gold”.</p>
<p><em>*All names in this article have been changed to protect the anonymity of those involved.</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>History and Memories of the Domestic Violence Movement: We've Come Further Than You Think, by Gill Hague, is out now and available from Policy Press. </span></em></p>
The battle against gender-based violence never ends but the work of the women who set up the first refuges in the 1970s deserves wider recognition.
Gill Margaret Hague, Professor Emerita of Violence Against Women Studies, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162959
2021-08-11T12:27:19Z
2021-08-11T12:27:19Z
Should we genetically edit the food we eat? We asked two experts
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409664/original/file-20210705-19-kw8reu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pile-pumpkins-on-bale-straw-under-156566732">Michael Wick/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Nicola Patron</strong>: Oil from soybeans gene-edited to produce a <a href="https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/918560/calyxt-debuts-premium-soybean-cooking-oil-calyno-918560.html">“high oleic” oil</a> with no trans fats and less saturated fat is already on sale in the United States. Other products including <a href="https://www.cellectis.com/en/press/cellectis-plant-sciences-inc.-publishes-a-study-demonstrating-reduced-acrylamide-in-fried-potatoes">low-acrylamide potatoes</a> and <a href="http://pgandp.org/page475645.html">non-browning mushrooms</a> are expected to be launched in the near future. </p>
<p>The work I do might lead to similar products. I’m a molecular and synthetic plant biologist at the <a href="https://www.earlham.ac.uk">Earlham Institute</a>. My lab works to understand how plants control when and why genes are expressed as well as how they make certain chemicals. We aim to identify variants of genes that help plants to grow and to find and produce natural products like pheromones that are useful in agriculture or anti-cancer compounds used in chemotherapies. We also work to improve plant biotechnologies and have contributed to proof-of-concept studies demonstrating that genome editing can be used to develop useful traits in <a href="https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-015-0826-7">barley, brassica</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pbi.13137">potatoes</a> by deleting just a few letters of DNA.</p>
<p><strong>Catherine Price</strong>: It’s great to be able to talk to a scientist working in this field, because GM crops have long been a very contentious issue, and for good reason. My work focuses on the social science aspects of the GM debate. I’m a sociologist based at a <a href="https://research.reading.ac.uk/change-in-agriculture/">research group</a> at the University of Reading looking at the future of agriculture. In <a href="http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/133445/">previous work</a> I’ve examined how GM food is discussed by the media, so I have a good sense of how the state, NGOs, farmers, and citizens all view the science of GM foods – and it varies quite a bit. </p>
<p>So what exactly is the difference between GM and gene editing? I’ve come across many definitions in my time working on this topic.</p>
<p><strong>NP</strong>: I’m not surprised! There isn’t really an accepted definition of what genetic modification is, and that has certainly caused some problems. One could argue that the genetics of anything that’s been manipulated by humans has been modified in some way. We’ve been changing plant genomes for thousands of years. The process of domesticating and breeding crops made substantial changes to the sequences and structures of their genomes.</p>
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<img alt="Medieval calendar showing monthly agricultural tasks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408868/original/file-20210629-26-1ysaca.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=652&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Agricultural calendar, c. 1306. As long as humanity has been farming, we’ve been altering the genetic make-up of crops.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crescenzi_calendar.jpg">Condé Museum</a></span>
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<p>Since the 1980s, we’ve had the ability to use recombinant DNA technologies to insert DNA sequences into plant genomes in order to confer useful traits, such as resistance to insect pests. This could be a DNA sequence from a different individual of the same species, from a closely related species, or from a more distantly related species. Such crops became known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They first came on to the markets in the 1990s and are now widely grown on about <a href="https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/gm-plants/what-gm-crops-are-currently-being-grown-and-where/">10%</a> of agricultural land worldwide in <a href="https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/55/">29 countries</a>.</p>
<p>The outcomes of gene editing are quite different to those of GM. What genome editing technologies allow you to do is to make really precise changes to the DNA that already exists in an organism. You can delete something, even changing or deleting just one specific letter of the DNA code, or you can recode a longer section of a sequence. You can also use these technologies to insert DNA, but instead of inserting the new DNA randomly as happens with older GM technologies, you can insert it into a specific location in the genome.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415651/original/file-20210811-17-zc3x6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This is a Head to Head story</em></strong></p>
<p><br><em>The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/head-to-head-62019">Head to Head</a> articles feature academics from different disciplines chewing over current debates. If there’s a specific topic or question you’d like experts from different disciplines to discuss, please <a href="mailto:insights@theconversation.com">email us your question</a>.</em> </p>
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<p>Broadly, genetic modification has come to mean that one or more genes have been inserted whereas genome editing has come to mean small and specific changes to existing DNA.</p>
<h2>‘Frankenfood’</h2>
<p><strong>CP:</strong> You’ve just explained the science really clearly. And I think that might be what we’re missing in terms of the public debate – where often the loudest sentiment is that these technologies are unnatural or dangerous.</p>
<p>In previous work I’ve <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine-Price-9/publication/310456988_Genetic_Futures_and_the_Media/links/5bb5f430299bf13e605e29db/Genetic-Futures-and-the-Media.pdf">analysed</a> how journalists frame genetics news. Journalists often liken the rearrangement and changes to genes to Frankenstein and the idea of runaway science. This is turn can invoke the idea that scientific progress interferes with nature, producing results which are unpredictable and ethically wrong.</p>
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<img alt="White mushrooms on wooden background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408882/original/file-20210629-20-17w90x4.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">
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<span class="caption">The common white button mushroom was genetically modified with the gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9 to resist browning. It was the first such organism to receive a green light from the US government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fresh-mushrooms-on-wooden-background-82617856">Valerii Evlakhov/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>In 2015, for example, these <a href="https://doi.org/10.1191/14744744004eu301oa">Frankenfood headlines</a> dominated. There were a lot of people who were for it too, but I got the overall sense that it was deemed a risk and that part of the problem was that scientists didn’t try hard enough to explain the technical stuff and the risks, and that the public’s concerns weren’t being listened to. I think sometimes we treat the public as being stupid. If the science isn’t explained and the public aren’t consulted, what are they supposed to think?</p>
<p>In the UK, the gene-editing debate has sparked again. When Boris Johnson came into power, he stood on the steps of Downing Street <a href="https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/boris-johnsons-message-business-satellites-16640138">and said</a> he wanted to enable gene edited and genetically modified crops. This led to a <a href="https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/the-regulation-of-genetic-technologies/">government consultation</a> on the matter. The proposed changes – yet to be announced formally – <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-gmo-crops">define gene-edited organisms</a> as those “possessing genetic changes which could have been introduced by traditional breeding”. </p>
<p>But has the dominant view changed since 2015? It’s not clear. There are also concerns that weakened regulations will lock the UK into <a href="https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/uk-gene-editing-consultation-say-no-to-deregulation/">industrialised farming methods</a>. And there’s no real sense of how gene edited or GM crops fit into the broader food system. Agriculture does not operate and exist in isolation.</p>
<p><strong>NP:</strong> I totally agree that there was insufficient communication in the past. People do understand the science if it is explained in a considered way. One thing I have found is that it’s important for people to understand that <em>all</em> crop breeding techniques involve rearrangements and changes to genes. The risks of using these new breeding technologies are no greater than for older breeding technologies, the products of which are subject to far fewer checks. For the most part, what domestication and plant breeding <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/06/13/732160949/how-almonds-went-from-deadly-to-delicious">has achieved</a> is to <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/1095">remove toxins</a> and to make them more <a href="https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/23/5/tpc.111.tt0511/6097094">nutritious and more high yielding</a>.</p>
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<p>In the summer of 2018, the European court of justice <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05814-6">ruled</a> that genome edited plants would also be classified as being genetically modified. But, if a plant was mutated using radiation or mutagenic chemicals, even if the results were exactly the same (or had even more changes), the plant would not be GM. To many, this <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4252">doesn’t make much sense</a>. When there are no new genes inserted, I struggle to understand how and why plants mutated with these technologies should be regulated in a different way. That’s why <a href="https://www.mpg.de/13748566/position-paper-crispr.pdf">European law in this area is controversial</a>.</p>
<p>Now with the UK being able to divert from European law post-Brexit, there is a discussion of whether that’s something that the country wants to keep. This is particularly relevant if the UK wants its agricultural products <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brexit-leaving-eu-will-give-freedom-to-grow-more-gm-crops-2fbdwl5b6">to be competitive</a> on the wider global market with products from the United States and Canada and Brazil and Australia, who have decided <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2020.586027/full">not to regulate</a> genome edited products in the same way that they do genetically modified products.</p>
<p><strong>CP:</strong> It’s the rearrangements and changes to genes which the media often pick up on. And this is where the idea of Frankenstein food gets brought into debates about GM foods. I think this illustrates why scientists need to communicate the risks rather than leaving it to journalists. The public are likely to have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513518154">better understanding</a> then. </p>
<h2>The case for editing</h2>
<p><strong>NP:</strong> Genetic rearrangements and changes to the sequences of genes occur naturally <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/31626-research-reveals-rapid-mutation-rate-of-plant-genomes">all the time</a>. They also occur with <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-4-431-55675-6_9">older and established breeding technologies</a>. Applying genetic technologies to crop breeding makes the process of bringing combinations of beneficial sequences and genes together into the same plant easier. Because scientists know what changes are being made, the consequences of these changes are closely observed and extensively analysed even before the plants enter large-scale breeding programmes. The outcomes of gene editing are therefore more likely to be predictable.</p>
<p>I think what is critically important is for scientists to explain what we’re trying to achieve and the type of products we’re able to make – why they will be beneficial, both to health and the environment. </p>
<p>We’re using an <a href="http://www.fao.org/land-water/news-archive/news-detail/en/c/267297/">incredible amount</a> of <a href="http://www.fao.org/sustainability/news/detail/en/c/1274219/">land</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water-in-agriculture">water</a> for agriculture. And that often means that we are destroying pristine biodiverse environments, such as the Amazon rainforest, grasslands, wetlands and marshlands to grow more crops. Increasing yield on productive land and decreasing the amount of land used for agriculture is possibly the greatest impact that we will have on preserving biodiversity. Improving crop genetics can also reduce the amount of fertilisers and pesticides that we need to use, and we can make crops healthier, and increase their nutritional content.</p>
<p>A single change to one letter of DNA sequence can turn off a gene and have a substantial effect. For example, making a single mutation to inactivate two genes involved in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennysplitter/2019/03/05/trans-fat-free-gene-edited-soybean-oil/?sh=27652c5f4c91">fatty acid biosynthesis</a> can lead to a different oil profile in oil seed crops making them healthier to consume. Plants also have genes that make them resistant or susceptible to specific diseases – a mutation in the coding sequence or in the regulatory sequences of these genes can mean that those pathogens <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pbi.12677">can no longer infect them</a>, which can reduce the need for fungicides and other chemicals.</p>
<p>Scientific analyses that have been done on the impacts of many biotech crops have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ajae.12162">identified many benefits</a>, including reducing the use of pesticides and improving the welfare and health of subsistence farmers.</p>
<p>I think it’s really important that people understand that even when the goal is to increase yields, crop improvement is not only about profit. </p>
<h2>Power in the seed system</h2>
<p><strong>CP:</strong> I’d certainly agree with you that these are very pressing issues and that the technology has the potential to do a lot of good, especially considering climate change and biodiversity loss. But what you say about profit can’t really be ignored. The dominance of the big companies is a big problem. I think that’s what’s underlying the issues now actually. People are asking: <a href="http://seedcontrol.eu/seed-stories.php">who’s got power in the seed system</a>? Who’s controlling our food system? What was the big six is now the <a href="https://european-seed.com/2019/02/from-big-six-to-big-four-new-oecd-study-sheds-light-on-concentration-and-competition-in-seed-markets/">big four</a> after a series of mergers (DowDuPont, Bayer-Monsanto, BASF and ChemChina-Syngenta); they’re controlling like <a href="https://civileats.com/2019/01/11/the-sobering-details-behind-the-latest-seed-monopoly-chart/">60%</a> of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gardeners-are-reclaiming-agriculture-from-industry-one-seed-at-a-time-128071">seed supply</a>, you know?</p>
<p>Yes, these companies do invest huge amounts of capital and time developing innovations such as gene-edited crops. So of course they protect these innovations through patents and intellectual property rights. But for many farmers in developing countries, these patents dispossess them of their rights to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents">save seeds</a>. Instead of saving seed and planting it the following year, farmers have to purchase new seed. This is arguably linked to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5427059/">horrific stories</a> in some parts of the world – such as farmers accumulating so much debt that they take their own lives. There’s also the question of whether it is ethically correct for companies to own life. </p>
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<img alt="A hand cupping seeds; seed packets in background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408886/original/file-20210629-24-lcn6gi.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">
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<span class="caption">The traditional practice of seed saving is illegal under the terms of many seed companies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/united-kingdom-january-25-2012-woman-196672658">Caron Badkin/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p><strong>NP:</strong> I agree that ownership of the technologies underlying food production should be questioned and openly debated. I have <a href="https://www.synbioleap.org/strategic-action-plans-blog/2017/2/27/feeding-the-future-the-case-for-open-source-technology-and-an-inclusive-plant-bioengineering-community">previously written</a> about the negative consequences of some of the patenting and ownership practices used in plant biotechnology. However, while a few companies may sell the majority of proprietary seeds, their dominance over global food supply chains is overstated. Smallholder farmers, who generally do not grow proprietary seeds, <a href="https://www.globalagriculture.org/whats-new/news/en/32345.html">produce more than half of global food</a>. </p>
<p>One of the issues that often comes up as a concern is that <a href="http://sbc.ucdavis.edu/Biotech_for_Sustain_pages/Herbicide_Tolerance/">specific herbicides must be used</a> in conjunction with herbicide-tolerant GM plants. Until the patents of these herbicides <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/07/30/166919/as-patents-expire-farmers-plant-generic-gmos/">expire</a>, growers need to purchase both seeds and herbicides from the same company. Further, some of these crops are developed by chemical companies with a problematic history including the use of damaging chemicals such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/feb/24/monsanto-agent-orange-west-virginia">Agent Orange</a>. It’s undoubtedly tricky asking people to trust seed produced by these companies.</p>
<p>Bad behaviour and poor corporate responsibility by companies should unquestionably be called out, curtailed and, where necessary, regulated. But seeking to counter the behaviour of a few companies by suppressing the use of technologies with enormous potential that are being used in public development programmes to <a href="https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/47/download/isaaa-brief-47-2014.pdf">improve lives</a> does not seem reasonable to me. I argue that we should instead confront questions of ownership, and facilitate global access to enabling technologies to promote locally-led solutions. </p>
<h2>What do most people think?</h2>
<p><strong>CP:</strong> That is certainly where lots of the push back comes from. I think even the smaller companies that are developing are always going to be associated with that. And yes, it’s time we debated that – the food system and the money seems to be a lot of the problem, not the science itself. </p>
<p>Having said that, I don’t think the reason gene editing crops are important is coming through at the moment. I agree that these crops are important for biodiversity and the need to produce more food on less land with less water. But sometimes there’s a sense that these things are being forced on people. </p>
<p>Mexicans actually <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/511016a">pushed back on GM maize</a> because maize is so culturally important to them. Soon after GM maize was introduced, in the late 1990s, they <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35107068">found genetic sequences</a> known to be present in the GM varieties in a few samples of crops raised from local varieties. There was a sense then of an imposition or attack on their culture. And as a result of the aftermath of that debate Mexico actually ruled out GM maize in order to protect its maize breeding programmes, although it did continue to grow GM cotton.</p>
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<img alt="Man holds stack of different coloured corn on the cob." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408888/original/file-20210629-26-1sok1k4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mexico has an extraordinary diversity of maize – which was felt to be under threat from GM maize.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mexican-corn-maize-dried-blue-cobs-1479684842">Marcos Castillo/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That shows that sometimes we need to work with people more. We need to explain the science and the benefits and ask what they think, rather than framing it in a way that makes it seem like it’s inevitable. Yes, the possible benefits are enormous, but the people who are deciding which benefits are chosen and how, are often governments and corporations rather than farmers and the local people. And that’s a problem. The UK government, for example, often focuses on <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293037/10-669-gcsa-guidelines-scientific-engineering-advice-policy-making.pdf">scientific advice</a> in policy-making but I don’t think that’s the right route to go down. You need a wider debate sometimes as to what society wants, especially considering just how powerful these big companies are in the food system.</p>
<p>The recent consultation is an example of this. There was a sense that the government had <a href="https://www.foodethicscouncil.org/resource/open-letter-re-weakening-regulation-on-genetic-engineering/">already decided</a> that gene editing is going to happen, both on plants and animals. The consultation was made quite technical – too technical for people without a scientific understanding to contribute to. A lot of important questions – such as whether people consider gene editing to be ethical or who they believe will benefit from these technologies – just weren’t asked.</p>
<p>It’s not always about science. A lot of people are actually quite accepting of the science, as we’ve discussed – the problem is who is controlling the food system.</p>
<p><strong>NP</strong>: I share people’s concerns about the lack of diversity in the seed trading companies. Perhaps ironically, I think that one of the reasons that there are so few agrotech companies is partly a result of the regulatory burdens around GM. It has been estimated to cost upwards of <a href="https://www.isaaa.org/kc/cropbiotechupdate/article/default.asp?ID=14638">a hundred million dollars</a> to bring a GM crop to market, with a substantial fraction spent on the regulatory process,</p>
<p>There was considerable diversity in the plant biotechnology IP [intellectual property] landscape, with quite a lot of it owned by universities. However, it has been argued that the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.3393">strategic use of patent rights</a> and the implementation of high and scientifically unjustified <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/76797108.pdf">regulatory barriers</a> stifled innovation in smaller companies leaving only very large companies with the resources necessary to bring products to market. In recent years, with new patent and regulatory landscapes of genome editing, we see new plant biotech companies <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41587-019-00027-2">beginning to emerge</a>.</p>
<p>One of the things I’ve been involved in is enabling <a href="https://www.openplant.org">open-source plant biotechnology</a> and accelerating technology transfer with the aim of enabling entrepreneurship and empowering scientists in resource poor regions. The long-term goal is to help scientists who are closely connected to the needs of their local farmers and populations obtain access to the training and technologies they need to start local companies, develop local crop varieties, and help democratise the seed production system.</p>
<p><strong>CP</strong>: I would agree. There’s a lot of government money being pushed into science the technology. But I think the way the government carried out the recent consultation – that sense of asking what people wanted, but not actually wanting to know the answer – might set the debate back a bit, at least in the UK. I think if the consultation had been done a bit differently, you might’ve got a better conversation going.</p>
<p>They might, for example, have involved a <a href="https://esrc.ukri.org/public-engagement/public-engagement-guidance/guide-to-public-engagement/choosing-your-activities/citizens-jury/">citizen jury</a> or similar. This is such an important topic, and it’s key that the public feel consulted. Then people could ask an expert – someone like you – what about this? What about that? Then the government would also have more of an understanding of the nature of public concerns and interest – and realise perhaps that they relate predominantly to the business or social side of things, rather than purely the science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162959/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicola Patron receives funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Price receives funding from the British Academy. </span></em></p>
Catherine Price, sociologist, and Nicola Patron, synthetic plant biologist, discuss the promises, dangers and concerns around gene edited and GM crops.
Nicola Patron, Synthetic Biology Group Leader, Earlham Institute
Catherine Price, Postdoctoral Researcher, Change in Agriculture, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163280
2021-07-22T13:42:41Z
2021-07-22T13:42:41Z
From Crossroads to Godzilla: the cinematic legacies of the first postwar nuclear tests
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412623/original/file-20210722-19-1xbqhc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=332%2C4%2C2389%2C1562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Baker test of Operation Crossroads, July 25 1946.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/baker-test-operation-crossroads-july-25-339956981">Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As I sat in a darkened cinema in 1998, mesmerised and unnerved by the opening nuclear bomb explosions that framed the beginning of Roland Emmerich’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/">Godzilla</a>, it felt like I was watching the most expensive special effect in history.</p>
<p>Vast expanding clouds and fireballs eclipsed their surroundings and smothered everything in their path, dropping radioactive material that gave rise to the title monster. I had never encountered anything like this. I appreciated the creativity of those 90s films that tried to push visual boundaries through emerging computer technology, but this was on a different scale. I later discovered that there was a good reason for this – the footage was real.</p>
<p>The film did win <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/awards">awards</a> for its special effects, although that was for the giant lizard itself and scenes of New York landmarks being shattered by its rampage, not the precise origin or significance of those fleeting mushroom clouds.</p>
<p>I kept coming back to those images and the accompaniment of haunting, almost other-worldly, choral music. It sent shivers down my spine, and still does every time I re-watch it.</p>
<p>It was that footage which started my journey towards research into nuclear history, and which led to me becoming a visiting fellow at the British Library’s <a href="https://www.bl.uk/eccles-centre">Eccles Centre for American Studies</a>, where I study their collections, including the early pictorial history of nuclear testing.</p>
<p>Many of those iconic images which originally stunned me came from the aptly named <a href="https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/operation-crossroads">Operation Crossroads</a> – an exercise 75 years ago involving the first postwar nuclear weapons tests in July 1946, conducted by a joint US army-navy task force in Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. It involved 42,000 people, around 150 support vessels and over 90 target ships and submarines. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rapidly expanding cloud of spray from an explosion (nuclear) detonated underwater, framed by small clouds in the air and small black dots around it on the ocean surface which were large naval ships." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409657/original/file-20210705-42341-1fmjk04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crossroads baker nuclear explosion and the target ships around it, as seen from an aircraft camera, 25 July 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">US Army Signal Corps</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also used over half the world’s supply of film footage and hundreds of cameras to capture the nuclear detonations. Officially, this extensive filming was driven by military policy and scientific considerations, US political and military leaders wanting to understand the effects of this new weapon. At the same time, the demonstration of these weapons on film also served to showcase US power to a global audience.</p>
<p>The literal and psychological shock waves of that event were significant in the early cold war and in shaping the modern world, from setting precedents for thousands of subsequent bomb tests and accelerating the arms race to long-lasting radioactive <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/bombs-and-the-bikini-atoll/">environmental damage</a> in locations where these tests occurred. </p>
<p>Crossroads even led to the invention of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jun/15/bruce-conner-crossroads-1976-nuclear-test-film-rapture">language</a> of terms to describe nuclear testing (through over two months of negotiation). Some terms agreed on are perhaps less familiar, including “cauliflower cloud” and “base surge”, while others (like “fallout”) have become ubiquitous since.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/75-years-after-nuclear-testing-in-the-pacific-began-the-fallout-continues-to-wreak-havoc-158208">75 years after nuclear testing in the Pacific began, the fallout continues to wreak havoc</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Crossroads had such an impact because it was almost a blockbuster movie production in its filmic scale and focus – a military-scientific cinematic spectacle, unique among over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted worldwide by all nations since.</p>
<p>Even as much of its cold war origins and significance lie forgotten, Crossroads’ cinematic legacies have lived on over the last 75 years. Photos and footage from it have been used widely, from propaganda to popular culture: from Godzilla movies to internet <a href="https://youtu.be/f37K0hIv3zk?t=136">memes</a>. It has been employed to inform, to protest, as cultural symbols, and in ways which have obscured or re-framed aspects of nuclear history, shifting away from legacies of US testing, or even making the bomb a monster-destroying weapon (seen not least through Godzilla), much like a mushroom cloud enveloping everything in its path.</p>
<h2>The world’s most expensive film shoot</h2>
<p>Crossroads fundamentally changed the film profile of atom bombs. Still images of those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 had appeared in many newspapers, but there was limited camera footage of these. There were also only a few thousand TVs in the US in 1946, so for many the Crossroads footage would be watched in cinema newsreels (whether in the US or other countries). </p>
<p>The Crossroads plan was large in scale and complexity, but underpinned by one central concept: assembling a fleet of around 90 decommissioned US naval ships (including three captured German and Japanese vessels), anchoring them in a remote lagoon in the Pacific (Bikini Atoll) and setting off atom bombs against them. A truly blockbuster plan.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8GcWGT8_vvo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Operation Crossroads. Underwater atomic blast again rocks Bikini Atoll’, British Pathé newsreel, 1946.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The stated goal was to test how atomic bombs would affect naval vessels, better to improve the design of future ships and such defensive arrangements as anchoring them in harbours, in the event that America faced the atom bombs of other nations in the future – though only the US had the bomb at this time. But Crossroads was later widened to test damage to other types of material and equipment, as well as measuring various effects of the weapons, such as (rather unsettlingly) the biological impact on thousands of animals present on target ships, including pigs, goats and rats.</p>
<p>Crossroads has been described as one of the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jun/15/bruce-conner-crossroads-1976-nuclear-test-film-rapture">photographed</a> events in history, and this had had several practical effects for moviemakers, even before the first weapon had been exploded. As more than half the world’s available stock of film footage was bought up for cameras to record the tests, there were months of shortages in Hollywood and other major studios around the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white image showing anchored ships." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412627/original/file-20210722-27-1p3qvuz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prospective target and support ships for Operation Crossroads anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, February 27 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Target_and_support_ships_for_Operation_Crossroads_at_Pearl_Harbor,_Hawaii_(USA),_in_February_1946_(80-G-702126).jpg">© Naval History & Heritage Command</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>New high-speed cameras were used to capture even the first fractions of a second after detonation (although these didn’t always go to <a href="https://cinergie.unibo.it/article/view/10328/11419">plan</a>). Subsequent nuclear tests prompted <a href="https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/high-speed-photography">further</a> developments of these technologies, some of which would later make their way into fields from commercial cinematography to medicine.</p>
<p>Some of the first drone cameras – a concept evoking images of 21st-century movie-making – were also significantly developed and <a href="https://dronecenter.bard.edu/the-drones-of-the-atomic-age/">used</a> in Crossroads. Large four-propeller engine B-17 bombers were rigged with TV cameras and transmitters so that they could be flown remotely as drone aircraft, to film the explosions and to collect radioactive samples from clouds. Similar arrangements were made for small, un-crewed boats. While a far cry from modern military and civil drones, such experiments were groundbreaking, leading to shots that would previously have been impossible, and laying foundations for future developments in both drones and in remote-controlled photography.</p>
<p>Development of the atomic bomb had been shrouded in the utmost secrecy throughout the second world war, to the point that the public and most members of Congress didn’t know about it until after Hiroshima was bombed. Even Harry Truman – as vice president – hadn’t known of its existence until he succeeded President Roosevelt in April 1945. This made the widespread publicity of Crossroads as a global media event one year later even more remarkable. Observers were invited to attend the tests from such unlikely places as the Soviet Union. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>While the visuals of nuclear tests may be well recognised, the sound adds another dimension to their impact. The orchestras of the US Armed Forces provided custom music for films of the tests, whether for <a href="https://youtu.be/2HkLZekOZLU?t=1342">classified</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/B8JrnU-9SMM?t=130">public</a> consumption, akin to the dramatic soundtracks of action or superhero adventures, or the eerie music of horror movies that creates the atmosphere. </p>
<p>The music was usually reserved as rousing chords for the opening and ending, or particularly poignant moments, such as observing damage to ships, though not for the detonations themselves. By contrast, all cinematic and documentary uses of Crossroads almost always overlay detonation footage with dramatic music.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gy6-ZKWCoH0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Crossroads Baker detonation, with added music and with commentary by William Shatner, as featured in the revised version of the 1995 documentary ‘Trinity and Beyond’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>One of a kind</h2>
<p>“Those black dots are battleships? But they’re so tiny,” was the amazed reaction of one student when I showed their class footage from Crossroads – it was by no means an isolated response. The iconic nature of those images partly stems from Crossroads being distinctive among nuclear tests, particularly the second detonation, Crossroads Baker, on July 25 1946. </p>
<p>Almost all nuclear weapons tested have either been detonated within the atmosphere (ground or air, sometimes on the verge of space), in which case the first sign of the explosion has involved a blinding flash obscuring everything, or underground, in which there was often much less to see, except eerie <a href="https://youtu.be/u1Xe1TUQrpY?t=4">videos</a> of the earth slowly giving way to form a crater before kicking up dust. Underground testing could, of course, still lead to dramatic (and disturbing) footage, such as the ground rising up before exploding, a particularly notable example being the Operation Storax <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZbL_uKBQzY">Sedan</a> detonation in 1962, which was testing (almost unbelievably) ways of using nuclear weapons for civil construction in large excavation projects.</p>
<p>Crossroads Baker, meanwhile, was detonated just underwater, meaning it could be observed from the moment the explosion reached the surface. The visual effect was also made all the more powerful by the surrounding lagoon, the rapidly expanding blast hurling what were later estimated to be over two million tonnes of water and spray high into the air. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gm79CUjqcZ8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Silent footage from a ground angle with a clear view of the Crossroads Baker detonation, showing the growth of the explosion.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The scale of subsequent test series was different. While the bombs increased in power hundreds of times after Crossroads (and tests grew from using two weapons to sometimes up to 30 or 40 in a single operation), never again was there such a fleet assembled to be bombed.</p>
<p>Filming of tests became an industry in its own right, with subsequent tests having an entire US Air Force <a href="https://www.lookoutamerica.org/about">studio</a> at Lookout Mountain Laboratory being dedicated to them. But there was rarely the same gathering of news media or scale of filming as at Crossroads. Footage of later tests, while still released in some propaganda and news films, also became less public for various reasons, including security.</p>
<p>There were no further underwater tests until 1955 with Operation <a href="https://youtu.be/9PQ_Kpsn5Ss?t=80">Wigwam</a>, which examined a concept originally planned for the cancelled third Crossroads test, Charlie, on the effects of deep ocean nuclear explosions against submarines. Wigwam similarly saw no repeat of the Crossroads fleet – only three miniature submarines anchored to the bomb for taking damage measurements, alongside a modest number of support vessels.</p>
<h2>Other stories</h2>
<p>For all the effort of being so widely photographed, much of the footage captured remained classified. Some was released in 1946 newsreel and public information films, more appeared in the 1960s, and <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/environmental-diplomacy-nuclear-vault/2016-07-01/70th-anniversary-operation-crossroads">further</a> photographs and footage were released in 2016. </p>
<p>Crossroads had a book as well: an “Official Pictorial Report”, something not repeated in any other test series and publicly available with around 200 photographs and captions. It has been a very valuable and often-overlooked time capsule of how the test was recorded and presented, but is also only a drop in the lagoon of 50,000 still images captured. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People swimming in a lagoon, with some sunbathing on a beach, ships in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412649/original/file-20210722-19-t6e879.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photo from <em>The Official Pictorial Record</em> captioned: ‘On the beach at Bikini, men of the Task Force try out the swimming facilities’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Operation Crossroads: The Official Pictorial Record</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many photos are of the people involved rather than the bombs themselves. In the Official Report, for instance, I discovered that only a fifth of the images show mushroom clouds; the rest charting things like scientific preparations or the aftermath of tests, but also everyday life for the task-force members conducting them. The more I saw them, the more <a href="https://blogs.bl.uk/americas/2020/07/atomic-holiday-snaps-depictions-of-normality-in-the-official-photography-of-postwar-atomic-bomb-tests.html">I became fascinated</a> with how these people were adapting to living through such events. It was like seeing “behind the scenes” footage.</p>
<p>And then there are the people who are only represented briefly in these images, often in a particular light, or excluded entirely – such as the existing population of 167 people at Bikini Atoll. These people ostensibly “agreed” to give up their homes for science, but, in reality, felt that they didn’t have a choice, and also assumed that the move would only be temporary. </p>
<p>This was one of the first examples of nuclear colonialism. They were relocated to Rongerik Atoll, where food sources turned out not to be sustainable, and relocated further times after that. About 150 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2002/aug/06/travelnews.nuclearindustry.environment">returned</a> to Bikini in the 1970s, but the health dangers from radioactivity left behind by subsequent tests meant they had to leave again in 1978 and have never been able to return. Their story only received the greater attention it deserves <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/environmental-diplomacy-nuclear-vault/2016-07-01/70th-anniversary-operation-crossroads">in recent years</a>.</p>
<p>In the world of box office films, the predominant cinematic uses of Crossroads’ historic footage remains the mushroom cloud, inescapable in its iconic and instantly recognisable form. But the ways in which it has been used out of context in such films as Godzilla can create new meanings for how others depicted nuclear history, while further obscuring the original ones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mushroom cloud cake is cut." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412629/original/file-20210722-17-1k2bqg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Admiral William Blandy, who led Operation Crossroads, and his wife cut a mushroom cloud cake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Admiral_Blandy_Mushroom_Cloud_Cake.jpg">Harris & Ewing Studio/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>(Mis)appropriation of Crossroads</h2>
<p>Crossroads’ footage has been used in a wide variety of settings, from the ending of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove to YouTube memes. But the Godzilla uses stand out, both in my own personal experience, but also because of their significance of wider trends in how nuclear history has been re-interpreted cinematically. </p>
<p>Even in 1998, I saw Godzilla as an allegory for the effects of nuclear tests and radiation. It was only when reading about the 1954 original that I learned the wider history: in the original (Japanese) story, Godzilla is an embodiment of the harm from nuclear weapons themselves and particularly the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The 1954 Godzilla was a peaceful ancient dinosaur, sent on a rampage by the effects of radiation from an atomic explosion. But this narrative became distorted in some later <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/godzilla-king-monsters-sequel-hollywood-japan-origins-atomic-bomb-a8932921.html">remakes</a>, whether aimed at Japanese or western audiences. </p>
<p>A particular <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2016/12/6/13856652/godzilla-japan-america-gojira">criticism</a> of US adaptations, right from US re-cuts of the 1954 original that were sold back to Japan, has been the removal of overt references within the movies to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or indeed to any of the problematic aspects of US nuclear history.</p>
<p>The 1998 film begins by focusing on Godzilla as being created by French nuclear tests in the Pacific. Such detonations did indeed happen, although the footage used is entirely that of American Pacific nuclear testing (Crossroads Baker featuring prominently from different angles alongside a few shots of other tests). Little visual and audio cues reinforce this fiction by superimposing over a montage of test preparations a map of French Polynesia, a countdown in French, and <em>La Marseillaise</em> playing in the background. </p>
<p>There are other hints later in the film which – as subtle as the presence of Godzilla itself – include Jean Reno as leader of a “French Secret Service” team who signals their job is to clean up the problems created by their country’s tests in the Pacific, and a US TV station helpfully putting up a map of Godzilla’s origins alongside a big sign “French Nuke Testing”.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831387/">2014 film</a> goes even further in its repainting of nuclear testing history. The opening also starts with Pacific tests, although framed as being the 1954 US thermonuclear weapons test, Castle Bravo. This time, instead of starting with a Godzilla created by atom bomb radiation, the nuclear tests are portrayed as a weapon used to try to kill Godzilla.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NBQJjqnG1iI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Opening shots of Godzilla (2014), prominently featuring footage of the Crossroads Baker detonation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, it’s ironic that the film starts with an attempt to kill the embodiment of the effects of nuclear weapons, Godzilla, with nuclear weapons. And that the real-life 1954 Castle Bravo test went out of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge865CR9pN8">control</a> because of an unexpected reaction, spreading radiation much further than planned, severely <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2013_03/No-Promised-Land-The-Shared-Legacy-of-the-Castle-Bravo-Nuclear-Test">affecting</a> the population of the Rongelap and Utirik Atolls with radiation poisoning, as well as sailors on a Japanese fishing trawler, one of whom later died. This story of the fishermen ignited protests in Japan over nuclear testing, resonating with the still fresh wounds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and acting as a major inspiration for the original Japanese Godzilla film that same year.</p>
<p>For all the advancements in special effects technology, at the crucial moment of detonation, the iconic footage of Crossroads Baker still appears as the centrepiece in the 2014 Godzilla. It is interspersed with a more computer-generated mushroom cloud and the mimicking of shock waves hitting island beaches, but the continued usage shows its cinematic longevity. </p>
<p>It is not that there weren’t videos of Castle Bravo available. On the contrary, <a href="https://youtu.be/tURi2xVlr7w?t=64">footage</a> of it has been iconic, and terrifying, in its own right in documentaries and films, and that bomb itself was over 700 times more powerful than Crossroads Baker. It is possible that these films, taken from a greater distance, didn’t have quite the same, seemingly close-up, unobscured, and immediate feeling of scale as Baker, flanked by full-sized naval ships that appear as mere toys against the mushroom cloud.</p>
<p>To stunned moviegoers like myself, Crossroads may well have been the most expensive special effects in history. Adjusted for inflation, the operation would have cost over US$800 million in 1998, possibly even more with added technical and safety complexities (fortunately, US and Soviet atmospheric nuclear testing had ended in 1962). As such, those few seconds of nuclear explosion opening shots in Godzilla alone required more than 6.5 times the entire budget of the monster movie they ended up in.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of men brushing and cleaning the deck of a ship to try to remove the radiation fallout from an atomic explosion." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409666/original/file-20210705-27-jjmbh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sailors scrubbing down the German cruiser Prinz Eugen with brushes, water, soap, and lye. Five months later, the ship was still too radioactive to permit repairs to a leak, and she sank.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anonymous Military Photographer</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the cost which can never be calculated is the power of those images upon the human imagination and fear, as well as their effect on the nuclear arms race. Many target ships, while damaged, survived Crossroads Baker, but were enveloped in so much radioactive seawater that decontamination became almost impossible, except for a few vessels.</p>
<p>Plans to sail the remaining ships back to the US triumphantly gave way to sinking most of them, albeit without the same fanfare as the operation itself. A forgotten end credits scene on which the cameras never rolled, but the fallout from which fogs the films to this day. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/billionaire-space-race-the-ultimate-symbol-of-capitalisms-flawed-obsession-with-growth-164511?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-world-a-history-of-how-a-silent-cosmos-led-humans-to-fear-the-worst-120193?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">The end of the world: a history of how a silent cosmos led humans to fear the worst</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-soviet-miner-from-the-1930s-helped-create-todays-intense-corporate-workplace-culture-155814?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How a Soviet miner from the 1930s helped create today’s intense corporate workplace culture</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Noël Peacock is a Visiting Fellow at the British Library Eccles Centre for American Studies. </span></em></p>
The cinematic legacies of Operation Crossroads, the first peacetime nuclear tests, fundamentally shaped how we view the mushroom cloud.
Timothy Noël Peacock, Lecturer in History, University of Glasgow
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164511
2021-07-20T13:32:05Z
2021-07-20T13:32:05Z
Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411894/original/file-20210719-13-16uy9dq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C242%2C1540%2C1199&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/hitchhiking-astronaut-5259414/">Tom Leishman/Pexels</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, laments the Rocket Man in Elton John’s timeless classic. In fact, it’s cold as hell. But that doesn’t seem to worry a new generation of space entrepreneurs intent on colonising the “final frontier” as fast as possible. </p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. I’m no sullen technophobe. As lockdown projects go, Nasa’s landing of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-perseverance-rover-lands-on-mars-theres-a-lot-we-already-know-about-the-red-planet-from-meteorites-found-on-earth-155459">Perseverance rover</a> on the surface of the red planet earlier this year was a hell of a blast. Watching it reminded me that I once led a high school debate defending the motion: this house believes that humanity should reach for the stars. </p>
<p>It must have been around the time that Caspar Weinberger was trying to persuade President Nixon <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/09/ending-apollo-1968/">not to cancel</a> the Apollo space programme. My brothers and I had watched the monochrome triumph of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html">Apollo 11 landing</a> avidly in 1969. We’d witnessed the near disaster of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html">Apollo 13</a> – immortalised in a 1995 Hollywood <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/apr/17/apollo-13-tom-hanks-space-ron-howard">film</a> – when Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) and two rookie astronauts narrowly escaped with their lives by using the Lunar Module as an emergency life raft. We knew it was exciting up there.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YwG4F-16Tno?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>I remember later going to see Apollo 13 (the film) with a friend who wasn’t born when the mission itself took place. “What did you think?” I asked as we came out of the cinema. “It was OK,” said my friend. “Just not very believable.”</p>
<p>But we kids were glued to our black-and-white TV sets the entire week of the original mission. We watched in horror as CO₂ levels rose in the Lunar Module. We endured the endless blackout as the returning astronauts plunged perilously back to Earth. We held our breath with the rest of the world as the expected four minutes stretched to five and hope began to fade. It was a full six minutes before the camera finally came into focus on the command module’s parachutes – safely deployed above the Pacific Ocean. We felt the endorphin rush. We knew it was believable.</p>
<p>That was 1970. This is now. And here I am again on the edge of another sofa, in the lingering uncertainty of the time of COVID-19, waiting for signs of arrival from another re-entry blackout on another barren rock, devoid of breathable atmosphere, 200 million miles away. And when the Perseverance Rover finally touches down on the surface of Mars: that same exhilaration. That same endorphin rush. Quite difficult to witness the jubilation behind the masks at Nasa’s mission control without feeling a glimmer of vicarious joy. Hope, even. </p>
<p>But Nasa’s clever science experiment is just the tip of an expansionary iceberg. A teaser, if you will, for an ambitious dream that is being driven faster and faster by huge commercial interests. A curious twist in a debate that has been raging now for almost half a century. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Red Martian landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411858/original/file-20210719-21-1wp8mnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nasa’s Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image. a hill about 2.5km away.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25904/mastcam-z-views-santa-cruz-on-mars/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growth wars</h2>
<p>Ever since 1972, when a team of MIT scientists published a massively influential report on the <a href="https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/">Limits to Growth</a>, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6468/950">economists have been fighting</a> about whether it’s possible for the economy to expand forever. Those who believe it can, appeal to the <a href="https://andrewmcafee.org/more-from-less/overivew">power of technology</a> to “decouple” economic activity from its effects on the planet. Those (like me) who believe it can’t point to the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332500379_Is_Green_Growth_Possible">limited evidence for decoupling</a> at anything like the pace that’s needed to avoid a climate emergency or prevent a catastrophic decline in biodiversity. </p>
<p>The growth debate often hangs on the power you attribute to technology to save us. Usually it’s the technophiles arguing for infinite growth on a finite planet – sometimes putting their hopes in speculative technologies such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-co-capture-technology-is-not-the-magic-bullet-against-climate-change-115413">direct air capture</a> or dangerous ones like nuclear power. And usually it’s the sceptics arguing for a <a href="Http://www.timjackson.org.uk/postgrowth">post-growth economy</a>. But the simple division between technophiles and technophobes has never been particularly helpful. Very few growth sceptics reject technology completely. No one at all is asking humanity to return to the cave. </p>
<p>My own research teams at the University of Surrey have been <a href="https://www.cusp.ac.uk/team/team/t_jackson/">exploring the vital role</a> of sustainable technology in transforming the economy for almost three decades now. But we’ve also shown how the dynamics of capitalism – in particular its relentless pursuit of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/opinion/sunday/lets-be-less-productive.html">productivity growth</a> – continually push society towards materialistic goals, and undermine those parts of the economy such as <a href="Http://www.timjackson.org.uk/pwg">care, craft and creativity</a>, which are essential to our quality of life. </p>
<p>And now suddenly, along comes a group of self-confessed technology lovers finally admitting that the planet is too small for us. Yes, you were right, they imply: the Earth cannot sustain infinite growth. That’s why we have to expand into space. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>Wait. What just happened? Did somebody move the goalposts? Something is wrong. Maybe it’s me. One thing I know for sure. I’m no longer the same kid I was – the one from the debating society. This house believes that humanity should grow the fuck up. </p>
<p>Before it spends <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/top-10-what-are-the-top-10-most-expensive-space-missions/">trillions of dollars</a> littering its <a href="https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris/The_cost_of_space_debris#:%7E:text=Space%20debris%20is%20expensive%2C%20and%20will%20become%20even%20more%20so&text=For%20satellites%20in%20geostationary%20orbit,higher%20than%205%E2%80%9310%25.">techno-junk</a> around the solar system, this house believes that humanity should pay a little more attention to what’s happening right here and now. On this planet.</p>
<h2>The human condition</h2>
<p>Perhaps ironically, it was from space that we saw it first. In October 1957, the Soviets sent an unmanned orbital satellite called <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_924.html">Sputnik</a> into space. It was one of those odd moments in history (like the coronavirus) that dramatically reshapes our social world. Sputnik kicked off the space race, intensified the arms race and heightened the cold war. It was a huge blow to US self-esteem not to be the first nation to reach space and it was the jolt it used to kickstart the Apollo Moon shot. No one likes coming second. Least of all the most powerful people on the planet.</p>
<p>But Sputnik also signalled the beginning of a new relationship between humanity and its earthly home. As the political philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/">Hannah Arendt</a> remarked in the prologue to her 1958 masterpiece, <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Human_Condition/bGlwDwAAQBAJ">The Human Condition</a>, going into space allowed us to grasp our planetary predicament for the first time in history. It was a reminder that “the Earth is the quintessence of the human condition”. And nature itself, “for all we know, may be unique in providing human beings with a habitat in which they can move and breathe without effort and without artifice”.</p>
<p>Fair point. And nothing we’ve learned in the intervening years has changed that prognosis. Mars may be the most habitable planet in the solar system, outside our own. But it’s still a very far cry from the beauty of home – whose fragility we only truly learned to appreciate fully from the images sent back to us from space.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view of Earth rising from the Moon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411210/original/file-20210714-27-3ia7pw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&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">Earthrise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/297755main_GPN-2001-000009_full.jpg">Nasa</a></span>
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<p>Nature photographer Galen Rowell once called William Anders’ iconic photo <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/earthrise.html">Earthrise</a> – taken from the Apollo 8 module in lunar orbit – “the most influential environmental photograph ever taken”. Earthrise brought home to us, in one astonishing image, the stark reality that this shining orb was – and still is – humanity’s best chance for anything that might meaningfully be called the “good life”.</p>
<p>Its beauty is our beauty. Its fragility is our fragility. And its peril is our peril.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368">Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>An inconvenient truth</h2>
<p>In the very same year that Arendt published The Human Condition, a Shell executive named Charles Jones presented <a href="http://www.climatefiles.com/trade-group/american-petroleum-institute/1958-air-pollution-research-program-smoke-fumes/">a paper</a> to the fossil fuel industry’s trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, warning of the impact of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion on the atmosphere. It was early evidence of climate change. </p>
<p>It was also evidence, according to lawsuits <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/jun/30/climate-crimes-fossil-fuels-cities-states-interactive">now being filed</a> by cities and states in the US, that companies like Shell knew it was happening more than 60 years ago – three decades before James Hansen’s <a href="https://grist.org/article/james-hansens-legacy-scientists-reflect-on-climate-change-in-1988-2018-and-2048/">scientific testimony</a> to Congress in 1988 brought global warming to public attention. And they did nothing about it. Worse, argue plaintiffs like the <a href="https://eu.delawareonline.com/story/news/2020/09/10/delaware-sues-exxon-chevron-and-bp-role-climate-change/3457202001/">state of Delaware</a>, they lied over and again to cover up this “inconvenient truth”.</p>
<p>Why such a thing could happen is now clear. Evidence of their impact was a direct threat to the profits of some of the most powerful corporations on the planet. Profit is the bedrock of capitalism. And as I argue in <a href="http://www.timjackson.org.uk/postgrowth">my new book</a>, we have allowed capitalism to trump everything: work, life, hope – even good governance. The most enlightened governments in the world have turned a blind eye to the need for urgent action. Now we’re on the verge of being too late to fix it. Achieving net zero by 2050 is <a href="https://theconversation.com/2050-is-too-late-we-must-drastically-cut-emissions-much-sooner-121512">no longer enough</a>. We need much more, much faster to avoid ending up in an unliveable <a href="https://theconversation.com/hothouse-earth-our-planet-has-been-here-before-heres-what-it-looked-like-101413">hothouse</a>.</p>
<p>Even as I write, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/us/west-heat-wave-death-valley.html">record-breaking temperatures</a>, 10-20°C above the seasonal average, have forced citizens on the west coast of North America into <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/01/portland-heatwave-like-microwave-hairdryer-blowing/">underground shelters</a> to avoid the searing heat. <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/us-wildfires-firefighters-grapple-with-raging-blazes-as-temperatures-soar-to-54c-in-californias-baking-death-valley-12354197">Wildfires</a> are raging in California’s Death Valley, where temperatures have reached an astonishing 54°C. On the storm-struck east coast, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/09/new-york-city-storm-flooding-climate-change">flood waters</a> have inundated the New York subway system. Thousands remain homeless and hundreds are still missing, meanwhile, as <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/germany-and-belgium-floods-rescuers-search-for-hundreds-of-missing-as-more-than-120-die-in-historic-disaster-12357532">historic flooding</a> across central Europe has left almost 200 people dead. </p>
<p>In the face of the blindingly obvious, even recalcitrant presidents and politicians are at last beginning to acknowledge the scale of the peril in which our relentless pursuit of economic growth has placed the planet. And in principle they still have time to do something about it.</p>
<p>As I and many colleagues have argued, the pandemic offers us a unique opportunity to fashion <a href="https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases/economy-environment-and-peoples-well-being-must-go-hand-hand-post-covid-eu">a different kind of economy</a>. The 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (<a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26</a>) in Glasgow in November 2021 could well be the place to do that. Whether that happens or not will depend as much on vision as it does on science. And on our courage to confront the inequalities of power that led us to this point.</p>
<p>It will also depend on us going back to first principles and asking ourselves: how exactly should we aim to live in the only habitable world in the known universe? What is the nature of the good life available to us here? What can prosperity <a href="http://www.cusp.ac.uk">possibly mean</a> for a promiscuous species on a finite planet?</p>
<p>The question is almost as old as the hills. But the contemporary answer to it is paralysingly narrow. Cast in the garb of late capitalism, prosperity has been captured by the ideology of “growth at all costs”: an insistence that more is always better. Despite <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jq23mSDh9U">overwhelming evidence</a> that relentless expansion is undermining nature and driving us towards a devastating climate emergency, the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMrtLsQbaok">fairytales of eternal growth</a>” still reign supreme.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of people sit in forest near bonfire." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412110/original/file-20210720-13-1b4b1fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shouldn’t humanity focus on shoring up the good life on Earth before we race off into space?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/fDostElVhN8">Tegan Mierle/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Zero gravity</h2>
<p>It’s an ironic twist in the tale of the debate society kid I used to be that I’ve spent most of my professional life confronting those fairytales of growth. Don’t ask me how that happened. By accident mostly.</p>
<p>I toyed with the idea of studying astrophysics. But I ended up studying Maths at Cambridge, where I confess to being baffled by the complexity of it all, until I realised that even math is just a trick. Quite literally a formula. Believe in it and you can travel to the stars and back. In your mind, at least.</p>
<p>And there I was wandering around in zero G, when I woke up one day (in April 1986) to find that the Number four reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine had suffered a catastrophic meltdown. I suddenly realised that the very same skills I’d spent my life developing were leading humanity not towards the stars but away from the paradise we already inhabit.</p>
<p>So yes. I changed my mind. The next day I walked into the Greenpeace office in London and asked what I could do to help. They set me working on the <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/renewable-energy/jackson/978-1-4832-5695-5">economics of renewable energy</a> I became, accidentally, an economist. (Economics needs more accidental economists.) And that’s when it began to dawn on me that learning how to live well on this fragile planet is far more important than dreaming about the next one. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/virgin-galactic-and-blue-origin-can-they-be-more-than-space-joyrides-for-millionaires-164513">Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin: can they be more than 'space' joyrides for millionaires?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Mine is bigger than yours</h2>
<p>Not so the space race billionaires. A handful of unbelievably powerful men, whose wealth has <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2021/04/30/american-billionaires-have-gotten-12-trillion-richer-during-the-pandemic/">exploded</a> massively throughout the pandemic, are now busy trying to persuade us that the future lies not here on Earth but out there among the stars. </p>
<p>Tesla founder and serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk is one of these new rocket men. “Those who attack space,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1414782972474048516">tweeted</a> recently, “maybe don’t realise that space represents hope for so many people”. That may be true of course in a world where huge inequalities of wealth and privilege strip hope from the lives of billions of people. But, as the spouse of a Nasa flight controller pointed out, it obscures the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/07/07/no-billionaires-wont-escape-to-space-while-the-world-burns/?fbclid=IwAR3Hzv3TGOuflDjlSatFJQN0_nastGp1MCqP-AOU0PJrUQWtHIMxNcP-BEM">extraordinary demands</a> of escaping from Mother Earth, in terms of energy materials, people and time. </p>
<p>Undeterred, the rocket men gaze starward. If resources are the problem, then space must be the answer. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is pretty explicit about his own expansionary vision. “We can have a trillion humans in the solar system,” <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/jeff-bezos-foresees-trillion-people-living-millions-space-colonies-here-ncna1006036">he once declared</a>. “Which means we’d have a thousand Mozarts and a thousand Einsteins. This would be an incredible civilisation.”</p>
<p>Bezos and Musk have spent their lockdown contesting the top two places on the Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">rich list</a>. They’ve also been playing “mine is bigger than yours” in their own private space race for a couple of decades now. Bezos’s personal wealth <a href="https://inequality.org/great-divide/updates-billionaire-pandemic/">almost doubled</a> during the course of a pandemic that destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions. He’s now stepping down to spend more time on Blue Origin, the company he hopes will deliver vast human colonies across the solar system.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.spacex.com/mission/">declared aim</a> of Musk’s rival company, SpaceX, is “to make humanity multiplanetary”. Just like <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/our-greatest-political-novelist">Kim Stanley Robinson</a>’s science fiction <a href="https://space.nss.org/book-review-red-mars/">trilogy</a> back in the 1990s, Musk aims to establish a <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-drops-details-for-spacexs-million-person-mars-mega-colony/">permanent human colony</a> on Mars. To get there, he reasons, we need very big rockets – or, in the original terminology of SpaceX, Big Fucking Rockets (<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/19/18-new-details-about-elon-musks-redesigned-moon-bound-big-fing-rocket/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJd2kjzq4ZnY7YFIEcz1ZTmBPm7MmuQ_2wfNs9erxRMlo4qDio6p9lDkDY7I00A3KvMN5ZKZkkkxZB_ldqttJgYIGM2a4zE5NLSWLYRZMI11-1xbvn31Q6uJBOOn11q5oVbllHCYDhH3ygdBFbWUXOu2H2tXqDsVhtsvMKEe5s_w">BFRs</a>) – eventually capable of transporting scores of people and hundreds of tonnes of equipment millions of miles across the solar system.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BniF_Vl2w20?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>The BFRs have now given way to a series of (more sedately named) Starships. And to prove his green credentials Musk desperately wants these <a href="https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/starship/">starships</a> to be reusable. So much so that SpaceX conspired to blow up four consecutive Starship prototypes in quick succession during the first four months of 2021 trying unsuccessfully to re-land them.</p>
<p>Move fast and break things is the Silicon Valley motto of course. But eventually you’ve got to bring the goods home. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/6/the-starship-has-landed-spacex-nails-reusable-craft-touchdown">Starship SN15</a> finally achieved that on May 5 – three weeks after SpaceX had landed a massive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/science/spacex-moon-nasa.html">US$2.9 billion</a> contract from Nasa, nudging Blue Origin into the space race shadows.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/space-tourism-rockets-emit-100-times-more-co-per-passenger-than-flights-imagine-a-whole-industry-164601">Space tourism: rockets emit 100 times more CO₂ per passenger than flights – imagine a whole industry</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Not wanting to be outdone, Bezos came up with what he must have hoped was the ultimate comeback. When Blue Origin’s <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/">New Shepard</a> rocket – which is also reusable – made its first manned space flight on July 20, he and his brother Mark would be two of the first few passengers on board. Wow, Jeff! Kudos man! Now you really show us your <em>cojones</em>! Nobody likes coming second. Least of all the most powerful people on the planet.</p>
<p>But sometimes you get no choice. Out of the blue, without so much as a by-your-leave, Virgin boss, Richard Branson swooped in to steal everyone’s thunder. On July 11, nine days before Bezos’s big day, Branson became the first ever billionaire to <a href="https://theconversation.com/virgin-galactic-space-tourism-takes-off-with-bransons-inaugural-flight-164142">launch himself into space</a>.</p>
<p>And for a cool US$250,000, he promised us, you too can be one of Virgin Galactic’s 600 or so breathless customers, waiting to enjoy three or four weightless minutes gazing back in rapture at the planet you’ve left behind. Apparently, Musk has <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/12/22573850/elon-musk-richard-branson-spaceplane-virgin-galactic">already signed up</a>. Bezos doesn’t need to. He’s made his own <a href="https://www.space.com/news/live/blue-origin-jeff-bezos-launch-updates">virgin space flight</a> now. </p>
<h2>Prosperity as health</h2>
<p>The space rhetoric of the super-rich betrays a mentality that may once have served humanity well. Some would say it’s a quintessential feature of capitalism. Innovation upon innovation. A driving ambition to expand and explore. A primal urge to escape our origins and reach for the next horizon. Space travel is a natural extension of our <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/10/can-we-have-prosperity-without-growth">obsession with economic growth</a>. It’s the crowning jewel of capitalism. Further and faster is its frontier creed. </p>
<p>I’ve spent much of my professional life as a critic of that creed, not just for environmental reasons but on social grounds as well. The seven years I spent as economics commissioner on the UK’s <a href="http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/">Sustainable Development Commission</a> and my subsequent research at the <a href="http://www.cusp.ac.uk">Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity</a> revealed something fundamental about our aspirations for the good life. Something that has been underlined by the experience of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Prosperity is as much about health as it is about wealth. Ask people what matters most in their lives and the chances are that this will come out somewhere near the top of the list. Health for themselves. Health for their friends and their families. Health too – sometimes – for the fragile planet on which we live and on whose health we ourselves depend. </p>
<p>There’s something fascinating in this idea. Because it confronts the obsession with growth head on. As Aristotle pointed out in <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html">Nicomachean Ethics</a> (a book named after his physician father), the good life is not a relentless search for more, but a continual process of finding a “virtuous” balance between too little and too much.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three people cross a rope bridge against mountain backdrop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411647/original/file-20210716-17-1msba3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prosperity requires a balancing act, not a race to the stars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tourist-walks-on-rope-suspension-bridge-1999042511">JuliaStar/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Population health provides an obvious example of this idea. Too little food and we’re struggling with diseases of malnutrition. Too much and we’re tipped into the “diseases of affluence” that <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight">now kill more people</a> than under-nutrition does. Good health depends on us finding and nurturing this balance. </p>
<p>This task is always tricky of course, even at the individual level. Just think about the challenge of keeping your exercise, your diet and your appetites in line with the outcome of a healthy body weight. But as <a href="https://www.timjackson.org.uk/postgrowth">I’ve argued</a>, living inside a system that has its sights continually focused on more makes the task near impossible. Obesity has tripled since 1975. Almost two-fifths of adults over 18 are overweight. Capitalism not only fails to recognise the point where balance lies. It has absolutely no idea how to stop when it gets there.</p>
<p>You’d think our brush with mortality through the pandemic would have brought some of this home to us. You’d think it would give us pause for thought about what really matters to us: the kind of world we want for our children; the kind of society we want to live in. And for many people it has. In a survey carried out during lockdown in the UK, <a href="https://www.thersa.org/press/releases/2019/brits-see-cleaner-air-stronger-social-bonds-and-changing-food-habits-amid-lockdown">85% of respondents</a> found something in their changed conditions they felt worth keeping and fewer than 10% wanted a complete return to normal. </p>
<p>When life and health are at stake, the ungodly scramble for wealth and status feels less and less attractive. Even the lure of technology pales. Family, conviviality and a sense of purpose come to the fore. These are the things that many people found they lacked most throughout the pandemic. But their importance in our lives was not a COVID accident: they are the most fundamental elements of a sustainable prosperity.</p>
<h2>The denial of death</h2>
<p>Something even more surprising has <a href="https://timjackson.org.uk/consumerism-theodicy/">emerged</a> during my three decades of research. Behind consumer capitalism, behind the frontier mentality, beyond the urge to expand forever lies a deep-seated and pervasive anxiety. </p>
<p>What does day two look like, Bezos once <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTwXS2H_iJo&ab_channel=AmazonNews">asked a crowd</a> of the faithful, referring to his famous maxim about the need to innovate. “Day two is stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by excruciatingly painful decline, followed by death,” he said. “And that. Is why. It is always. Day one!” His audience loved it.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fTwXS2H_iJo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Musk plays out his own inner demons just as disarmingly. “I’m not trying to be anyone’s saviour,” <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/elon_musk_the_future_we_re_building_and_boring/transcript?language=en">he once told</a> TED’s head curator, Chris Anderton. “I’m just trying to think about the future – and not be sad.” Again, the applause was deafening.</p>
<p>A well-trained therapist could have a field day with all of this. Take that miraculous day a few weeks after the Perseverance rover started sending home the most amazing selfies in the universe, when the Ingenuity helicopter made its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQMTo0KuN5M">virgin flight</a> in the wafer thin atmosphere of Mars. It was the kind of outcome that could have intelligence agencies drooling over far less benign uses of the technology. But there was also something pretty existential going on.</p>
<p>The faint whispering of the Martian wind, relayed faithfully across the solar system, doesn’t just confirm the possibilities for aerial flight on an alien planet. It’s grist to the mill of an essential belief that human beings are endlessly creative and fiendishly clever.</p>
<p>Our visceral response to these momentary triumphs speaks to a branch of psychology called <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/terror-management-theory">terror management theory</a> drawn from the work of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker. It was explored in particular in his astonishing 1973 book <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Denial_of_Death/jyqGDwAAQBAJ">The Denial of Death</a>. In it, Becker argues that modern society has lost its way, precisely because we’ve become terrified of confronting the inevitability of our own demise.</p>
<p>Terror management theory tells us that, when mortality becomes “salient”, instead of addressing the underlying fear, we turn for comfort to the things which make us feel good. Capitalism itself is a massive comfort blanket, designed to help us never confront the mortality that awaits us all. So too are the dreams of the rocket men.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Placards at an environmental protest, one of which reads 'capitalism is killing us'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411283/original/file-20210714-25-euky4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Capitalism is killing us’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brisbane-queensland-australia-october-11-2019-1609351117">Alex Bee/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond lockdown</h2>
<p>When Sputnik kickstarted the first “space race” six decades ago, a US newspaper headline called it “one step toward [our] escape from imprisonment to the Earth”. Arendt read those words with astonishment. She saw there a deep-seated “<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Human_Condition/bGlwDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hannah%20arendt%20'rebellion%20against%20human%20existence'&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover&bsq=hannah%20arendt%20'rebellion%20against%20human%20existence'">rebellion against human existence</a>”. It isn’t just the pandemic that locks us down, the implication is. It’s the entire human condition.</p>
<p>The anxiety we feel is nothing new. The choice between confronting our fears and running away from them has always been a profound one. It’s exactly the choice we’re facing now. As vaccine roll-out brings a glimmer of light at the end of COVID-19, the temptation to rush into wild escapism is massive.</p>
<p>But for all its glamour, the “final frontier” is at best an amusement and at worst a fatal distraction from the urgent task of rebuilding a society ravaged by social injustice, climate change and a loss of faith in the future.</p>
<p>With most of us still reeling from what the World Health Organisation has called a <a href="https://theconversation.com/domestic-abuse-and-mental-ill-health-twin-shadow-pandemics-stalk-the-second-wave-148412">shadow pandemic</a> in mental health, any kind of escape plan at all looks remarkably like paradise. And emigrating to Mars is one hell of an escape plan.</p>
<p>Let’s dream of some “final frontier” by all means. But let’s focus our minds too on some quintessentially earthly priorities. Affordable healthcare. Decent homes for the poorest in society. A solid education for our kids. Reversing the decades-long precarity in the livelihoods of the frontline workers – the ones who saved our lives. Regenerating the devastating loss of the natural world. Replacing a frenetic consumerism with an economy of care and relationship and meaning.</p>
<p>Never have these things made so much sense to so many. Never has there been a better time to turn them into a reality. Not just for the handful of billionaires dreaming of unbridled wealth on the red planet, but for the eight billion mere mortals living out their far less brazen dreams on the blue one.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-world-a-history-of-how-a-silent-cosmos-led-humans-to-fear-the-worst-120193?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">The end of the world: a history of how a silent cosmos led humans to fear the worst</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-were-in-a-real-time-laboratory-of-a-more-sustainable-urban-future-135712?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Coronavirus: we’re in a real-time laboratory of a more sustainable urban future</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Jackson receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>
Now is not the time for rocket men to abandon spaceship Earth.
Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160887
2021-06-22T09:46:17Z
2021-06-22T09:46:17Z
Flesh-eating bugs: new research shows how carrion beetles turn death into life
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400638/original/file-20210513-17-11uqbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A female burying beetle caring for her brood. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Oliver Krueger</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was Halloween and the discussion had inevitably turned to death – and flesh-eating zombies. I had just finished lunch at a “research away day” when I got caught up in a conversation about carrion beetles with a new colleague of mine, Sheena Cotter.</p>
<p>The carrion beetles (also known as burying beetles or sexton beetles), which Sheena researches, are masters of death: they breed in the dead carcass of a mouse or a bird and, together with their larval brood, reduce it to bones and skin in a very short time. Then, a new cohort of beetles disperse. I confess the thought of dead corpses stuffed with creepy crawlies was initially repellent to me (especially just after lunch) but back then I really didn’t know much about the incredible biology of these beetles. Over the next few months my feelings changed. </p>
<p>I study soil. Most people, including fellow biologists, basically see soil as a place of death – full of dead plants and animals, which eventually decompose into pieces. But I see soil very differently: as a very thin, breathing skin of the planet, full of myriad different, beautiful forms of <a href="https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/soil-biodiversity">invisible life</a> – an ecosystem that enables life to reform from death. Carrion beetles and soil are similar in the way they sit at this interface between the living and the dead. Sheena and I had more in common than I initially thought.</p>
<p>She studies how these beetles use their immune systems to defend themselves against parasites and diseases. Parasites are fascinating. For example, there’s the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/zombie-ants-meet-the-parasitic-fungi-that-take-control-of-living-insects-118489">zombie fungi</a>” that burrow into the brains of ants and manipulate their behaviour, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-parasite-a-crickets-nightmares-are-made-of-19364">hairworms</a> that make their host leap into water just before the hairworm emerges. Carrion beetles have to contend with nematodes, tiny worms which climb up through the beetle’s orifice, delivering a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19575559/">deadly bacteria</a> that turns its insides into a nutritious soup that the nematodes can breed in.</p>
<p>But Sheena is particularly interested in how the beetles defend their babies and the carcass they are feeding on against soil microbes. Soil microbes are microscopic forms of life (mostly bacteria and fungi) that live in soil. She and her team <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19627394/">have found</a> that the beetle parents produce antimicrobial substances called lysozymes in their secretions. The production of these substances only starts when parents find a carcass. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Composite image of tiny insects and other fauna – shown in yellow – on dark backgrounds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401907/original/file-20210520-13-9ukq4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of tiny soil fauna that live in soil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Marco Ilardi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was of great interest to me because people who study soil generally concentrate on how soil microbes interact with plants, rather than animals. In the last two decades we have started to appreciate how important soil and plants are to our life and to the climate. But there is much more going on here. If carrion beetles were having a significant impact on the soil then this would represent a large blind spot in our understanding of it. </p>
<p>Sheena’s focus, meanwhile, had always been on the beetles. She hadn’t considered how these antimicrobial secretions might have effects beyond the carcass and in the soil itself. It became clear that by looking at the impact of carrion beetles and a dead carcass on the underlying soil, we might reveal a new driver of ecosystem functioning. So we decided to collaborate. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13849">We discovered</a> that the beetle may be playing a vital role in stabilising soil biology, which is essential if the soil system is to act as a carbon sink and help reduce atmospheric carbon emissions.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<h2>Life, death and soil</h2>
<p>These blind spots are important because more than <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CB1928EN/">a quarter</a> of all Earth’s biodiversity lives in soil. These organisms (bacteria, fungi, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/42/3/293/4855940">protists</a> and tiny invertebrates) are responsible for breaking down dead organisms and controlling the cycling of chemical elements through ecosystems. This is essential to life on this planet. With no life in soil, nutrients would move through the soil very slowly. Plants could not grow well and we would have little food.</p>
<p>The recycling of nutrients into the soil from leaf litter and dung has been <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/CB1928EN/">well studied</a>. Forensic scientists have also <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2307/1934999#:%7E:text=A%20carrion%20study%20of%20the,decay%2C%20dry%2C%20and%20remains.">carefully studied</a> the stages of decomposition of larger animals by insects and microbes.</p>
<p>But what happens to small mammals and birds has rarely been considered, despite being vastly more numerous. They are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03192458">often</a> scavenged or eaten by predators and so removed from the system, to be returned as dung. A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/een.12341">recent study</a> in the US found that during spring and summer, up to 75% of all small mammal carcasses are secured by carrion beetles.</p>
<p>We have little knowledge of how carrion beetles change the way nutrients are recycled or the effects they have on the animals and microbes living in the soil. This matters. As we soon discovered, carrion beetles have profound effects on soil and soil is central to how an entire ecosystem works, meaning that the beetle is central to that ecosystem. This is actually very surprising, given the long term focus on the relationship between plants and soil. And it may also have long term consequences on how entire ecosystems work, including the climate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and orange beetle on mossy background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401912/original/file-20210520-23-so0j3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The burying, or carrion beetle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burying-beetle-nicrophorus-investigator-parasites-extreme-36743212">Henrik Larsson/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sheena and I wanted to focus exactly on the impact that the breeding cycle of carrion beetles has on soil organisms. If carrion beetles find a carcass and start breeding in it, they get rid of it in a few days, rather than the many weeks it would take when they are not breeding. Surely, this must affect what happens in the soil? </p>
<h2>The carrion beetle</h2>
<p>Carrion beetles, or <em>Nicrophorus_spp</em>, (there are several species) are very particular insects: in order to reproduce they need to find and bury a small mouse or bird carcass. This is a Herculean task. The beetle can smell death from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-009-0545-6">several kilometres away</a> and once a carcass has been located it needs to be secured – it is a rich prize. At just over 1cm in length, a pair of beetles can bury a 30g mouse in matter of hours by excavating the soil underneath it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A dead mouse lies partially submerged in soil, with a beetle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401908/original/file-20210520-15-w1g6uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The carrion beetle, <em>Nicrophorus vespilloides</em>, burying the mouse carcass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Sheena Cotter</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once the carcass has been interred in its crypt, the mother and father strip it of fur or feathers, roll the remaining flesh into a ball and smear it with antimicrobial secretions to prevent bacteria and fungi from attacking it or their brood. The beetles also cover the carcass with their own gut microbes, which help to digest the carcass, prevent decomposition by soil microbes and <a href="https://theconversation.com/beetle-parents-manipulate-information-broadcast-from-bacteria-in-a-rotting-corpse-151447">change the scent</a> of the carcass so that it stops attracting competitors such as flies and other beetles.</p>
<p>Preparing for a new family is a big job but the parents take regular breaks from the carcass to mate. The female will then lay her eggs in the surrounding soil. Two days after carrion beetles secure the carcass, it is ready to host its new family. The parents bite a hole in the skin and on the third day to encourage the newly hatched larvae inside to feed. The beetles are excellent parents. Not only do they prepare and maintain the carcass for their babies, they also regurgitate food for them for the first few days after they hatch. </p>
<p>The mother stays with her brood until they have completely consumed the carcass and the father leaves a few days earlier (unless he has been widowed, in which case he will care for the babies alone). In around a week, the babies reduce a dead mouse to bones and hair. At this point the family parts ways. The remaining parent emerges from the crypt and flies away to feed, and hopefully find a new carcass. The babies burrow into the soil to pupate, emerging as adults three weeks later.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and orange beetle in soil amongst larvae." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401910/original/file-20210520-17-1g61rab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A beetle parent and its offspring.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Oliver Krueger</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The carcass of a dead animal is very nutritious, with a much higher proportion of digestible proteins than those found in plants. The decomposition of the carcass, whether by beetles or soil microbes, returns many of these nutrients to the soil. </p>
<p>If there weren’t any beetles there, this would happen all the same – bacteria, fungi and other insects would ensure this. But if a burying beetle breeds in the carcass, decomposition occurs underground. The carcass also disappears much more rapidly (one or two weeks versus <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6269/158">several weeks</a> with microbial decomposition alone) and so the entire timing and whereabouts of nutrients in the soil is completely altered. </p>
<p>The week-long breeding cycle of the carrion beetles works like a very precise clock, with precise intervals of time at which <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12047">very specific events happen</a>. We realised that this offered a fantastic opportunity and by studying this process in detail, we would be able to analyse the soil in a fairly unique way.</p>
<p>Soil is very difficult to predict and therefore to study. Two handfuls of soil collected one beside the other can contain very different amounts of organisms, different species and can also differ substantially in terms of basic properties, such as soil water, pH and how much organic matter it contains. And we know very little about how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.08.005">soil changes over time</a>. But these changes are important, especially if we want to know how biodiversity responds to extreme disturbance such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0112">drought and flood</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View of trees in desertified landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401917/original/file-20210520-13-19r2mcd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Understanding soil processes in more depth will allow us to better combat soil erosion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soil-erosion-due-overgrazing-leading-desertification-86740003">Dirk Ercken/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carrion beetles produce antibiotics to protect the carcass and their brood at the beginning of the breeding cycle. This means the activity of things like bacteria and fungi in soil are blocked at known points in time. If we could show that the release of the antibiotics correlated with a change in microbes, animals and organic matter, we would have shown that the carrion beetle is a key driver of how matter – and so molecules like CO<sub>2</sub> – moves through the ecosystem.</p>
<h2>Light-powered plants and carbon</h2>
<p>Soil ecologists like myself have mostly focused on plants because the vast majority of materials in the soil are of plant origin. This material, which we call organic matter, literally fuels soil life. </p>
<p>Consider a huge oak tree. It once was just a little acorn. It then became a seedling, then a tiny sapling, then a young tree, and eventually the majestic oak in front of you. So where did the biomass of this oak tree come from? It all started from that little acorn. The most obvious hypothesis is that it comes from the soil. Already in the 17th century, scientists <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zq8s2nb/revision/4">performed experiments</a> to test this. But it doesn’t. It actually comes from the air. </p>
<p>A tree is mostly carbon and water plus a bunch of other vital but much less abundant elements. Photosynthesis powers plants, bringing carbon from the atmosphere to the plant and fixing carbon into the organic materials that make up much of the biomass of plants and, eventually, all other organisms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Old oak tree in meadow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401916/original/file-20210520-19-1amigbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bulk of a tree’s biomass comes from the air around it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-oak-tree-english-meadow-577672450">Allen Paul Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Eventually, plants die and their biomass ends up in the soil. Meanwhile, organisms living in the soil eat this biomass in the process known as decomposition. Some of this carbon is re-released back into the air through the process of respiration. But a good portion of it resides in the soil for a long time, thus becoming sequestered. There is debate about whether this carbon is incorporated in a chemically stable form of organic matter, which is the classical theory or, rather, becomes <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16069">protected from decomposition</a> thanks to various ecological processes, which is the emerging view. </p>
<p>But the key point is that we need soil to be – on balance – a net sink of greenhouse gases such as CO<sub>2</sub>. Emissions of greenhouse gases from soil should be lower than what is trapped in the soil organic matter. This is a critical component of the climate crisis. And the big problem is that, due to human activities, soils may be becoming a global net <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/soil-carbon-storage-84223790/">source of greenhouse gases</a> to the atmosphere, rather than a sink.</p>
<p>There is very little knowledge of how the input of nutrients and organic matter from animal carcasses may affect soil, and therefore the cycles that connect soil to the global climate. That is why we were particularly excited by the possible results of our experiment. If we could demonstrate that carrion beetles change soil organisms and soil basic properties, the implications for the balance of ecosystems would be very important.</p>
<h2>Testing the idea</h2>
<p>To test our ideas, first we needed live soil, replete with all of its bacteria, fungi and invertebrates. We collected fresh soil from an oak woodland in Northern Ireland, in the same habitat that carrion beetles inhabit. We then created three sorts of microcosms in plastic boxes in the lab, with multiple replicates of each type. </p>
<p>The first contained only soil. The second contained a mouse carcass and soil, and the third, a mouse carcass, soil and a pair of beetles. We stored our mini-ecosystems in a cupboard so that the beetles could breed in the dark. At specified times, we took samples of soil so that it could be analysed. We measured the abundance and type of some of the most important soil animals, the biomass of bacteria and fungi, and the soil organic matter and pH. We took these samples according to the strict timetable of the carrion beetles’ breeding pattern, so that we could see how the beetles’ activity affected the soil and how it differed from the mouse carcass which didn’t have any carrion beetles present. </p>
<p>That was the easy part. Our colleague Marco Ilardi, a PhD candidate also involved in the research, then spent the next year identifying and quantifying all the tiny animals retrieved from the experiment. He focused on what biologists call microarthropods: “micro” because they are a maximum of one or two millimetres long and “arthropods” which denotes that they have jointed legs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close-up picture of tiny insects and other fauna – shown in yellow – on a dark background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401902/original/file-20210520-23-1j9467h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sample of soil fauna from the experiment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Marco Ilardi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These include springtails (very close relatives of insects) and other arthropods such as mites that feed on fungi and bacteria and predatory mites that feed on other small animals. These animals are very important: their feeding activities affect how nutrients move through the soil. Marco had to count tens of thousands of these microscopic animals.</p>
<p>We needed to measure the fungi and bacteria. In soil, fungi and bacteria are arguably the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01139.x">most important microbes</a> because of their biomass and biological diversity and their ecological links to plants and the decomposition of organic matter. Edith Hammer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/edith-hammer-1217269">a soil ecologist at the University of Lund</a>, helped us with this. She is an expert in quantifying the biomass of microbes in soil. This is not an easy job as there is so much stuff in the soil and it is not easy to separate the various components. But it was vital that we measured how many microbes were present. If beetles produce antibiotics, these must have a negative effect on bacteria and fungi in soil. </p>
<p>We also needed to quantify basic soil properties, especially pH and organic matter, which we did with the help of Gillian Riddell, <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/gillian-riddell">a senior research technician at Queens’s University Belfast</a>.</p>
<p>It took just over two weeks to run the actual experiment but over three years to measure everything we needed to from a few kilograms of soil. Three years of research to understand two weeks of carrion beetle life and its impacts on the soil.</p>
<h2>Soil protectors</h2>
<p>Our work paid off. We found that the beetle causes profound changes in the abundance of some important groups of soil animals but also in bacteria and fungi. The beetle also changed the amount of organic matter in the soil over time and caused important changes in pH. </p>
<p>Our initial hunch was correct. All these changes are timed by the key steps of the breeding cycle of the burying beetle. This implies that the beetle temporarily slows down decomposition in the soil while accelerating the dismantling of the carcass, with release of nutrients to soil.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and orange beetle on a twig" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401922/original/file-20210520-13-es8mwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A little creature with a big impact.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sexton-beetles-burying-beetle-673313146">poidl/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Surprisingly, extra input of fresh organic matter and nutrients to soil can <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00579.x">accelerate decomposition</a> of the organic matter already present in the soil, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.12475">which also depends on the availability of elements like nitrogen</a>. Accelerated decomposition of soil organic matter may increase release of gas to the atmosphere. </p>
<p>We did not measure decomposition rates, but the carrion beetle definitely acted as a damper, slowing down soil biology despite the fresh input from the carcass. And so, it is very likely the beetle also reduced the decomposition of soil organic matter that the carcass alone may cause in the long term. For example, when the beetle produces antibiotics, microbes in the surrounding soil drop, and so microbial decomposition must drop. When the beetle stops producing them, the microbes go up again. </p>
<p>Also, when the beetle was not there, we observed a net average reduction of soil organic matter at the end of the experiment, after an initial increase. With our data we could not calculate a complete carbon balance, and so our conclusions remain speculative in terms of whether the soil became a source or a sink of carbon. But it is a fact that carrion beetles facilitated the decomposition of the carcass and kept the biological composition of the soil very similar to what we observed in fresh soil from the same forest. This did not happen with the carcass alone. </p>
<p>Our interpretation is that the beetle stabilised the soil biology, despite the presence of the carcass. <a href="https://soilsecurity.org/controls-on-the-stability-of-soils/">Stability</a> is essential because if the soil system is biologically stable it will most likely act as a carbon sink and certainly will not increase short-term emissions from consumption of soil organic matter, despite the fast decomposition of the carcass. </p>
<p>One carcass and one carrion beetle breeding pair with their brood may seem insignificant. But hundreds or thousands of them scattered across a forest can make an enormous difference in terms of how fast elements like carbon move between soil and the atmosphere. And the beetles we studied, and many others related to it, are very abundant in nature. Our study shows that this beetle is a key driver of soil biology. The implication is that the beetle to some extent controls ecosystem respiration and nutrient cycling by controlling soil biology.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Misty woodland view." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401924/original/file-20210520-23-12x4j9l.jpg?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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Next time you’re in a woodland, consider the beetle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/BwGb554mrU8">David Gabrić/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I am out in the field, collecting soil for my studies, one of my greatest pleasures is the smell. Many would agree: it’s that good smell of leaves and rain, the aromatic flavours of a walk in a forest on a sunny spring day. You probably don’t associate that nice soil smell with death. But it’s only thanks to animals like burying beetles that you don’t smell the death. </p>
<p>Biologists think a lot about how we can define life, in general. But we don’t really think about the definition of death. Lifeforms like carrion beetles and soil organisms are telling us all the time that death is just a tiny step in the cycle of life. If creepy-crawlies and carrion insects are the ghouls and zombies of the natural world, it’s time to listen to what they have to tell us.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/wasps-why-i-love-them-and-why-you-should-too-155982?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Wasps: why I love them, and why you should too</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/there-arent-enough-trees-in-the-world-to-offset-societys-carbon-emissions-and-there-never-will-be-158181?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-a-hidden-world-of-fungi-inside-the-worlds-biggest-seed-bank-156051?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How we discovered a hidden world of fungi inside the world’s biggest seed bank</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tancredi Caruso was funded by FP7-PEOPLE, grant EC FP7 - 631399 - SENSE</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheena Cotter was funded by a NERC Research Fellowship (NE/H014225/2) during this study. </span></em></p>
Carrion beetles help stabilise the biology of the soil they live in.
Tancredi Caruso, Associate Professor, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/158552
2021-05-25T23:01:54Z
2021-05-25T23:01:54Z
Can’t face running? Have a hot bath or a sauna – research shows they offer some similar benefits
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397796/original/file-20210429-22-6mq5sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/couples-feet-hot-tub-jacuzzi-spa-1008686569">N K/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I study the effects of exercise on the body. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that when I’m not in the lab, I like to keep active by hitting the gym or going for a run. But for many people it’s much harder to get out and move their bodies. Modern life doesn’t always make it easy to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. </p>
<p>Yet even for someone like me, exercise isn’t always enjoyable. I have to repeatedly push myself to the point of tiredness and discomfort, in the hope that I will get fitter and stay healthy. Surely the health benefits of a hot bath or a stint in a sauna – a far more attractive proposition – can’t be compared? Yet this is the question I have dedicated myself to answering. And the evidence, thus far, is promising.</p>
<p>The term “exercise is medicine” is rightfully well publicised. It’s one of the best ways to stay healthy, yet medicine doesn’t work if you aren’t prepared to take it. Exercise adherence is very poor, with many people unwilling to exercise due to lack of time and motivation. And for those who are older or have chronic diseases, exercise can also cause pain, which for obvious reasons limits exercise further.</p>
<p>Globally, about <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity">25% of adults</a> don’t meet the minimum recommended physical activity levels of 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week, or a combination of both. In the UK the figures are even worse, with around <a href="http://healthsurvey.hscic.gov.uk/media/63730/HSE16-Adult-phy-act.pdf">34% of men and 42% of women</a> not achieving these guidelines. Sadly, such high levels of sedentary behaviour are thought to be linked to about <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30910857/">11.6%</a> of UK deaths annually. </p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>In a world where many of us are working nine-to-five office jobs and our daily tasks can be completed by a mere click of a button, it’s easy to see why the modernisation of societies have led to higher levels of sedentary behaviour. There is an urgent need to find alternative strategies to improve health that people are willing to follow. </p>
<p>In an effort to find such a solution, I’m looking into how hot baths and saunas affect the body. Throughout human history, multiple cultures around the world have used heat therapy to improve health. But until recently, the benefits of bathing were anecdotal and largely viewed as unscientific. However, in the last few decades evidence has been growing and today we know that regular bathing in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-saunas-really-are-good-for-your-health-87055">sauna</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-hot-bath-has-benefits-similar-to-exercise-74600">hot tub</a> can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease – and may well have wider health benefits too.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People bathe in a steaming lake." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398641/original/file-20210504-19-iie4mc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Iceland is one culture with a rich history of bathing in the country’s hot spring lakes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/reykjahilio-18-july-tourist-jardbodin-lagoon-124390819">Doin/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Our recent <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/japplphysiol.00608.2020">review</a> of the research found that regular sauna or hot tub bathing can indeed bring about some similar health benefits to that of low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging and cycling. On first glance, comparing a hot bath or sauna to a jog might seem illogical – after all, the former tends to be seen as relaxing and the latter tiring – but they are more similar than you may think.</p>
<p>The next time you are in a hot tub, bath or sauna, take a moment to listen to your body. You will initially be hit by a pleasant sensation of heat that increases your body temperature and you will start to feel hot and sweaty. This is accompanied by a subtle elevation in heart rate. Starting to sound familiar? Yes – these bodily responses take place during exercise too. </p>
<p>As part of a group of researchers at Coventry University, I’ve compared the similarities and differences between the physiological responses of exercise and heating. In order to do this, I ask volunteers to undergo the same duration of hot tub bathing and moderate intensity cycling. While exercise is more adept at increasing energy expenditure, we have found comparable elevations in core body temperature and heart rate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man hooked up to medical equipment sits in hot tub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398634/original/file-20210504-19-4q81we.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Measuring heart rate, energy expenditure through gas exchange and artery blood flow via ultrasound.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Charles Steward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The similarities also go beyond what you can physically feel. By doing ultrasound scans of the arteries, I also observe similar increases in blood flow.</p>
<p>Importantly, away from the lab, long-term observational studies have demonstrated that the application of heat at rest, or what academics like to call “passive heating”, has the potential to be pleasurable, practical and potent at <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2130724">improving health</a>. </p>
<p>But as the old saying goes, when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Before you contemplate cancelling your gym membership and investing the savings in a Jacuzzi, know that regular saunas or baths are unable to replicate all the health benefits of exercise training, such as promoting fat loss and increasing muscle mass. Using hot baths or saunas shouldn’t be considered as a substitute for exercise. But it can mimic some of the health benefits – and we think that when used in conjunction with exercise, it can give rise to greater health.</p>
<h2>From Japan to Rome</h2>
<p>Sitting and sweating in hot bodies of water or hot steamy rooms is an activity that has been at the centre of multiple cultures across the globe for millennia. </p>
<p>The Romans, for example, are famous for their love of hot baths. Bathing in their neighbourhood thermae – the communal baths – were considered a relaxing social activity. Other similar practices have occurred all over the world. These include the likes of <a href="https://livejapan.com/en/article-a0002861/"><em>onsen</em></a> (hot spring) bathing, which is a central part of Japanese culture, and <a href="https://www.koreatravelpost.com/guide-to-jjimjilbang-in-korea/"><em>jjimjilbang</em></a> (public bathhouses) that are common in South Korea. In your standard hot tub, such bathing tends to involve being submerged up to your shoulder in hot water at around 38-40°C for anywhere up to 60 minutes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man sits in a milky pool of hot water underneath autumn foliage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398642/original/file-20210504-19-1b1yjca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man enjoys the hot spring at Nyuto Onsen, Tohoku, Japan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-young-asian-traveler-enjoy-soaking-1241606770">Burin P/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditional dry saunas are a popular pastime in many Nordic countries, and have been for centuries. Originally fuelled by wood burning fires and more commonly now with electrical heating elements, these are usually heated to 70-110°C with a humidity between 5-20%. Nowadays, higher humidity levels are often achieved by pouring water over heated stones. Heating bouts are normally between 5-30 minutes and are usually separated by a short cold shower, before repeating the process. Incredibly, there are around <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24328773">3 million</a> saunas in Finland alone, a country of <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/finland-population/">5.5 million</a> people.</p>
<p>All of these cultures – and the many other historic and current cultures for which bathing is popular – extol the health benefits of these practises. And we now know they have been right all along. The benefits are not only restricted to physical health: heat therapy can also act as an <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2521478">antidepressant</a>. In this regard, the social aspect of group bathing is likely to be important. </p>
<p>The thought of stripping off one’s clothes and bathing or sweating in close proximity to several strangers may not be everyone’s cup of tea, yet in countries where saunas or hot baths are integrated within daily life, the general public appear to be reaping the benefits. </p>
<p>In the first long-term observational study of its kind, in middle-aged Finnish men, it was found that sauna bathing frequency was associated with a decreased risk of fatal cardiovascular disease. Those who participated in four to seven sauna sessions per week had an astonishing <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2130724">50% reduction</a> in the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease when compared to those who went once a week. The same study also showed that sauna attendance was associated with a significant decreased in the risk of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/46/2/245/2654230">dementia and Alzeimher’s disease</a>. It’s not such a surprise that the Finns refer to saunas as “the poor man’s pharmacy”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two older people sitting in wooden sauna, eyes closed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398643/original/file-20210504-21-18on8ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enjoying the heat in a traditional Finnish sauna.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/couple-seniors-sweating-together-sauna-hotel-1625226238">Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-saunas-really-are-good-for-your-health-87055">Why saunas really are good for your health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Meanwhile, researchers from Japan have shown that higher frequencies of habitual hot tub bathing <a href="https://heart.bmj.com/content/heartjnl/106/10/732.full.pdf">have protective effects</a> against fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events.</p>
<p>While these long-term observational studies illustrate a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease through regular heat exposures, it’s worth flagging that they only show a relationship. In other words, we cannot definitively prove whether heat protects us against cardiovascular disease or if it’s some other factor that has positively changed over the years, such as diet or activity levels. </p>
<p>Yet on the basis that cardiovascular disease is primarily caused by diseases of the artery, it’s probable that improvements in blood vessel health – which we now know occurs with regular heat therapy – <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6459390/">is a large reason</a> for the reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease.</p>
<h2>Harnessing heat for health</h2>
<p>To explore why this is the case, let’s take a deeper look at some of the physiological responses and long-term health benefits that can occur through elevations in body temperature.</p>
<p>When your temperature begins to rise, you must find a way to lose excess heat in order to regulate body temperature. One of the principal mechanisms that facilitates heat dissipation from the body is an increase in blood flow to your skin, which is in part supported by the vasodilation (widening) of your arteries and capillaries. This elevation in blood flow, which I measure through ultrasound scans, also <a href="https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1113/JP276559">promotes the production</a> of various molecules in the blood that help cell growth, repair and protection of your blood vessels.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white ultrasound images showing blood flow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401385/original/file-20210518-17-1b23bl7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ultrasound images showing the blood flow velocity in the common carotid artery of the neck before and immediately after hot tub bathing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Charles Steward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the basic physiological responses of saunas and hot baths are similar, they are not identical. The biggest difference is that hot baths have the added influence of hydrostatic pressure – the force exerted by the water. This assists in the return of blood to your heart. Albeit not proven yet, it has been <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/japplphysiol.00141.2020">speculated</a> that this could make hot tub therapy advantageous over sauna for improving cardiovascular health.</p>
<p>The earliest lab-based research into the health benefits of heat therapy took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One of the first studies <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8683432/">revealed</a> that both sauna and hot water bathing, once or twice per day, five times per week, over four weeks, enhanced the function and wall structure of the heart in patients with chronic heart failure.</p>
<p>Other research conducted at a similar time looked at infrared saunas that, contrary to traditional saunas, use radiation to heat you from the inside out at a temperature of 50-60°C, typically without humidity. In addition to benefits for the heart, it was found that four weeks of sauna use <a href="https://www.onlinejcf.com/article/S1071-9164(05)00108-9/references">improved blood pressure</a>, exercise tolerance, fitness levels and reduced hospital admissions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B8FI4wMFMLl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Meanwhile, research into daily hot tub therapy for three weeks <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10498473/">was shown</a> to lower blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is important because having high blood sugar for excessive periods of time can cause serious damage to your blood vessels. Although this early research did have methodological limitations, such as the lack of standardised heating protocols, it has inspired much of today’s work. </p>
<p>More recently, numerous studies guided by Chris Minson at the University of Oregon have started to highlight some of the mechanisms by which hot tub therapy can keep us healthy. In these studies, the core body temperatures of participants were increased by around 1.5°C for 60 minutes by sitting in water at 40.5°C. This was then repeated three to five times per week, over eight to ten weeks. </p>
<p>Following this period, improvements in artery health and blood pressure were observed in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27270841/">sedentary healthy adults</a> and obese women with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31483156/">polycystic ovary syndrome</a>. The team also reported reductions in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31136202/">a range of factors</a> related to cardiovascular disease risk, such as fasting glucose (levels of circulating blood sugar after an overnight fast), total cholesterol (overall levels of circulating blood fats) and chronic low-grade inflammation (small but long-term rise in immune cells) in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three friends in a hot tub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398647/original/file-20210504-14-10rrk18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the hot tub in the winter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/los-angelescaliforniausa-05232018-people-jacuzzi-1441434839">Monic Zrivoic/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These findings indicate that hot tub therapy can benefit both diseased and healthy populations in a variety of different ways.</p>
<h2>How safe is it?</h2>
<p>Before you hop in the tub and try to recreate this, I want to point out that the water temperatures and lengths of time mentioned above are not representative of your everyday bath. In your conventional bath tub, the temperature will gradually drop. Accordingly, when using my hot tub in the lab, I must carefully monitor my volunteers for safety reasons: I measure their core body temperature (using a rectal thermometer), blood pressure and constantly check in with how comfortable they are with the heat of the water.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Man stands on balance scales next to hot tub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398636/original/file-20210504-17-1p3gmuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assessing balance before bathing to compare with balance immediately after.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Charles Steward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Anyone who has sat in a hot tub or sauna for a bit too long probably already knows why I do this. On standing, heat exposure can lead to dizziness, a loss of balance and increase the risk of fainting. This is caused by a phenomenon called orthostatic hypotension, where a combination of the widening of the blood vessels caused by the heat, and a change in the posture of your body (such as going from sitting to standing), results in a large drop in blood pressure and a decrease in blood flow to your brain. This can, unsurprisingly, be dangerous.</p>
<p>It’s also worth mentioning that you can often become dehydrated as you continuously sweat. This can contribute to feeling what is often described as a “heat hangover”, with an accompanying headache and fatigue, that people may be familiar with. So it’s sensible to always drink plenty of water and if you start feeling light headed, get out of your bath or sauna slowly.</p>
<p>But the health benefits don’t solely depend on maintaining high core body temperatures. So your run-of-the-mill hot bath might still do the trick. Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University have demonstrated that when core body temperature was only increased by around 0.6°C and repeated three times per week for six weeks, the growth of new blood vessels, increases in insulin sensitivity (more effective use of blood glucose) and improvements in fitness <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpheart.00816.2018">still occured</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman reads in home bathtub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398648/original/file-20210504-23-1b0bln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You don’t need a sauna or a Jacuzzi to reap the benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/PwX0aCrppSM">Ava Sol/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is thought to be linked to an increase in blood flow to your skin, which is not reliant on attaining a high core temperature. The elevation in blood flow results in an increase in the frictional force between the blood and the inside of your blood vessel walls. This triggers the release of molecules into the bloodstream. When this response is repeated over months, these molecules <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31286027/">assist</a> in the formation of new blood vessels and repair damaged ones. This can help lower blood pressure as well as increase oxygen and glucose delivery to the muscle, which collectively can reduce cardiovascular disease risk and improve fitness.</p>
<p>While we are a far cry from being able to recommend an ideal heat therapy to improve health, it’s possible that only a fortnight of regular hot tub therapy may lower your <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00407.2018">fasting blood glucose</a> (levels of circulating blood sugar after an overnight fast). Improvements in blood vessel health, meanwhile, seem to require <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27270841/">a couple of months</a>. </p>
<h2>Heat therapy vs exercise</h2>
<p>Although highly dependent on the magnitude of the exercise and heating stimulus, <a href="https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/publications/the-health-benefits-of-passive-heating-and-aerobic-exercise-to-wh">our recent review</a> found that both exercise and heat therapy can promote cardiovascular health by comparable improvements in fitness, blood vessel health, blood pressure and glucose levels. Promisingly, there are also some encouraging signs for similar improvements in cardiac function and wall structure, as well as chronic low-grade inflammation in diseased populations. </p>
<p>Protection against fatal cardiovascular disease is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07853890.2017.1387927">further increased</a> in those who regularly exercise <em>and</em> frequently bathe in contrast to either independently. Meaning that doing both exercise and heating is likely the best option.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sauna in a gym with sea view." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398649/original/file-20210504-18-iei3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If your local gym has a sauna, combine the exercise and the heat treatment for further benefit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sauna-fitness-room-sea-view-traditional-1668855124">Karnavalfoto/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is partially due to the energy expenditure of a single hot tub session typically being <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28944271/">markedly lower</a> than exercise. We know that long term weight management is essentially dependent on expending more energy than you take in, this means that just using saunas or hot tubs is not going to help much if your aim is to lose weight. </p>
<p>On top of this, sitting in a bath or sauna obviously doesn’t require physical movement. As such, your muscles don’t need to contract, and your bones aren’t stressed by the ground reaction forces from walking or running. It is therefore likely that heat is inferior at improving muscle mass and bone density which are really important aspects of health especially as you age.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the most exciting prospect of this research is for people who are unable to exercise, or those who find it very hard to start. When someone is unable to exercise, heat therapy – whether in hot tubs or saunas – could be viewed as a “gateway therapy” to future exercise participation. This is because heat <a href="https://www.onlinejcf.com/article/S1071-9164(05)00108-9/references">can increase</a> fitness and functional capacity.</p>
<p>It’s therefore also a promising method for those that suffer pain during exercise due to chronic diseases. A good example is peripheral artery disease, where the arteries in the legs become blocked by fatty deposits. This causes a lack of blood flow to the muscle and severe pain. Because heating increases blood flow, heat can have therapeutic potential here. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Diagram showing health functions that improve with bathing/exercise." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=304&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398637/original/file-20210504-18-mz34x2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=382&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 comparison between exercise and heat treatment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Charles Steward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hot tub bathing after exercise</h2>
<p>Physical inactivity is a major culprit driving the progression of chronic diseases and ultimately premature death worldwide. Many people don’t meet the recommended physical activity guidelines, but on the bright side <a href="http://healthsurvey.hscic.gov.uk/media/63730/HSE16-Adult-phy-act.pdf">20-40%</a> take part in some form of structured exercise or physical activity in their weekly routines. Just not enough. Therefore, maximising the health benefits from smaller amounts of exercise could be of great value.</p>
<p>I’m currently investigating whether post exercise hot tub bathing can extend and intensify the health benefits of exercise. My pilot data is promising. In the future I will be taking more invasive measurements, such as blood samples, to look into whether heating after exercise can increase the number of circulating molecules that have a role in enhancing blood vessel health. Although my research is still in its early stages, we think it’s probably best to try and maintain the increase in body temperature after exercise in order to optimise health benefits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Line graph showing heart rate (green) and temperature (red)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398638/original/file-20210504-15-1sfkore.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=434&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 line graph showing core temperature and heart rate responses to 30 minutes of moderate intensity cycling followed by 30 minutes of hot tub bathing (40°C), separated by a 15 minute rest period.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Charles Steward</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So if jumping into a hot bath after exercise can bring about greater health benefits, post-exercise heating would also be an attractive option for anyone who isn’t quite active enough.</p>
<h2>The future of heat research</h2>
<p>Research into the health benefits of heat is in its infancy. More long-term clinical trials in a range of healthy and diseased populations are needed before we can start to fully understand how to harness its full potential. This will enable us to start establishing the most effective temperatures, durations, frequencies and types of heating to improve specific health pointers for particular groups of people. </p>
<p>To date, a large number of heating studies have pushed participants to the point of thermal discomfort to promote health. Reaching such high temperatures for long lengths of time are challenging to tolerate and impractical in real-world scenarios. Given that long-term adherence will underpin any lasting health benefits, finding heat therapies that are practical, tolerable and capable of improving health will be key. Directing research towards more convenient and enjoyable types of heating will ensure better uptake. And once all of this work has been done, I hope that healthcare practitioners may one day recommend the use of heat independently and alongside exercise to enhance health.</p>
<p>So while exercise remains the best way to improve your health, research shows that bathing in a sauna or hot tub are alternative options for those who are either unwilling or unable to take part in enough exercise. I will certainly continue to jump in my bath after the gym – and on my days off. Why not dip a toe in?</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/each-burning-pyre-is-an-unspeakable-screeching-horror-one-researcher-on-the-frontline-of-indias-covid-crisis-160055?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘Each burning pyre is an unspeakable, screeching horror’ – one researcher on the frontline of India’s COVID crisis</a></em></p></li>
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<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>
Using hot baths or saunas shouldn’t be considered as a substitute for exercise. But they can mimic some of the health benefits.
Charles James Steward, PhD Candidate, Coventry University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/158331
2021-05-10T13:22:33Z
2021-05-10T13:22:33Z
I went from regular TV commentator on COVID to long COVID sufferer in just a few months
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398861/original/file-20210505-17-nnmsba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C4473%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nathalie MacDermott</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I first heard about the novel coronavirus on New Year’s Eve, 2019 – although the virus was yet to be identified. ProMed, an organisation that sends alerts on disease outbreaks worldwide, sent an urgent request for information about four patients in Wuhan, China, who were being treated for “<a href="https://promedmail.org/promed-post/?id=20191230.6864153">pneumonia of unknown cause</a>”. The media soon got wind of the story, and from then until the end of February, I spent most of my time being interviewed. </p>
<p>From my previous experience of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the cholera epidemic in Haiti, I learned that one of the most important things about managing an outbreak is keeping people calm and ensuring they have accurate information on which they can take action to protect themselves and their families.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1223182970141454337"}"></div></p>
<p>As an infectious diseases specialist, I was frequently invited to talk about the new virus on the BBC, Sky, ITV, Al Jazeera and Channel 4 – doing several interviews a day at times. It was all a bit of a blur, but there was one interview that really stuck with me. It was for Radio 4 in late January 2020, and I was on a panel with two other experts. At the end of the session, the presenter asked if we were concerned about the ongoing situation, which at that point was still mostly in China. One of the panellists said they weren’t remotely concerned. The other said they were a bit concerned, but mostly for their elderly relatives.</p>
<p>I remember thinking: I’m pretty concerned, but I don’t feel like I can say it because two people more senior than me said they’re not concerned. So I also said that I was concerned for my elderly relatives, who would appear to be more susceptible to this virus, but added that I was also quite concerned that the NHS could become overwhelmed. I often recall that interview and think, wow, if we knew then what we know now.</p>
<p>And on a personal level, if <em>I</em> knew then what I know now. I would never have imagined that in just a few months I would be suffering from the debilitating effects of long COVID. </p>
<h2>A new disease is born</h2>
<p>Not long after the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a <a href="https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020">pandemic</a> in March 2020, people started sharing stories on social media of persistent COVID symptoms – long after their supposed recovery from the disease. </p>
<p>Elisa Perego, an archaeologist at University College London, is believed to have <a href="https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/10/01/why-we-need-to-keep-using-the-patient-made-term-long-covid/">coined the term “long COVID”</a> on May 20 2020 when she used it as a hashtag on Twitter. Scientists didn’t waste any time in coming up with more complex names: post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), post COVID-19 syndrome. But long COVID remains the term that most people use. </p>
<p>The name says it all: it’s COVID-related symptoms that go on for a very long time in some people. And the list of symptoms is long, too: tiredness, headaches, shortness of breath, loss of smell, muscle weakness, fever, racing heart and brain fog, to name a few.</p>
<p>My symptoms are mostly neurological and seem to be related to damage to my spinal cord. </p>
<h2>Personal protective equipment</h2>
<p>I was infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at the hospital in London I was working at. When I saw how easily it was spreading and the limited personal protective equipment (PPE) we had, it felt inevitable that I would get it.</p>
<p>Most of my colleagues came to similar conclusions about themselves. But, because we were relatively young, fit and healthy, we assumed it would be a bit like bad flu – and we would get over it. </p>
<p>We did everything we could to protect ourselves, but it’s apparent now that healthcare workers weren’t protected to the extent they could have been. PPE alone isn’t enough to protect people. </p>
<p>The evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 can be spread <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00869-2/fulltext">by the airborne route</a>, and touching infected surfaces and objects <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4">doesn’t play as big a part</a> in spreading the disease as was initially thought. But when you haven’t got the infrastructure to suddenly change all the ventilation systems in a hospital or increase the size of communal areas, then PPE is what it comes down to.</p>
<p>The level of PPE that workers wear makes a difference. We’ve seen that healthcare workers on intensive care wards are <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/hospital-covid-19-risk-lowest-among-intensive-care-staff/">far less likely to get COVID</a> than healthcare workers on regular COVID wards. Because people on regular COVID wards don’t carry out procedures that can result in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/covid-19-infection-prevention-and-control-guidance-aerosol-generating-procedures">release of airborne particles</a> (aerosols) from the respiratory tract, such as inserting or removing breathing tubes in patients, they weren’t given the same level of PPE as their intensive-care colleagues.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A patient being intubated." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396337/original/file-20210421-21-9c7w5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Intubating and extubating patients creates significant aerosols.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/doctor-apply-laryngoscope-intubate-endotracheal-tube-1701637801">ChaNaWiT/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, you’ve got to protect people doing these kinds of procedures, but when you’ve got a virus that’s spreading so easily in the community outside, it’s clearly not just these procedures that put people at risk. It’s being close to people who are talking, laughing, coughing, sneezing. I’m a paediatrician, so my patients often scream and cry when I go near them – not because I’m a bad paediatrician; it’s just the way that kids tend to react when a doctor comes near them, especially one wearing a mask.</p>
<h2>First time</h2>
<p>I’m fairly certain about when I first caught COVID. In March 2020, coronavirus was spreading among the senior team at the hospital I was working at. It pretty rapidly spread down through the consultants to more junior members of the teams.</p>
<p>I was in a small office with a colleague one day when she mentioned that two of the consultants she’d done ward rounds with had tested positive for COVID that week. Neither of us was wearing a mask. At that stage, we only wore a mask when looking after patients on the wards. </p>
<p>That afternoon, my colleague mentioned that she had a sore throat. The following day she tested positive for COVID. Two days later, on March 30, I started to get chills and flu-like symptoms. The rest of the symptoms kicked in the following day.</p>
<p>I was signed off from work and slept solidly for the next five days. After I recovered, I was still a bit breathless, but I returned to work. </p>
<p>I was working on the COVID ward because we were starting to see lots of cases of what is now referred to as <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2023158">multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children</a> – a life-threatening immune reaction to a COVID infection. I picked up my second COVID infection in late May – probably from the ward.</p>
<p>I had almost the same illness again, but slightly milder and without the breathlessness. But there was a new development: I started to get nerve pain in my feet. </p>
<p>At the time, I had a lot of joint and muscle pain, so I assumed it was part of that. After a couple of weeks, all my symptoms settled, but the pain in my feet continued. It was like walking barefoot on a pebble beach. Sometimes it’s OK, although a bit uncomfortable, but now and then you hit a really sharp stone that digs into your foot and makes you go ouch. That’s when I realised I wasn’t able to walk as well as I usually did.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person walking barefoot on a pebble beach." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396334/original/file-20210421-19-cd4928.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Like walking barefoot on a pebble beach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/crop-girl-bare-tanned-legs-walking-1405304753">Irina Polonina/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After a couple of weeks of nerve pain in my feet and difficulty walking, I had spasms at night, in my legs first and later in my arms. It was a strange experience. </p>
<p>All of these long COVID symptoms were neurological. The neuropathic pain and the problems with walking are related to damage to my spinal cord that appears to have been caused by the virus.</p>
<h2>Spine damage</h2>
<p>It was quite difficult to get referred locally, but <a href="https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/143/10/3104/5868408">I read a journal paper</a> that had just been published on neurological symptoms in people with COVID who’d been hospitalised. I took a note of one of the authors’ names: a consultant neurologist called Mike Zandi.</p>
<p>I contacted Dr Zandi at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen’s Square, London, and asked him if he knew of anyone running clinics for people who hadn’t been hospitalised with COVID but had ongoing neurological problems. He said he didn’t, but he’d be glad to see me.</p>
<p>My scans were normal, but a nerve conduction test showed damage to the small nerves in the skin (small fibre neuropathy). And my reflexes were not normal.</p>
<p>During a reflex test, a doctor taps your tendons with a reflex hammer that makes your muscles contract. If your muscles contract more strongly than normal, you are said to have brisk reflexes. Several things can cause brisk reflexes, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and spinal injury. </p>
<p>In September 2020, my symptoms deteriorated. Pain suddenly emerged in my back, in the lumbar region (lower back), but also in my cervical spine (neck area). From that point on, I couldn’t walk more than 200 metres. My bladder and bowel were also affected.</p>
<p>I meet the definition of having myelopathy (damage to the spinal cord), but it’s not clear exactly what kind of damage or what is causing it.</p>
<p>Post-viral problems usually resolve with time, and I’m still hopeful that things will improve, but the further I get from the date of my initial illness, the less likely it seems.</p>
<p>I’ve had physiotherapy, but because things haven’t improved, my doctor is starting to talk about other treatments. However, because they can’t see anything going on in my spinal cord, it’s unclear what to try.</p>
<h2>So much we still don’t know</h2>
<p>Despite amazing advances in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 over the past year and a bit, there is still a lot we don’t understand about this virus and the long-term damage it does. </p>
<p>Our understanding of long COVID comes mostly from clinical surveys of people who’ve been hospitalised. However, a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2776560">recent study</a> showed that a third of people with long COVID weren’t hospitalised with the disease. Researchers are starting to investigate community cases of long COVID now, but there haven’t been any big studies yet. </p>
<p>We need to know if people with long COVID who were hospitalised have the same pathology as those who weren’t hospitalised. For example, we know that many people hospitalised with COVID experience an inflammatory response known as a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32446778/">cytokine storm</a>, which could precipitate many of the problems they experience. But did long COVID sufferers who were well enough to stay at home when they had COVID experience a similar level of cytokine storm, even if they weren’t that unwell with it? Or is it a different pathology that’s happening? </p>
<p>One interesting line of study is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00149-1">autoantibodies</a> – antibodies that attack healthy cells. A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S088915912032465X?via%3Dihub">few laboratory studies</a> have been investigating their potential role in causing neurological symptoms in patients with COVID.</p>
<p>There have also been <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.21.21249176v1">some studies</a> looking at people with long COVID and the level of different autoantibodies they have, but they’re fairly small studies and are only in preprint, so have not yet been reviewed by other scientists or published in a journal.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RZMOC0q7Al8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Yale study that looked at autoantibodies in people with long COVID.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As scientists investigate long COVID further, different subgroups of the disease are likely to be identified, each with different underlying pathology. </p>
<p>Some people with long COVID have specific organ damage, such as the spinal cord, the heart, or the lungs. Others, who have been in intensive care, have problems that are known to be associated with being in an ICU (for any reason), such as post-intensive care nerve damage, lung damage from mechanical ventilation and post-traumatic stress disorder. And then some people have problems with their autonomic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that controls a lot of our organ functions, which is causing them to have very fast heart rates and problems controlling their blood pressure when they stand up. There also seem to be people with new-onset allergies. </p>
<p>There’s probably also a group that predominantly has post-viral fatigue. This group might recover in a few months and may respond well to pacing the amount of exercise and physical and mental activity that they’re doing.</p>
<p>Some people with long COVID might fall into a few of the above categories, but we need to clearly define that. Having done that, we can then look better at the different categories in terms of pathology. And that will lead to us knowing what the better treatment options are for each group. </p>
<h2>Practical changes</h2>
<p>Answers to these questions are very important, but I can’t put everything on hold until I have them. I need to get on with my life as best I can. I’m a very practical person, so I just think: what do I need to do to get better? And what do I need to modify around my home or in my work practices that mean that I can carry on doing what I do? </p>
<p>I had a bannister put in on my stairwell. I employed a cleaner. And at the end of last year, my local neuro-rehab team brought me a stool for my shower and a frame around the toilet to help me to stand up – practical things to make life a bit easier.</p>
<p>I also plan to sell my car, because my feet can no longer control the pedals, and have a driving assessment to see what type of car I am safe to drive. </p>
<p>Once lockdown has completely lifted and we go back to a more normal way of life, it will be more apparent to me what my limitations are. At the moment, I can’t go for particularly long walks – about two-thirds of a mile – without the aid of crutches. </p>
<p>I was off sick for two to three months in the summer from my clinical job because I couldn’t walk far enough to get to and from work, or do my job on the wards. But in September I rotated back to a research post, and I was able to do that mostly from home. And now I have recently started in a clinical post, doing remote clinics. But I can’t do that forever. I need to return to clinical work on the wards to complete my clinical training at some point, so I’m starting to look into ways that will make that possible. </p>
<p>I’m one of possibly <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/prevalenceofongoingsymptomsfollowingcoronaviruscovid19infectionintheuk/1april2021">close to a million people</a> in the UK who is going to need help and support to get well and get back to work. NHS England’s £10 million commitment for post-COVID clinics is very welcome, but if you consider the potential number of people affected by long COVID, it’s not nearly enough.</p>
<p>The Office for National Statistics estimates that about <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/prevalenceofongoingsymptomsfollowingcoronaviruscovid19infectionintheuk/1april2021">10% of people infected with COVID</a> may have symptoms that last for longer than 12 weeks, and its most recent data suggests nearly 700,000 people in the UK have life-limiting symptoms beyond the 12-week mark. So we’re talking about almost 700,000 people needing some form of investigation and management, and £10 million doesn’t go very far when you try to stretch it among every NHS trust in the UK. </p>
<p>Long COVID is going to be the pandemic that follows the pandemic. Once we have more or less got on top of the acute pandemic situation, it will be with us for many, many years to come. </p>
<h2>A stitch in time</h2>
<p>Because long COVID is affecting the young to middle-aged adult working population, it directly affects people’s ability to work, the amount of disability support needed, and the amount of resources the NHS will need to diagnose and treat them. </p>
<p>If you consider the number of scans I’ve had in the last nine months and the number of courses of antibiotics for urinary tract infections related to my bladder not functioning properly (I’ve probably had more courses of antibiotics in the last eight months than I have had in the last ten years) and scale that up to nearly 700,000 people, then you can see that it’s going to be a struggle. And it’s not just going to be a burden on the health service, but on the economy as a whole. It doesn’t have to be, though, if we investigate it appropriately now and we try to manage it as promptly as possible. </p>
<p>What I’m pleased to hear is that, following the second wave, general practitioners are much more onboard about long COVID. They’re recognising it in people and diagnosing it much earlier than they did in the first wave. </p>
<p>The sooner we start treating people with appropriate drugs that work, the better. We can help them get back to work sooner and help them recover quicker. If we address it well and manage it well, it doesn’t need to become as big of a burden as it might be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathalie MacDermott receives funding from the NIHR and has previously received funding from the Wellcome Trust. </span></em></p>
Nathalie MacDermott was a regular on BBC News, Sky New and ITV. Then COVID broke out at her hospital.
Nathalie MacDermott, Academic Clinical Lecturer in Paediatrics (Infectious Diseases), King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160568
2021-05-10T12:03:30Z
2021-05-10T12:03:30Z
Why the concept of net zero is a dangerous trap – podcast
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399462/original/file-20210507-17-orrcip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C155%2C3892%2C2814&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Net zero a great idea, in principle, but not in practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smoke-steam-high-chimney-power-plant-108163007">DyziO/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This episode of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/in-depth-out-loud-podcast-46082">In Depth Out Loud podcast</a> features prominent academics, including a former IPCC chair, rounding on governments worldwide for using <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368">the concept of net zero emissions</a> to “greenwash” their lack of commitment to solving global warming.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/5e29c8205aa745a456af58c8/60991462a461284864f9bdb0?cover=true" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="110"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-563" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/563/073b078b1fc9085013377310bc6db3368fb84a13/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>You can read the text version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368">this in-depth article here</a>. The audio version is read by Les Smith in partnership with Noa, News Over Audio. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, for free, on the <a href="https://newsoveraudio.com/publishers/103?mpId=17937807d4095-03ef8e1781bb1c8-445466-1fa400-17937807d41112&embedPubName=The%20Conversation&embedPubId=103">Noa app</a>. </p>
<p>James Dyke, Senior Lecturer in Global Systems at the University of Exeter, Robert Watson, Emeritus Professor in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia and Wolfgang Knorr, Senior Research Scientist in Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science at Lund University, write about <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368">the obvious dangers</a> of the concept of net zero. </p>
<p>They argue that they’ve arrived at the painful realisation that the idea of net zero has licensed a recklessly cavalier <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368">“burn now, pay later” approach</a> which has seen carbon emissions continue to soar. It has also hastened the destruction of the natural world by increasing deforestation today, and greatly increases the risk of further devastation in the future. </p>
<p><em>The music in In Depth Out Loud is Night Caves, by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvwbOVMlp3o">Lee Rosevere</a>.</em></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>This story came out of a project at The Conversation called Insights, which is supported by Research England. You can read <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">more stories in the series here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160568/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>
The audio version of an in-depth article rounding on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to “greenwash” their lack of commitment to solving global warming.
James Dyke, Senior Lecturer in Global Systems, University of Exeter
Robert Watson, Emeritus Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Wolfgang Knorr, Senior Research Scientist, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155982
2021-04-29T01:10:30Z
2021-04-29T01:10:30Z
Wasps: why I love them, and why you should too
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395274/original/file-20210415-15-nwgb5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=649%2C728%2C1247%2C817&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/striped-dangerous-insects-wasps-flew-garden-1169544469">Bachkova Natalia/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I was lying on the jungle floor of a Malaysian rainforest with a wasp nest dangling 10cm from my nose. I had painted each wasp with a few coloured spots so that I could tell one from another. </p>
<p>I’d been watching these wasps for several weeks: I saw them being born, I saw them fight for a place in society, I saw some rise to motherhood as queen, and others fall to a life of hard labour as workers. I was here to study the unfolding of social behaviour in the insects best suited to show us – the hover wasps. This was probably the moment I got over my long-held horror of small stinging and biting insects.</p>
<p>Hover wasps live in very small societies of around five to ten individuals. They don’t chase you and they can barely sting. This makes them a good “entry-level” wasp (perhaps you’re tempted?). </p>
<p>All these individual wasps are capable of reproducing but choose instead to live in a group, where most members sacrifice personal reproduction to help raise the brood of a relative. This is the first rung of the oft-named “social ladder” of evolution. Understanding how and why group living evolves in these simplest of societies may provide critical glimpses into the evolution of more complex stages of social behaviour (as found in the yellowjacket wasps, hornets and honeybees).</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Watching my painted hover wasps gave me a unique invitation into the plot of an evolutionary soap opera: there were dominations, submissions, enforced celibacy, births, deaths. The characters were woven together by a matrix of genetic relatedness and pulled apart by temptations outside the family home. Evolution had already decided how the genetic fitness books would be balanced, and the social interactions were my clues to deciphering it. I was hooked.</p>
<p>Twenty years later, I’m still studying social evolution and behaviour, but have welcomed to my stage a broader cast of characters, including some of the most feared and impressive characters of the wasp world, from the much-maligned yellowjacket and hornets to a range of tropical paper wasps, with names that depict a devilish nature – such as <em>Polistes satan</em>.</p>
<p>Twenty years later, I am still justifying why I study wasps for a living to both friends and strangers. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why should we care about wasps?<br>
What do they do for us?<br>
Why don’t I do something more useful … like study bees?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My personal love story with wasps and their evolutionary soap operas, it seems, is not enough.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman squats in cement tunnel, ceiling covered in insects" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395085/original/file-20210414-20-ibm0vo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author, in the place she got hooked on the wonders of wasps.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Humanity has always had a rocky relationship with wasps. They are one of those insects that we love to hate. We value bees (which also sting) because they pollinate our crops and make honey. We go out of our way to “rescue” a bee from inside a window; but we don’t flinch as we slam a rolled-up magazine over a wasp in the same situation. Our prejudice against wasps is culturally engrained. It stems from our ignorance about what wasps do in ecosystems and how that is beneficial to us. </p>
<p>In 2018, an undergraduate student Georgia Law, a fellow wasp-loving colleague, Dr Alessandro Cini, and I set about finding out whether people really did hate wasps, compared with bees – and if so why. We asked members of the public to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12676">rate how they felt</a> about bees, wasps, butterflies and flies (on a scale of one to ten) and to rate how important these insects are as pollinators and predators. </p>
<p>As expected, bees and butterflies were very much loved, and both were recognised for their importance as pollinators. Flies and wasps were very much loathed, but wasps elicited stronger negative feelings of hatred and fear, while flies were merely bothersome, noisy and dirty. No real surprises there. </p>
<p>The shocking result was that no one seemed to know that wasps are important predators. We were quite surprised, especially as the very same respondents had a clear appreciation of the ecological role that bees fill as pollinators. People hate wasps because they don’t understand the important role they have in ecosystems. No wonder I am regularly asked: “What’s the point of wasps?”</p>
<p>This was a eureka moment for me. I’d been singing wasp-evangelism from the wrong hymn book. Most people don’t care about behaviour, they care about what wasps can do for them. And scientists have failed to tell them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View of hornet face on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395295/original/file-20210415-23-1t1gcq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘You got me all wrong’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/UmCsMoSaQEo">Michael Lefrancois/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond bees and butterflies</h2>
<p>To better justify conserving and managing natural resources, scientists try to define their value to us (humans) in terms of their “ecosystem services”: that is, functions or goods provided by nature that directly or indirectly support the quality of human life, and are therefore of value to society.</p>
<p>Some of these you’ll be very familiar with – like the value of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bees-how-important-are-they-and-what-would-happen-if-they-went-extinct-121272">pollination services by bees</a> without which, we’d be hand-pollinating our crops; others you may be less aware of – like the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468584417300326">value of soil</a> as a means of recycling nutrients necessary for maintaining the air we breathe and by being the literal bedrock of agriculture. </p>
<p>Insects are renowned for their contributions to ecosystem services. Correction. <em>Certain</em> insects are renowned for their contributions to ecosystem services. For example, up to 88% of flowering plants are pollinated by insects such as bees, butterflies and flies, and we can even put a price on this “service” – greater than <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/assessment-reports/pollinators">US$250 billion</a> (£180 billion) a year, worldwide. Once a price tag is attached to a natural resource, we have a reason to value it and look after it – a kind of minimum wage for nature.</p>
<p>But there are many facets of the natural world that haven’t had a price tag attached. The lack of a price tag doesn’t mean they are worthless, it just means we’ve not bothered to work out which part of mother nature’s jigsaw they belong to. At a time of heightened concern about the global status of insect populations, turning our attention to the forgotten fauna – like wasps – has never been more important. </p>
<p>In the US alone, services provided by bees through pollination and honey production are worth around <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bayer/2019/10/14/the-value-of-pollinators-to-the-ecosystem-and-our-economy/?sh=64062e817a1d">US$20 billion</a> annually. What’s the economic value of wasps? We don’t know. We know (anecdotally) that wasps eat a lot of insects, many of which may be agricultural pests. But scientists have not calculated how many tonnes of insect pests wasps remove from agricultural landscapes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black wasp on grass capturing grub." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395501/original/file-20210416-15-1g33zoh.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The paper wasp, <em>Polistes satan</em>, capturing a larva of the economically important crop pest the fall army worm, which attacks maize plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Seirian Summer</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea that wasps could have an economic value is not at all new. Early entomologists conceded the useful role of wasps in the environment, but lamented the lack of evidence. </p>
<p>In his 1868 book <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/British_Social_Wasps.html?id=iNJ23CLniqgC&redir_esc=y">British Social Wasps</a>, physician and amateur entomologist Edward Latham Ormerod acknowledges the predatory role of wasps in ecosystems, but his call to quantify their impact remains unanswered to this day: “It would be difficult to prove absolutely that wasps have a sensible influence in diminishing the number flies and other insects.” </p>
<p>He follows with what remains one of the best lines of evidence in favour of wasps as natural biocontrol agents, albeit anecdotal: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The practical result of destroying all the wasps on Sir T Brisbane’s estate was, that in two years’ time the place was infested, like Egypt, with a plague of flies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You’d have thought that after 150 years, some enterprising entomologists would have tried to replicate this experiment in a scientifically rigorous manner. Sadly not.</p>
<p>The problem is not a lack of acknowledgement of the possible importance of wasps nor a shortage of talented entomologists. Rather, it is likely to be the ingrained cultural prejudice we have against wasps. Even entomologists <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12676">shun wasp research</a> in favour working on bees or butterflies. </p>
<p>Here we can learn a lot from the success story of the bees. We have exploited the natural resources of honeybees for millennia. It’s only in the last few decades that scientists have properly turned their attention to the other 22,000 species of bees which we haven’t (yet) semi-domesticated. We are finally starting to properly understand the value and importance of ecosystem services provided by these insects, beyond that of honeybees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bee and apple blossom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395297/original/file-20210415-16-jytmam.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pollinating activities of bees are far more well known – and appreciated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/spring-flowering-apple-trees-garden-orchard-1343231537">DES82/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this spirit, for the last few years, I’ve been trying to put the value of wasps on the map. The public deserves to know how useful these insects really are. What we lacked was a comprehensive review of the evidence that wasps are in fact useful. </p>
<p>And so together with two of my fellow wasp-enthusiasts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-brock-273295">Ryan Brock</a> from UEA and <a href="http://www.alecini.it/">Alessandro Cini</a> from UCL and the University of Florence in Italy, we scoured the literature for evidence on the ecological value of wasps. Now, 500 academic papers later, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12719">we have arrived</a> at some answers. So what did we learn? Here are some highlights – and some evidence-based reasons why we are wrong to undervalue wasps.</p>
<h2>1. Nature’s pest controllers</h2>
<p>Wasps are spectacular pest controllers: <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2019.1676">over 30,000</a> species of solitary and social wasps hunt a diversity of invertebrates from bugs and spiders to roaches and flies. They are likely to be as effective at regulating the populations of these organisms as are other top predators like insectivorous birds, mammals and amphibians. And what’s more, their short lives and fast reproduction mean they can match fluctuations in prey populations closely.</p>
<p>Solitary wasps tend to be fussy about their prey, focusing their efforts on a single order, or even a single genus. For example, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp"><em>Pompylidae</em></a> only hunt spiders and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_wasp"><em>Eumeninae</em></a>
hunt mostly Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). But collectively, the solitary wasps (from across 15 families) were found to hunt prey from across 14 different arthropod orders, indicating that as a group, solitary wasps are important in maintaining balanced ecosystems. </p>
<p>Conversely, social wasps are generalists, who opportunistically cease a diverse range of prey. For example, the yellow-jacket wasps (genus <em>Vespula</em>) alone catch prey from at least 15 different orders to feed to hungry sibling larvae in their colony.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Picture of a wasp holding a fly." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395300/original/file-20210415-23-1a2glvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A <em>Vespula</em> wasp catches a fly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/focus-stacking-common-wasp-prey-671851291">Maciej Olszewski/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Why should we care about the predatory power of wasps?</p>
<p>There is now no doubt that the chemicals we use to keep our crops free of insect pests <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11356-017-0341-3">are detrimental</a> to wildlife and ecosystems. Although pesticides are designed to kill specific insect species, a wealth of research now reveals the non-lethal effects that pesticides have on non-target insects. We need to be looking for more sustainable approaches to agriculture.</p>
<p>Employing the services of natural enemies, like predatory wasps, is one such solution. Insects have a long economic history in their use as biocontrol agents of crop pests: this is valued at an estimated <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800998000196">US$417 billion</a>, and parasitoid wasps (which lay their eggs in or on insect hosts in situ, rather than moving them to a nest) feature heavily in this. But this figure almost completely overlooks the potential contributions of the hunting wasps.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/insects-might-soon-be-trained-to-protect-our-crops-123237">Insects might soon be trained to protect our crops</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As specialist predators, solitary wasps have great potential as biocontrol agents. Surprisingly, only four species of solitary wasps are commercially available for biological control (the most well-known is the Emerald jewel wasp, <em>Ampulex compressa</em>, which is famous for <a href="https://theconversation.com/parasitic-wasp-turns-roaches-into-zombie-slaves-using-neurotoxic-cocktail-27602">zombiefying cockroaches</a>). Introductions of solitary wasps to non-native regions have not been very successful, possibly because their life histories are not understood well enough. </p>
<p>A more successful approach may be to exploit local species, and especially social species. Over 100 years ago, colonists in the West Indies toyed with the idea of using social wasps on plantations, reporting anecdotally that crops appeared to be less plagued by pests and there was less need for pesticides when wasp populations were encouraged. But apart from a handful of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ee/article-abstract/13/1/150/2480303">mid-20th century studies</a> and some encouraging <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/7/192">opinion articles</a>, the suggestive potential for using social wasps in biocontrol has largely been forgotten. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bright green wasp on sandy ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395301/original/file-20210415-20-13111h1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The jewel wasp (Ampulex compressa) is one of the few wasps actively used as biocontrol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/image-jewel-wasp-emerald-cockroach-ampulex-1054698374">Yod67/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Together with some enterprising Brazilians, we provided some tantalising evidence for the biocontrol promise of social wasps a couple of years ago. <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2019.1676">We showed</a> that levels of crop damage and pest populations of the fall army worm (a pest of maize, which causes billions of dollars in crop yield losses every year) were significantly reduced when wasps were allowed to access them.</p>
<h2>2. Wasps are pollinators</h2>
<p>A whopping <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01018.x">75%</a> of human-cultivated crops are partly dependent on insects for pollination. So it’s not surprising that insect pollination services are estimated to be worth over US$235billion a year <a href="https://www.ipbes.net/assessment-reports/pollinators">worldwide</a>. That’s 9.5% of the value of world agricultural production.</p>
<p>Although wasps hunt prey to feed to growing offspring, the adult hunters are herbivores, just like bees, who visit flowers for carbohydrates in the form of sugar. Much of the year adult social wasps are fed by their larvae, which provide the adults with a nutritious sugar solution in return for the meat they are fed. It’s only when larvae numbers are low (in spring and late summer) that you’re likely to see social wasps visiting flowers. You’ll see solitary wasps, on the other hand, on flowers throughout the year because they don’t benefit from the larval nutrition that their social cousins enjoy.</p>
<p>Some plants are completely reliant on wasps for pollination; we counted 164 plant species across six families. Most of these are orchids which have evolved to mimic female wasp pheromones – some even look like the back end of a female wasp. Males of the <em>Scoliidae</em> and <em>Thynnidae</em> are duped into copulating with a sexy-looking orchid, during which pollen is attached to him and transferred to another flower as he flits from one sexy deceptor to the next.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Orchid on a black background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395302/original/file-20210415-13-1135ttl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Australian warty hammer orchid, which are pollinated by male thynnine wasps, which believe that the flowers are female wasps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flower-drakaea-livida-warty-hammer-orchid-1634377177">Anjahennern/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The vast majority of wasp-plant interactions are, however, non-specific. We identified 798 plant species across 106 families that were visited by wasps. The social wasps in particular appear to be extremely unfussy about what flower they will visit, so long as they can reach the nectar. </p>
<p>To date, there are no studies that allow even a rough estimate of the value of wasps as pollinators. But, given the importance of natural pollinators to our food security and the apparent declines of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08974-9">well-recognised pollinators</a> like bees and hover flies, now would be a good time to start taking wasp pollination a bit more seriously. </p>
<p>This is especially true given that some species of social wasp appear to be relatively resilient to anthropogenic change. In a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/icad.12494">recent analysis</a> of museum and contemporary biological records, we showed that populations of social wasp species had changed very little over the last 100 years. The yellowjacket wasps in particular appear to be resilient to anthropogenic challenges, like urbanisation and agriculture. Other species, like the hornet, may be more affected by pollutants and loss of habitat. </p>
<p>We need a better understanding of what life history traits make certain species resilient and others vulnerable to our changing planet in order to manage the potential pollinating power of wasps.</p>
<h2>3. Grocers and pharmacists</h2>
<p>When trying to put a value on insects, one rarely thinks beyond pollination and predation. In fact, these are only part of the services that insects, including wasps, might offer us.</p>
<p>Most obviously, wasps are quite delicious, tossed in a little chilli oil, and they’re surprisingly nutritious. Promoting <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/entomophagy-eat-insects-food-diet-save-planet-meat-cattle-deforestation-a8259991.html">entomophagy</a> – insects as food for humans – is surely the solution to sustainable food security. </p>
<p>Insects are high in protein and essential amino acids. They use less space and water, emit fewer greenhouse gases and ammonia than livestock. This means that farming them is <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153704">very efficient</a>. For example, it takes 12 times fewer resources to “rear” a gram of protein from insects compared to beef. </p>
<p>Over <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153704">2 billion people</a> around the world consume insects as part of their diet, with 109 species being eaten across 19 countries. And wasps account for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12719">4.8%</a> of all insect species eaten globally. </p>
<p>Wasp larvae have an exceptional dry protein mass (46%-81%) and provide around 70% of our required amino acids, with a low-fat content. The Japanese are especially appreciative of wasp larvae or pupae. With a market price of US$100/kg, demand is so great that sellers have to supplement their supplies with wasp nest imports from abroad. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1083162683220713473"}"></div></p>
<p>If you’re not taken by the idea of fried wasp larvae, then perhaps you might appreciate the honey stored in the nest of a honey wasp, <em>Brachygastra mellifica</em>. Or the fact that brewers’ yeast sit out the cold winter in the cosy intestines of an <a href="https://phys.org/news/2012-07-wasps-key-yeast-ability-survive.html">overwintering wasp queen</a>. When the queen wakes up in spring, the yeast hitch a ride to a nearby sugar source (remember that wasps like flowers?).</p>
<p>When we humans are not thinking about our stomachs, we’re thinking about our health. Wasps – specifically wasp venom – can help out here, too. The venom of solitary and social wasps is packed with antibiotics which keeps their prey disease-free and fresh. Larval secretions of social wasps are also rich in antimicrobials, which wasp workers smear over their bodies, brood and nest. </p>
<p>Many of these antimicrobials have <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149729">potential benefits for human health</a>. They are effective against disease-causing bacteria, and some take specific action against <em>Mycobacterium abscessuss</em>, an important multi-drug-resistant bacterium. </p>
<p>Even the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21498060/">nests of wasps hold medicinal potential</a>, with antibiotic properties effective against <em>Streptococcus mutans</em> (a bacterium associated with dental decay), <em>Actinomyces</em> and <em>Lactobacillus</em> found in the combs of social wasps like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes"><em>Polistes</em></a>. The solitary mud-dauber wasps (such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceliphron"><em>Sceliphron</em></a>) incorporate essential minerals into their clay nests, making them rich sources of magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc – pregnant women and children in parts of rural Africa feast on these “insect earths”.</p>
<p>Many of these <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/43/26936">antimicrobials</a> have potential benefits for human health. The practical potential of these buzzing medicine cabinets has yet to be picked up by the pharmaceutical world. </p>
<p>But perhaps the most exciting medical potential of wasps are the cancer-cell killing properties of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006349515007687">mastoparan</a> found in the venom of social wasps. These are a family of amphipathic peptides which preferentially target cancerous cells over healthy cells. But this too is still far from practical application.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Close up of wasp stinger with droplet of venom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395304/original/file-20210415-24-1haqa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wasp venom is a promising medical research avenue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-macro-dead-wasp-leaking-venom-1167791734">David Cardinez/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are persuasive reasons to appreciate the wasp, but are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, wasps also <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jipb.12568#:%7E:text=Hornets%20and%20ants%20provide%20complementary,dispersal%20in%20other%20myrmecochorous%20plants.">disperse seeds</a>, clean up <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1479-8298.2005.00098.x">rotting flesh</a>, and hold promise as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-020-09107-2">environmental monitoring tools</a>.</p>
<p>My love affair with wasps arose out of their fascinating behaviour. The turbulent lives of such tiny beings drew me in and seduced me. I didn’t need to know if they were of “value” to human society or how big their price-tag might be. I cared about them because their mini-dramas unfold chapters in our understanding of social evolution – one of the most perplexing and phenomenal products of the natural world. </p>
<p>Twenty years on, I get that not everyone shares this obsession and fascination. But now, I hope we’ve laid out the evidence for the potential value of wasps, from pest-control to pollination, cancer treatments to sustainable food production. Wasps matter to us. I will challenge anyone who fails to agree that wasps deserve the same attention and respect as the more beloved insects (like bees) that we openly value and protect.</p>
<p>Wasps are important facets of the natural world and have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.12719">much to offer us</a>, if we’d only take more notice.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/there-arent-enough-trees-in-the-world-to-offset-societys-carbon-emissions-and-there-never-will-be-158181?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-a-hidden-world-of-fungi-inside-the-worlds-biggest-seed-bank-156051?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How we discovered a hidden world of fungi inside the world’s biggest seed bank</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Seirian Sumner receives funding from NERC. </span></em></p>
We value bees for the jobs they do for the environment and us – why is the same not true of wasps?
Seirian Sumner, Professor of Behavioural Ecology, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157368
2021-04-22T04:25:34Z
2021-04-22T04:25:34Z
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394790/original/file-20210413-17-67x47h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1412%2C1794%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/A_AQxGz9z5I">Thijs Stoop/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sometimes realisation comes in a blinding flash. Blurred outlines snap into shape and suddenly it all makes sense. Underneath such revelations is typically a much slower-dawning process. Doubts at the back of the mind grow. The sense of confusion that things cannot be made to fit together increases until something clicks. Or perhaps snaps. </p>
<p>Collectively we three authors of this article must have spent more than 80 years thinking about climate change. Why has it taken us so long to speak out about the obvious dangers of the concept of net zero? In our defence, the premise of net zero is deceptively simple – and we admit that it deceived us. </p>
<p>The threats of climate change are the direct result of there being too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So it follows that we must stop emitting more and even remove some of it. This idea is central to the world’s current plan to avoid catastrophe. In fact, there are many suggestions as to how to actually do this, from mass tree planting, to high tech <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210310-the-trillion-dollar-plan-to-capture-co2">direct air capture</a> devices that suck out carbon dioxide from the air. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/there-arent-enough-trees-in-the-world-to-offset-societys-carbon-emissions-and-there-never-will-be-158181">There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The current consensus is that if we deploy these and other so-called “carbon dioxide removal” techniques at the same time as reducing our burning of fossil fuels, we can more rapidly halt global warming. Hopefully around the middle of this century we will achieve “net zero”. This is the point at which any residual emissions of greenhouse gases are balanced by technologies removing them from the atmosphere.</p>
<p>This is a great idea, in principle. Unfortunately, in practice it helps perpetuate a belief in <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-a-brief-history-of-climate-targets-and-technological-promises">technological salvation</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2d96502f-c34d-4150-aa36-9dc16ffdcad2">diminishes</a> the sense of urgency surrounding the need to curb emissions now. </p>
<p>We have arrived at the painful realisation that the idea of net zero has licensed a recklessly cavalier “burn now, pay later” approach which has seen carbon emissions continue to soar. It has also hastened the destruction of the natural world by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/14/carbon-neutrality-is-a-fairy-tale-how-the-race-for-renewables-is-burning-europes-forests">increasing deforestation</a> today, and greatly increases the risk of further devastation in the future. </p>
<p>To understand how this has happened, how humanity has gambled its civilisation on no more than promises of future solutions, we must return to the late 1980s, when climate change broke out onto the international stage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394546/original/file-20210412-17-1o9nrlq.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">
<figcaption>
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<h2>Steps towards net zero</h2>
<p>On June 22 1988, James Hansen was the administrator of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a prestigious appointment but someone largely unknown outside of academia.</p>
<p>By the afternoon of the 23rd he was well on the way to becoming the world’s most famous climate scientist. This was as a direct result of his <a href="https://www.sealevel.info/1988_Hansen_Senate_Testimony.html">testimony to the US congress</a>, when he forensically presented the evidence that the Earth’s climate was warming and that humans were the primary cause: “The greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now.”</p>
<p>If we had acted on Hansen’s testimony at the time, we would have been able to decarbonise our societies at a rate of around 2% a year in order to give us about a two-in-three chance of limiting warming to no more than 1.5°C. It would have been a huge challenge, but the main task at that time would have been to simply stop the accelerating use of fossil fuels while fairly sharing out future emissions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Alt text" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392826/original/file-20210331-15-4x9q0r.png?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">Graph demonstrating how fast mitigation has to happen to keep to 1.5°C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://folk.universitetetioslo.no/roberan/img/GCB2018/PNG/s00_2018_Mitigation_Curves_1.5C.png">© Robbie Andrew</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Four years later, there were glimmers of hope that this would be possible. During the 1992 <a href="https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992">Earth Summit in Rio</a>, all nations agreed to stabilise concentrations of greenhouse gases to ensure that they did not produce dangerous interference with the climate. The 1997 Kyoto Summit attempted to start to put that goal into practice. But as the years passed, the initial task of keeping us safe became increasingly harder given the continual increase in fossil fuel use. </p>
<p>It was around that time that the first computer models linking greenhouse gas emissions to impacts on different sectors of the economy were developed. These hybrid climate-economic models are known as <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199363445/obo-9780199363445-0043.xml">Integrated Assessment Models</a>. They allowed modellers to link economic activity to the climate by, for example, exploring how changes in investments and technology could lead to changes in greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>They seemed like a miracle: you could try out policies on a computer screen before implementing them, saving humanity costly experimentation. They rapidly emerged to become key guidance for climate policy. A primacy they maintain to this day. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, they also removed the need for deep critical thinking. Such models represent society as a web of idealised, <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-how-integrated-assessment-models-are-used-to-study-climate-change">emotionless buyers and sellers</a> and thus ignore complex social and political realities, or even the impacts of climate change itself. Their implicit promise is that market-based approaches will always work. This meant that discussions about policies were limited to those most convenient to politicians: incremental changes to legislation and taxes.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is a collaboration between Conversation Insights and Apple News editors</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Around the time they were first developed, efforts were being made to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121031094826/http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/content/climate-regime-hague-marrakech-saving-or-sinking-kyoto-protocol">secure US action on the climate</a> by allowing it to count carbon sinks of the country’s forests. The US argued that if it managed its forests well, it would be able to store a large amount of carbon in trees and soil which should be subtracted from its obligations to limit the burning of coal, oil and gas. In the end, the US largely got its way. Ironically, the concessions were all in vain, since the US senate never <a href="https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2016/4/failures-of-kyoto-will-repeat-with-the-paris-climate-agreement">ratified the agreement</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Aerial view of autumn foliage." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393132/original/file-20210401-15-x0hygb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forests such as this one in Maine, US, were suddenly counted in the carbon budget as an incentive for the US to join the Kyoto Agreement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/autumn-foliage-maine-forest-brilliant-red-694925377">Inbound Horizons/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Postulating a future with more trees could in effect offset the burning of coal, oil and gas now. As models could easily churn out numbers that saw atmospheric carbon dioxide go as low as one wanted, ever more sophisticated scenarios could be explored which reduced the perceived urgency to reduce fossil fuel use. By including carbon sinks in climate-economic models, a Pandora’s box had been opened.</p>
<p>It’s here we find the genesis of today’s net zero policies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393117/original/file-20210401-13-puplc5.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">
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<p>That said, most attention in the mid-1990s was focused on increasing energy efficiency and energy switching (such as the UK’s move from <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a05d1dd4-dddd-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc">coal to gas</a>) and the potential of nuclear energy to deliver large amounts of carbon-free electricity. The hope was that such innovations would quickly reverse increases in fossil fuel emissions. </p>
<p>But by around the turn of the new millennium it was clear that such hopes were unfounded. Given their core assumption of incremental change, it was becoming more and more difficult for economic-climate models to find viable pathways to avoid dangerous climate change. In response, the models began to include more and more examples of <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-carbon-capture-and-storage-16052">carbon capture and storage</a>, a technology that could remove the carbon dioxide from coal-fired power stations and then store the captured carbon deep underground indefinitely.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.zeroco2.no/projects/val-verde-natural-gas-plants">had been shown</a> to be possible in principle: compressed carbon dioxide had been separated from fossil gas and then injected underground in a number of projects since the 1970s. These <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/can-co2-eor-really-provide-carbon-negative-oil">Enhanced Oil Recovery schemes</a> were designed to force gases into oil wells in order to push oil towards drilling rigs and so allow more to be recovered – oil that would later be burnt, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Carbon capture and storage offered the twist that instead of using the carbon dioxide to extract more oil, the gas would instead be left underground and removed from the atmosphere. This promised breakthrough technology would allow <a href="https://oneill.indiana.edu/doc/research/coal_barnes.pdf">climate friendly coal</a> and so the continued use of this fossil fuel. But long before the world would witness any such schemes, the hypothetical process had been included in climate-economic models. In the end, the mere prospect of carbon capture and storage gave policy makers a way out of making the much needed cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<h2>The rise of net zero</h2>
<p>When the international climate change community convened in <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/conferences/past-conferences/copenhagen-climate-change-conference-december-2009/copenhagen-climate-change-conference-december-2009">Copenhagen in 2009</a> it was clear that carbon capture and storage was not going to be sufficient for two reasons. </p>
<p>First, it still did not exist. There were <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20761-uks-carbon-capture-failure-is-part-of-a-global-trend/">no carbon capture and storage facilities</a> in operation on any coal fired power station and no prospect the technology was going to have any impact on rising emissions from increased coal use in the foreseeable future. </p>
<p>The biggest barrier to implementation was essentially cost. The motivation to burn vast amounts of coal is to generate relatively cheap electricity. Retrofitting carbon scrubbers on existing power stations, building the infrastructure to pipe captured carbon, and developing suitable geological storage sites required huge sums of money. Consequently the only application of carbon capture in actual operation then – and now – is to use the trapped gas in enhanced oil recovery schemes. Beyond a <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/projects/sask-power-boundary/">single demonstrator</a>, there has never been any capture of carbon dioxide from a coal fired power station chimney with that captured carbon then being stored underground.</p>
<p>Just as important, by 2009 it was becoming increasingly clear that it would not be possible to make even the gradual reductions that policy makers demanded. That was the case even if carbon capture and storage was up and running. The amount of carbon dioxide that was being pumped into the air each year meant humanity was rapidly running out of time. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1206090200725606400"}"></div></p>
<p>With hopes for a solution to the climate crisis fading again, another magic bullet was required. A technology was needed not only to slow down the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but actually reverse it. In response, the climate-economic modelling community – already able to include plant-based carbon sinks and geological carbon storage in their models – increasingly adopted the “solution” of combining the two.</p>
<p>So it was that Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage, or <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/beccs-the-story-of-climate-changes-saviour-technology">BECCS</a>, rapidly emerged as the new saviour technology. By burning “replaceable” biomass such as wood, crops, and agricultural waste instead of coal in power stations, and then capturing the carbon dioxide from the power station chimney and storing it underground, BECCS could produce electricity at the same time as removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. That’s because as biomass such as trees grow, they suck in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By planting trees and other bioenergy crops and storing carbon dioxide released when they are burnt, more carbon could be removed from the atmosphere.</p>
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<p>With this new solution in hand the international community regrouped from repeated failures to mount another attempt at reining in our dangerous interference with the climate. The scene was set for the crucial 2015 climate conference in Paris.</p>
<h2>A Parisian false dawn</h2>
<p>As its general secretary brought the 21st United Nations conference on climate change to an end, a great roar issued from the crowd. People leaped to their feet, strangers embraced, tears welled up in eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. </p>
<p>The emotions on display on December 13, 2015 were not just for the cameras. After weeks of gruelling high-level negotiations in Paris a breakthrough had finally <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">been achieved</a>. Against all expectations, after decades of false starts and failures, the international community had finally agreed to do what it took to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. </p>
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<p>The Paris Agreement was a stunning victory for those most at risk from climate change. Rich industrialised nations will be increasingly impacted as global temperatures rise. But it’s the low lying island states such as the Maldives and the Marshall Islands that are at imminent existential risk. As a later UN <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">special report</a> made clear, if the Paris Agreement was unable to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the number of lives lost to more intense storms, fires, heatwaves, famines and floods would significantly increase.</p>
<p>But dig a little deeper and you could find another emotion lurking within delegates on December 13. Doubt. We struggle to name any climate scientist who at that time thought the Paris Agreement was feasible. We have since been told by some scientists that the Paris Agreement was “of course important for climate justice but unworkable” and “a complete shock, no one thought limiting to 1.5°C was possible”. Rather than being able to limit warming to 1.5°C, a senior academic involved in the IPCC concluded we were heading beyond <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-weve-created-a-civilisation-hell-bent-on-destroying-itself-im-terrified-writes-earth-scientist-113055">3°C by the end of this century</a>. </p>
<p>Instead of confront our doubts, we scientists decided to construct ever more elaborate fantasy worlds in which we would be safe. The price to pay for our cowardice: having to keep our mouths shut about the ever growing absurdity of the required planetary-scale carbon dioxide removal.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394549/original/file-20210412-13-1n4dgym.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">
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<p>Taking centre stage was BECCS because at the time this was the only way climate-economic models could find scenarios that would be consistent with the Paris Agreement. Rather than stabilise, global emissions of carbon dioxide had increased some 60% since 1992.</p>
<p>Alas, BECCS, just like all the previous solutions, was too good to be true.</p>
<p>Across the scenarios produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with a 66% or better chance of limiting temperature increase to 1.5°C, BECCS would need to remove 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. BECCS at this scale would require massive planting schemes for trees and bioenergy crops. </p>
<p>The Earth certainly needs more trees. Humanity has cut down some <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-trillion-trees-live-on-earth-but-there-would-be-twice-as-many-without-humans-46914">three trillion</a> since we first started farming some 13,000 years ago. But rather than allow ecosystems to recover from human impacts and forests to regrow, BECCS generally refers to dedicated industrial-scale plantations regularly harvested for bioenergy rather than carbon stored away in forest trunks, roots and soils. </p>
<p>Currently, the two most <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320919/">efficient</a> biofuels are sugarcane for bioethanol and palm oil for biodiesel – both grown in the tropics. Endless rows of such fast growing monoculture trees or other bioenergy crops harvested at frequent intervals <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/26/biomass-carbon-climate-politics-477620">devastate biodiversity</a>. </p>
<p>It has been estimated that BECCS would demand between <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/grantham-institute/public/publications/briefing-papers/BECCS-deployment---a-reality-check.pdf">0.4 and 1.2 billion hectares of land</a>. That’s 25% to 80% of all the land currently under cultivation. How will that be achieved at the same time as feeding 8-10 billion people around the middle of the century or without destroying native vegetation and biodiversity? </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-capture-on-power-stations-burning-woodchips-is-not-the-green-gamechanger-many-think-it-is-110475">Carbon capture on power stations burning woodchips is not the green gamechanger many think it is</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Growing billions of trees would consume <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21640-3">vast amounts</a> of water – in some places where <a href="https://theconversation.com/planting-trees-must-be-done-with-care-it-can-create-more-problems-than-it-addresses-128259">people are already thirsty</a>. Increasing forest cover in higher latitudes can have an <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/2016GL071459">overall warming effect</a> because replacing grassland or fields with forests means the land surface becomes darker. This darker land absorbs more energy from the Sun and so temperatures rise. Focusing on developing vast plantations in poorer tropical nations comes with real risks of people being driven <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307509892_Stakeholders_and_tropical_reforestation_challenges_tradeoffs_and_strategies_in_dynamic_environments">off their lands</a>. </p>
<p>And it is often forgotten that trees and the land in general already soak up and store away <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/20/publications.htm">vast amounts of carbon</a> through what is called the natural terrestrial carbon sink. Interfering with it could both disrupt the sink and lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-eu-cheating-on-its-net-zero-emissions-plan-heres-what-the-science-says-147047">double accounting</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396503/original/file-20210422-21-1suqm95.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As these impacts are becoming better understood, the sense of optimism around BECCS <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-experts-assess-the-feasibility-of-negative-emissions">has diminished</a>. </p>
<h2>Pipe dreams</h2>
<p>Given the dawning realisation of how difficult Paris would be in the light of ever rising emissions and limited potential of BECCS, a new buzzword emerged in policy circles: the “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-14503-9">overshoot scenario</a>”. Temperatures would be allowed to go beyond 1.5°C in the near term, but then be brought down with a range of carbon dioxide removal by the end of the century. This means that net zero actually means <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/going-carbon-negative-what-are-the-technology-options">carbon negative</a>. Within a few decades, we will need to transform our civilisation from one that currently pumps out 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, to one that produces a net removal of tens of billions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/opinion/trump-climate-change-trees.html">Mass tree planting</a>, for bioenergy or as an attempt at offsetting, had been the latest attempt to stall cuts in fossil fuel use. But the ever-increasing need for carbon removal was calling for more. This is why the idea of direct air capture, now being <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/03/to-unlock-the-potential-of-direct-air-capture-we-must-invest-now">touted by some</a> as the most promising technology out there, has taken hold. It is generally more benign to ecosystems because it requires <a href="https://hoffmanncentre.chathamhouse.org/article/betting-on-beccs-exploring-land-based-negative-emissions-technologies/">significantly less land</a> to operate than BECCS, including the land needed to power them using wind or solar panels.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it is widely believed that direct air capture, because of its <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2021/01/direct-air-capture-definition-cost-considerations">exorbitant costs and energy demand</a>, if it ever becomes feasible to be deployed at scale, will not be able to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0885-y">compete with BECCS</a> with its voracious appetite for prime agricultural land.</p>
<p>It should now be getting clear where the journey is heading. As the mirage of each magical technical solution disappears, another equally unworkable alternative pops up to take its place. The next is already on the horizon – and it’s even more ghastly. Once we realise net zero will not happen in time or even at all, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-need-to-get-involved-in-the-geoengineering-debate-now-85619">geoengineering</a> – the deliberate and large scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system – will probably be invoked as the solution to limit temperature increases.</p>
<p>One of the most researched geoengineering ideas is <a href="https://theconversation.com/blocking-out-the-sun-wont-fix-climate-change-but-it-could-buy-us-time-50818">solar radiation management</a> – the injection of millions of tons of sulphuric acid <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0431-0">into the stratosphere</a> that will reflect some of the Sun’s energy away from the Earth. It is a wild idea, but some academics and politicians are deadly serious, despite significant <a href="https://www.nae.edu/19579/19582/21020/228883/228936/Benefits-and-Risks-of-Stratospheric-Solar-Radiation-Management-for-Climate-Intervention-Geoengineering">risks</a>. The US National Academies of Sciences, for example, has recommended <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2021/03/new-report-says-u-s-should-cautiously-pursue-solar-geoengineering-research-to-better-understand-options-for-responding-to-climate-change-risks">allocating up to US$200 million</a> over the next five years to explore how geoengineering could be deployed and regulated. Funding and research in this area is sure to significantly increase. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393121/original/file-20210401-21-g3swz5.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Difficult truths</h2>
<p>In principle there is nothing wrong or dangerous about carbon dioxide removal proposals. In fact developing ways of reducing concentrations of carbon dioxide can feel tremendously exciting. You are using science and engineering to save humanity from disaster. What you are doing is important. There is also the realisation that carbon removal will be needed to mop up some of the emissions from sectors such as aviation and cement production. So there will be some small role for a number of different carbon dioxide removal approaches. </p>
<p>The problems come when it is assumed that these can be deployed at vast scale. This effectively serves as a blank cheque for the continued burning of fossil fuels and the acceleration of habitat destruction.</p>
<p>Carbon reduction technologies and geoengineering should be seen as a sort of ejector seat that could propel humanity away from rapid and catastrophic environmental change. Just like an ejector seat in a jet aircraft, it should only be used as the very last resort. However, policymakers and businesses appear to be entirely serious about deploying highly speculative technologies as a way to land our civilisation at a sustainable destination. In fact, these are no more than fairy tales. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowds of young people hold placards." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393130/original/file-20210401-17-ntcpsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘There is no Planet B’: children in Birmingham, UK, protest against the climate crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/wwb1TJMd1BQ">Callum Shaw/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The only way to keep humanity safe is the immediate and sustained radical cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in a <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/what-is-climate-justice/">socially just way</a>.</p>
<p>Academics typically see themselves as servants to society. Indeed, many are employed as civil servants. Those working at the climate science and policy interface desperately wrestle with an increasingly difficult problem. Similarly, those that champion net zero as a way of breaking through barriers holding back effective action on the climate also work with the very best of intentions. </p>
<p>The tragedy is that their collective efforts were never able to mount an effective challenge to a climate policy process that would only allow a narrow range of scenarios to be explored. </p>
<p>Most academics feel distinctly uncomfortable stepping over the invisible line that separates their day job from wider social and political concerns. There are genuine fears that being seen as advocates for or against particular issues could threaten their perceived independence. Scientists are one of the most trusted professions. Trust is very hard to build and easy to destroy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394551/original/file-20210412-13-bllb2g.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But there is another invisible line, the one that separates maintaining academic integrity and self-censorship. As scientists, we are taught to be sceptical, to subject hypotheses to rigorous tests and interrogation. But when it comes to perhaps the greatest challenge humanity faces, we often show a dangerous lack of critical analysis. </p>
<p>In private, scientists express significant scepticism about the Paris Agreement, BECCS, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2d96502f-c34d-4150-aa36-9dc16ffdcad2">offsetting</a>, geoengineering and net zero. Apart from <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/1.19074!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/528437a.pdf">some notable exceptions</a>, in public we quietly go about our work, apply for funding, publish papers and teach. The path to disastrous climate change is paved with feasibility studies and impact assessments. </p>
<p>Rather than acknowledge the seriousness of our situation, we instead continue to participate in the fantasy of net zero. What will we do when reality bites? What will we say to our friends and loved ones about our failure to speak out now?</p>
<p>The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. That is the very simple acid test that must be applied to all climate policies. The time for wishful thinking is over.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/there-arent-enough-trees-in-the-world-to-offset-societys-carbon-emissions-and-there-never-will-be-158181?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">There aren’t enough trees in the world to offset society’s carbon emissions – and there never will be</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-a-hidden-world-of-fungi-inside-the-worlds-biggest-seed-bank-156051?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How we discovered a hidden world of fungi inside the world’s biggest seed bank</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/prehistoric-communities-off-the-coast-of-britain-embraced-rising-seas-what-this-means-for-todays-island-nations-147879?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Prehistoric communities off the coast of Britain embraced rising seas – what this means for today’s island nations</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157368/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>
Prominent academics, including a former IPCC chair, round on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to ‘greenwash’ their lack of commitment to solving global warming.
James Dyke, Associate Professor in Earth System Science, University of Exeter
Robert Watson, Emeritus Professor in Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
Wolfgang Knorr, Senior Research Scientist, Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/158555
2021-04-19T14:52:10Z
2021-04-19T14:52:10Z
Revealed: true cost of Britain’s addiction to factory-farmed chicken
<p>The first time I encountered an intensive “chicken shed” up close I was taken aback by just how massive it was – the huge industrial-looking metal clad building was well over 100 metres long by 25 metres wide. And there wasn’t just one, there were seven of these colossal sheds, the sun glinting off their roofs and adjacent clusters of tall silos. A constant hum emanated from them and periodically a strange clattering sound, possibly of grain being sprayed automatically from a silo into a shed. </p>
<p>There was a large, immaculately clean concrete yard and an almost uncanny lack of human activity. Finally, overwhelmingly, was the all-pervading smell. The malty, almost sweetish odour became increasingly unpleasant as I stood to take in the scene, making me feel slightly sick. </p>
<p>The distinctive stink followed me as I continued down the footpath. I began to develop a headache. I felt jumpy despite being on a public right of way – should I be this close to what I knew was an intensive poultry unit? Were there biosecurity risks? </p>
<p>And when the path veered close to the building I began to actually hear the birds inside. That triggered other emotions. I knew that the chickens were on a life trajectory of a mere six weeks (eight weeks for “slow grow birds”) before they would be loaded onto lorries to be taken to the processing factory. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sun shines on multiple metal sheds by field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394829/original/file-20210413-17-83dpcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ‘intensive poultry unit’ near the author’s home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Alison Caffyn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later, several farmers showed me round their sheds. Inside one, I stood rather stunned at the sheer scale of the building stretching in front of me and the 45,000 chickens crowded into the space. They pecked at plastic feeders or the occasional small bale of hay providing “environmental enrichment”.</p>
<p>This is how <a href="https://www.eating-better.org/uploads/Documents/2020/EB_WeNeedToTalkAboutChicken_Feb20_A4_Final.pdf">95%</a> of the one billion chickens raised in the UK each year are grown: chicken is the country’s most popular meat and these massive sheds are why it’s so cheap.</p>
<p>The premises which produce much of the UK’s meat are relatively hidden from view. Not only do most people not want to think about how meat is raised, it is in the interests of the intensive livestock industry to keep a low profile. Many meat eaters understandably <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190206-what-the-meat-paradox-reveals-about-moral-decision-making">tend to avoid</a> watching documentaries and reading about the horrors of factory farming. Out of sight, out of mind. The meat industry knows this too, and tries hard to keep the realities of the conditions that industrially farmed animals are kept in divorced from the product people buy in supermarkets.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-arent-we-more-outraged-about-eating-chicken-82284">Why aren't we more outraged about eating chicken?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But this article isn’t about animal welfare realities. It’s about how the poultry industry has managed to keep a low profile while undergoing a massive expansion to supply all the supermarkets and fast food chains. There has been an intensive poultry industry in the UK for over 60 years, but it has been upscaling in recent decades, becoming more like North America’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/18/rise-of-mega-farms-how-the-us-model-of-intensive-farming-is-invading-the-world">mega farms</a>.</p>
<p>For the last four years, I have been investigating how <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837721001381?via%3Dihub">intensive poultry units have been allowed to multiply</a> across certain parts of the UK. I have discovered that the poultry industry has taken advantage of weak regulatory and planning regimes in order to expand what is a very profitable business. I have traced how local people have become increasingly angry about the myriad impacts they face from the intensive chicken sheds – and how they have mobilised to fight the industry’s expansion.</p>
<h2>Chicken hub</h2>
<p>I live in Ludlow, Shropshire, close to the Herefordshire border. These two counties are at the heart of the UK’s chicken industry. My attention was first drawn to the issue in 2014, when I began to notice frequent articles and angry letters in my local papers, the Hereford Times and the Shropshire Star. The headlines read things like: “Stench from broiler units is inescapable”; “Protesters mass to fight ‘terrible’ chicken farm”. </p>
<p>Campaigns against several planning applications for what are known in the business as intensive poultry units (IPUs) had been launched in the Shropshire Hills (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and scenic and tranquil parts of Herefordshire. A significant controversy had kicked off. Some planning applications had hundreds of letters submitted objecting to the proposals. I wanted to know what had prompted the levels of outrage in an area where there has been commercial chicken farming since the 1950s, and set about researching the issue for my PhD.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
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<p>When I began to trace the pattern of planning applications across Herefordshire and Shropshire, trawling through the records for each county, it became clear that the industry had expanded steadily over the 1990s and 2000s, with more and more farms investing in poultry and IPUs becoming progressively bigger. Where the average broiler (meat chicken) shed held 25,000 birds in 1990 and 40,000 birds in the 2000s, the new applications were for sheds to hold 50,000-55,000 birds at a time. By 2010 there were at least <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cqhjyDvMI8sb">800 chicken sheds</a>, for meat and also many for eggs, across the two counties, which I estimate to be around 20% of the UK total.</p>
<p>I found there had been a sudden surge in applications in the early 2010s, partly as a result of supermarkets wanting to source more chicken from the UK in the wake of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/horsemeat-scandal-was-a-damning-indictment-of-the-state-of-our-food-21490">horsemeat scandal</a>. In 2013-14 for example, the huge chicken processing plants in Hereford, run by multinational <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-powerful-companies-youve-never-heard-of-cargill-3191">Cargill</a>, took on a new contract with Tesco to provide an additional <a href="https://www.thepoultrysite.com/news/2013/11/cargill-to-upgrade-and-enhance-uk-poultry-processing-business">million chickens a week</a>. This required a further 90 chicken sheds within an hour’s drive of the plants and many farmers were keen to become suppliers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graph showing growing number of IPU farms in Herefordshire (orange) and Shropshire (blue)." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394827/original/file-20210413-17-1hvjxw9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The number of poultry farms has been steadily rising.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Caffyn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>I started to interview as many people as I could: farmers, planners, local authority and environmental agency staff, councillors, objectors, campaigners and other local businesses; and began to understand why the controversy had erupted. </p>
<h2>The pull of poultry</h2>
<p>Going into poultry is an attractive proposition for farmers. Consistently the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/early-review-of-the-new-farming-programme/">most profitable</a> UK agricultural sector, poultry provides a steady income and is not dependent on subsidy, <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/farming-subsidies-uk/">unlike most UK farming</a>. The farmers I spoke to wanted the “certainty” that a contract with a poultry processor gave them. Several wanted to expand and create a job for a member of the next generation and to make the farm more resilient, particularly given the uncertainties over Brexit.</p>
<p>Expanding into poultry is a big investment; in the region of £2.5 million for a four shed broiler unit. But I was told farms can pay off their investment within 10-15 years and more quickly if they also installed <a href="https://www.gov.uk/non-domestic-renewable-heat-incentive">renewable energy systems</a> such as solar, biomass and anaerobic digestion (AD) units, all of which receive government subsidies. </p>
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<img alt="More massive chicken sheds in rural landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394830/original/file-20210413-17-1sg3ik8.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">
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<span class="caption">Another IPU in the Shropshire hills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Alison Caffyn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>But once the system is up and running, it doesn’t require much physical effort (at least compared to traditional farming methods). The vast majority of chicken farming in the UK has joined other forms of “precision farming” that uses smart technology within an integrated system owned and organised by a processing company. </p>
<p>Day-old chicks are delivered from the hatchery. The processor (such as Cargill) provides the feed and sends in “catching gangs” and lorries to pick up the birds after six weeks. The farmer never actually owns the birds but carries the risk if more than the normal <a href="https://www.ciwf.org.uk/research/species-meat-chickens/the-welfare-of-broiler-chickens-in-the-european-union/">5%</a> die before reaching the processing plant. </p>
<p>The farmer is able to monitor the shed temperature, humidity and check on feed, water and so on on their computer or phone. All it requires is for someone to walk through each shed daily picking up the dead and sick birds. This means the intensive chicken production provides only about 1.5 workers on each average farm of four to six sheds (although some of the operations have ten or 15 sheds). A poultry farmer told me that these larger businesses can make in the region of £1 million profit a year.</p>
<p>The justifications for IPUs I heard at planning committee meetings mainly revolved around the need for affordable, healthy protein to feed the nation. The UK is <a href="https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/markets-and-trends/outlook-2018-poultry-sector-is-well-placed-for-growth">about 75%</a> self-sufficient in poultry (according to figures published by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board in 2018, although little recent data has been made available). Emphasis was placed on how raising chicken in the UK is better in terms of food miles and animal welfare as the UK has higher welfare regulations than in many parts of the world. </p>
<p>Farmers applying for planning permission for new units stressed the supply chain and economic benefits as well as the jobs in the processing factory. They accused objectors of being incomers to the area; “NIMBYs” or “down-from-Londoners” who didn’t understand the realities of modern farming and who had unrealistic, idyllic ideas of what rural life is like. </p>
<p>They denied the IPUs would cause any environmental problems, saying that they had to meet environmental permit standards and that the Environment Agency would address any inadvertent pollution. They denied that IPUs smell and ridiculed those who complain about agricultural smells or noises in rural areas. </p>
<p>It is true that these intensive chicken units vary considerably. There is a huge difference between the larger sites, some owned directly by the processing company, where there may be ten or more sheds and very little other farming activities, and at the other extreme small farms that have diversified into free range eggs because their beef or sheep enterprise has struggled to make a profit. But both types can be controversial. </p>
<p>(Most UK eggs are also produced in intensive units; standard free-range units house 16,000 or 32,000 hens in systems where the birds have theoretical access to the outdoors, while in contrast conventional systems may house millions of hens).</p>
<p>The surge in applications to supply Cargill in 2014 included some in particularly scenic and biodiverse environments. This created a PR disaster. Local people who had always been largely tolerant of agricultural activities felt the expansion of the poultry industry had become “something other”, as one officer described. Resistance crystallised and a range of local people began to mobilise to fight the proliferation of further poultry units.</p>
<h2>The other side of the story</h2>
<p>So were these objectors really just retired NIMBYs and ignorant townies?</p>
<p>I interviewed numerous people who objected to the IPU proposals and followed one group of campaigners that formed in a small, historic village not far from my home. The farming family who own much of the land around the village was proposing to build a new poultry site, close to residents’ houses. I attended the campaign group’s meetings in the back room of the village pub. </p>
<p>I listened to them discussing what was meant by the scientific terminology used in the various odour, noise, ecology and visual impact assessments. They became increasingly expert in understanding the planning process and the technical information used. I heard their frustrated complaints about the unfairness of the process, the profits made by the interconnected farming families and the influence such landowners had on the parish council and local planning committee.</p>
<p>There was a sense of injustice that one business could inflict such change on the local area and community. Unlike with some invasive developments such as wind turbines, electricity pylons or housing developments, there are no financial payback mechanisms which would fund community projects or facilities in recompense. I regularly heard objectors mention the fact that farmers do not even pay business rates on their poultry operations as they are deemed agricultural developments. </p>
<p>The campaign group reached out to local experts to learn more about the impacts. They learned how the ammonia gas from the chicken faeces is pumped out of sheds into the air and damages <a href="https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/our-work/publications/we-need-to-talk-about-nitrogen">local habitats</a> and <a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/1687/ammonia-impacts-on-ancient-woodland.pdf">ancient woodland</a>, and how excess manure spreading has been found to cause illegal levels of <a href="https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/++preview++/environment-and-business/challenges-and-choices/user_uploads/phosphorus-pressure-rbmp-2021.pdf">pollution in local rivers</a>. I joined the group on a visit to a nearby Site of Special Scientific Interest to see breathtaking swards of orchids and other rare plants in stunning wildflower meadows – also vulnerable to cumulative ammonia emissions.</p>
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<img alt="Long grass and wildflowers beneath blue sky and tree." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395238/original/file-20210415-15-2ugi9w.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">
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<span class="caption">One of the threatened meadows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Alison Caffyn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This group was typical of the objectors I met: a mix of some people who had moved to the area to work or retire, alongside long-time residents. Some were older but there were many middle-aged people, some professionals who developed the expertise in planning processes but also many others who supplied local knowledge, contacts and who simply cared about what was changing in their local countryside and how it impacted on their families and friends. </p>
<p>I also met several farmers who objected to intensive poultry. One told a friend of mine, while contemplating his neighbour’s new IPU, “That’s not farming.” Others voiced concerns and misgivings to me, but few felt able to disrupt relations within the farming community and go on the record against other farmers. </p>
<p>While each planning application was different, there were a number of concerns consistently voiced by objectors. These were the foul smell, the visual impact of the IPU on the landscape, noise from the units and from the associated HGV traffic, road safety concerns, water pollution affecting local rivers, biodiversity loss from ammonia and that the proliferating industrial buildings would damage the local tourism industry, which was economically much more valuable to the economy of the area than agriculture.</p>
<p>One issue which tended to creep up on objectors as they researched the impacts of IPUs was the uncertainty over health impacts – the ammonia and dangerous particulates <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29133137/">in the air</a>, which can cause serious respiratory problems, the potential for spread of <a href="https://www.ciwf.org.uk/research/animal-diseases/zoonotic-diseases/">livestock-related infections</a>, whether <a href="https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/160518_Final%20paper_with%20cover.pdf">antimicrobial resistance</a>, of which intensive animal farms are a major source, could linger in the local environment and the existential threat of a bird flu outbreak which might cross the species barrier. This particular concern has hardly lessened in the last year.</p>
<p>And yes, people were also concerned about whether a large IPU built near their house might affect the value of their property or deter future business customers. Others were vociferous about animal welfare issues or the evils of <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-11-25/british-chicken-driving-deforestation-in-brazil">importing soya from South America</a> for the bird feed. But overall I found that most people had multiple concerns – for themselves, their family, their health and their finances but also for the community, other people, local businesses, plus concerns about farming systems, planning procedures, democracy and justice. </p>
<h2>Increasing awareness</h2>
<p>Clearly there are extremely polarised values and concerns involved in these arguments. Planning officers and committees have difficult decisions to make, particularly as there are almost no planning policies that govern where intensive livestock operations can be sited. There is a policy void. The repercussions of allowing intensive poultry units to proliferate have been ignored in favour of facilitating the expansion of agribusiness.</p>
<p>Local plans for both counties have almost no reference to poultry businesses despite the numbers of sheds now nearing 1,150 and the number of birds in the counties at any one time approaching 38 million <a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cqhjyDvMI8sb">in my estimate</a>. I found that the local authorities had neglected (intentionally or not) to develop supplementary planning guidance which would have clarified the situation for everyone. </p>
<p>Decisions were therefore made largely with reference to vague objectives in national planning policy such as “<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/810197/NPPF_Feb_2019_revised.pdf">sustainable development</a>” and boosting rural economies, and over 95% of applications between 2000 and 2020 were given permission. I found that the planning committees have been dominated by local politicians who are embedded in local agricultural networks and tend to accept the farming lobby’s arguments or be cowed by the dominance of major economic actors such as Cargill.</p>
<p>The application the group I followed were fighting, like most others, was approved. But the campaigners did not give up. There is no third party right of appeal in the UK so they could not challenge the decision directly, but they applied for, and secured, a judicial review of the decision-making process. At this point the county council ceded the case, accepting that they had made errors when assessing some of the likely impacts of the IPU. This has happened in several <a href="https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/help-stop-industrial-chicken-f/">cases</a> now. Local communities have lost trust in the planning system and local authorities’ <a href="https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/farming/2019/05/29/planning-consent-for-poultry-farm-near-bridgnorth-is-quashed-by-judges/">ability to make sound decisions</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, Cargill (now a joint venture renamed Avara) succeeded in having its 90 additional sheds built, although it took much longer than anticipated and there were many battles along the way. In the process, local awareness about the range of cumulative negative impacts has been raised. In Herefordshire, the increased nutrient pollution and algal blooms in the rivers Wye and Lugg has finally woken up the council to the links with <a href="https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/18503597.river-wye-turns-green-amid-chicken-farm-manure-claims/">vastly increased amounts</a> of poultry manure being spread on agricultural land.</p>
<p>In Shropshire, concerns over ammonia pollution of protected habitats now mean recent applications for IPUs must include technical fixes, such as expensive <a href="https://shropshire.gov.uk/environment/biodiversity-ecology-and-planning/new-interim-guidance-for-livestock-unit-lsu-applications/">ammonia scrubbers</a>. There is a better understanding of how local people, communities, environments and tax payers are paying the true costs of the <a href="https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/hidden-cost-uk-food/">externalities</a> from the poultry industry, which avoids picking up the bill.</p>
<p>The situation also raises broader questions such as whether intensive livestock operations should be treated in planning law as agriculture or industry. The scale, intensity and impacts have changed dramatically since the last relevant planning act in 1990. One councillor told me: “If these sheds were producing spring coils they wouldn’t be allowed. They’d be encouraged to go to enterprise zones and business parks, but because this is, in policy terms, deemed to be agriculture, that’s a real problem.”</p>
<p>What this all brings home is the wildly unnatural price of chicken in the UK. Why can you buy a whole chicken at Tesco for under £3? The actual, but largely hidden, costs associated with the production of cheap chicken are not passed on to consumers. Neither are they paid by the owners of multinational meat processing conglomerates, Tesco shareholders or poultry farmers. </p>
<p>The costs are being paid by local communities and environments in the damage to the landscape, air and water pollution and quality of life. They are also being paid by the taxpayer, in terms of health costs or pollution clean-up costs, or renewable energy subsidy costs. </p>
<p>Chicken is viewed as a healthy and convenient source of protein, but there are other more sustainable, cheaper and healthier protein options which could also be grown in the UK. These include peas, beans, nuts and lentils, some of which have the advantage of fixing nitrogen in the soil rather than increasing nutrients in the environment. People could substitute such plant-based protein for chicken in many meals.</p>
<p>So don’t wince when you see the price of chickens raised in better conditions – there are many reasons it’s more expensive and it’s not just the better environment the animals experience. You’ll be paying farmers who resist the dominance of multinational agri-industry and who are inflicting less harm on rural communities and localities. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-a-hidden-world-of-fungi-inside-the-worlds-biggest-seed-bank-156051?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">How we discovered a hidden world of fungi inside the world’s biggest seed bank</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/rewilding-rare-birds-return-when-livestock-grazing-has-stopped-137948?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Rewilding: rare birds return when livestock grazing has stopped</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-sustainable-future-we-need-to-reconnect-with-what-were-eating-and-each-other-123490?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">For a sustainable future, we need to reconnect with what we’re eating – and each other</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Caffyn received grant funding from the Economic Social Research Council. </span></em></p>
A lack of policy has allowed industrial chicken farms to multiply in certain parts of the UK – with a lack of consideration of the environmental and social impacts.
Alison Caffyn, Research Affiliate, Geography and Planning, Cardiff University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/158584
2021-04-13T14:07:18Z
2021-04-13T14:07:18Z
How a radical interpretation of the Great Depression became the orthodoxy behind solving the COVID economic crisis
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394087/original/file-20210408-21-1kv13eg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C1417%2C794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It even inspired the global TV hit, La Casa de Papel </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, US Federal Reserve System governor Jerome Powell made an extraordinary declaration: “We’re not going to run out of ammunition.” The central bank stood ready to take any action necessary to stem the mounting economic crisis. Three months later, the Fed injected nearly US$3 trillion dollars of liquidity into the US economy. </p>
<p>Such radical action by central banks – quantitative easing (QE) – has its critics on the right and left. Just as striking is that many prominent economists and economic historians have rallied <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/11/quantitative-easing-qe-recession">in support of QE</a> in responding to the threat of economic crisis. Their remarkable certainty reveals a story about how our understanding of present crises came to be dominated by lessons drawn from past crises, and in particular the Great Depression in the 1930s and its interpretation by economists, Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, in their 1963 book, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7s1vp">A Monetary History of the United States</a>. </p>
<p>Friedman and Schwartz claimed that the Federal Reserve System was responsible for turning an ordinary economic downturn into the Great Depression. When a massive financial crisis led to a sharp decline in the stock of money in the US economy, the Fed failed to take action to mitigate the problem. </p>
<p>By the end of the 20th century, their interpretation of the Great Depression had become sufficiently dominant in economics and economic history to qualify as the orthodoxy. When the global financial crisis struck in 2008, the Federal Reserve System proposed aggressive policies of monetary expansion to avoid its supposed mistakes during the Great Depression. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394088/original/file-20210408-17-1cfk3u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The US Federal Reserve Board Building.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/marriner-s-eccles-federal-reserve-board-676743697">Steve Heap/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That flood of liquidity into capitalism’s financial system is remarkable in historical perspective, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674980822">surpassing all previous records</a> for monetary interventions, outside of wartime, since the beginning of the 20th century. It defines our economic reality to such an extent that the fictional story of a mysterious “Professor”, who meticulously plans a raid on the Royal Mint of Spain to print billions of euros, became the basis for the wildly popular television series, <a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80192098">La Casa de Papel</a>. As the Professor explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In 2011, the European Central Bank made €171 billion out of nowhere. Just like we’re doing. Only bigger … ‘Liquidity injections,’ they called it. I’m making a liquidity injection, but not for the banks. I’m making it here, in the real economy. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Professor made these remarks long before central banks responded to the coronavirus crisis with an even greater flood of liquidity. </p>
<h2>Historical analysis as economic heresy</h2>
<p>The onset of the Great Depression coincided with “a golden age” of theoretical and empirical research on business cycles and crises. Although they did not agree on the causes of cycles, economists tended to look for explanations of the recurrent fluctuations in economic activity in the internal dynamics of the economic system. This emphasis is <a href="https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/books/mitch_buscyc/mitchell_buscyc.pdf">readily apparent in the work</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clair_Mitchell">Wesley Clair Mitchell</a>, an American economist in the early 20th century who was the foremost global authority on business cycles.</p>
<p>Mitchell began his career as a monetary economist at the University of Chicago where he met Thorstein Veblen <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Evolution-of-Institutional-Economics/Hodgson/p/book/9780415322539">and was inspired</a> by the unconventional economist’s criticisms of orthodox economic theory and, in particular, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/257011">its neglect</a> of the process of “evolutionary” economic change. </p>
<p>To Mitchell, it was the “precarious dependence” of material wellbeing on an economy organised for profit-seeking <a href="https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/books/mitch_buscyc/mitchell_buscyc.pdf">that generated business cycles</a>: “Where money economy dominates, natural resources are not developed, mechanical equipment is not provided, industrial skill is not exercised, unless conditions are such as to promise a money profit to those who direct production.” He looked to the dynamics of enterprises’ profit-making to explain the recurrent phases of business activity and how they “grow out of and grow into each other” in a process of cumulative change.</p>
<p>The depth and persistence of the Depression, especially in the country that seemed to embody capitalism in its most sophisticated form, reinforced the importance of understanding fluctuations in economic activity. A novel perspective proposed by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/keynes_john_maynard.shtml">John Maynard Keynes</a> attracted particular attention: Keynes looked to the internal dynamics of the economic system for the roots of cycles, echoing other economists’ scepticism about its capacity for self-adjustment, but identified a significant new role for government in ensuring economic stability.</p>
<p>The significance of the interpretation of the Great Depression that Friedman and Schwartz laid out can be appreciated only by understanding the continuity and rupture it marked in economists’ analyses of business cycles. Their book was based on a combination of theory and history <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/economics/history-economic-thought-and-methodology/theory-and-measurement-causality-issues-milton-friedmans-monetary-economics?format=PB">that bears an uncanny resemblance</a> to Mitchell’s distinctive methodological approach to the study of cumulative change. But just as Mitchell had used historical annals and statistics to challenge the economic orthodoxy of his day, Friedman and Schwartz employed their historical research to confront not only what Mitchell and Keynes believed but what many economists believed about the inherent instability of a capitalist economic system.</p>
<p>In a Monetary History, Friedman and Schwartz conceived of the norm in capitalism as stability, as characterised by a harmonious covariance of money and income, interrupted only by aberrant cycles. It was during these unusual historical moments, they claimed, that money mattered a great deal. Insofar as the Great Depression was concerned, they posited that it was the drop in money that caused income to fall. While they acknowledged the monetary collapse originated in the waves of banking crises that ravaged the US financial system in the early 1930s, they blamed the US monetary authority for failing to inject enough liquidity into the system to counter the collapse. In doing so, they held government responsible for what seemed to most people to be a crisis of capitalism.</p>
<p>To defend their bold claims, Friedman and Schwartz embraced a methodological approach inspired by Mitchell but increasingly castigated as old-fashioned against the growing influence of <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2011/12/basics.htm">econometric analysis</a> in economics. Econometricians agreed with Mitchell on the importance of integrating economic theory and evidence but they cast economic activity in terms of stable mathematical relationships that belied the importance of cumulative change that Mitchell emphasised. </p>
<p>Friedman and Schwartz refused to be swayed by methodological fashion, opting instead for history to discriminate among different explanations of “statistical covariation” by going “beyond the numbers alone” to “discern the antecedent circumstances whence arose the particular movements that become so anonymous when we feed the statistics into the computer”. </p>
<p>Based on historical research, they purported to reconstruct the temporal sequence of events that they claimed led to a “catastrophic contraction” during the Great Depression. They also used historical reasoning to go further, to transcend a story that would otherwise locate the collapse of the US economy in the failures of its private financial system. The Federal Reserve System had “ample powers”, they suggested, “to cut short the tragic process of monetary deflation and banking collapse” but did not use these powers “effectively”. Through the use of counterfactual history, therefore, they created the impression of a crisis that did not have to occur.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photo of men in coats and hats queing outside building with sign reading 'Free soup coffee and doughnuts for the unemployed'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394091/original/file-20210408-15-19ydepe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unemployed men queued outside a soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/great-depression-unemployed-men-queued-outside-238058275">Everett Collection/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Money, money, money</h2>
<p>Asking why the Great Depression occurred in the US was a difficult question. Friedman and Schwartz’s answer was provocative and plausible, but much was left out and a great deal added in. We would expect criticism of their claims, and a plethora of alternatives. Yet, despite criticism over the years, many historians have extended the money hypothesis or qualified specific elements of it, rather than confront or evaluate the core claims on which it was constructed.</p>
<p>By the end of the 20th century, the radical interpretation of the Great Depression that Friedman and Schwartz proposed had become historical orthodoxy. The few scholars who were impertinent enough to directly confront it were subject to an onslaught of criticism. And for those unwilling to buy into the claim of capitalism’s inherent stability, neglect proved to be a powerful weapon. That such neglect was by design as much as ignorance can be seen in the writing of an academic economist, Ben Bernanke, who was to build an even more dazzling career as a central banker. </p>
<p>Bernanke acknowledged an important gap in the money story and proposed to fill it. Friedman and Schwartz’s interpretation of the Great Depression relied heavily on a banking panic, in which depositors pulled their money out of healthy and unhealthy banks, but without offering any serious explanation of the disruption of the US financial system. Bernanke came to the rescue but only by ruling out the few contemporaries like <a href="https://www.levyinstitute.org/about/minsky/">Hyman Minsky</a> to whom he might have turned for insights on the instability of the US financial system, since their work departed “from the assumption of rational economic behaviour”.</p>
<p>That Bernanke’s paper garnered so much academic attention suggests the crushing effect of academic orthodoxies on purportedly scientific inquiry. But the stakes suddenly became a great deal more important, and the action more dramatic, when the historical orthodoxy of the Great Depression passed from academic minds into the policy sphere in the early 21st century.</p>
<p>Some sense of what was to come was in evidence at a celebration of Friedman’s 90th birthday in 2002. By then, Bernanke was a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and in <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SPEECHES/2002/20021108/">an oft-cited tribute</a>, he said: “I would like to say to Milton and Anna: regarding the Great Depression. You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.” </p>
<p>Bernanke’s words surely gave the nonagenerian as much pause as pleasure. In Friedman’s presidential address to the American Economic Association, a few years after A Monetary History’s publication, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1831652?refreqid=excelsior%3Afbcc95a5a7653457cf9f69e7cf27f2c2&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">he worried that</a> “we are in danger of assigning to monetary policy a larger role than it can perform”. Still, he could hardly have imagined what Bernanke would dare when the opportunity presented itself.</p>
<p>Friedman may not have been around to witness the aggressive policies of monetary expansion that Bernanke implemented in his determination not to “do it again”. However, <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/html/monetarism-defiant-13165.html">Schwartz suggested</a> he was fighting the wrong war since the 2008-2009 crisis had nothing to do with liquidity. Ironically, many economists once believed much the same thing about the Great Depression of the 1930s. Just imagine what it would imply about our understanding of that crisis, not to mention the current fashion for quantitative easing, if they were right. </p>
<p><em>This article is adapted from the <a href="https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:150852">Economic History Society’s annual Tawney Lecture</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary O'Sullivan received some research funding as part of the “Uses of the Past in International Economic Relations” (UPIER) project, financially supported by the HERA Joint Research Programme 3 Uses of the Past which is co-funded by AHRC, AKA, BMBF via DLR-PT, CAS, CNR, DASTI, ETAg, FWF, F.R.S. - FNRS, FWO, FCT, FNR, HAZU, IRC, LMT, MIZS, MINECO, NWO, NCN, RANNÍS, RCN, SNF, VIAA and The European Commission through Horizon 2020.
</span></em></p>
The story of how money injections became the go-to policy for tackling economic crises.
Mary O'Sullivan, Professor of Economic History, Université de Genève
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/156051
2021-03-22T10:52:40Z
2021-03-22T10:52:40Z
How we discovered a hidden world of fungi inside the world’s biggest seed bank
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388246/original/file-20210308-16-15bniuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rowena Hill</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This was the moment of truth. We’d spent countless hours meticulously sterilising seeds (1,710, to be specific), filling the lab with a cacophony of rattling as we shook them in bleach. We’d built a fungus city: great tower-blocks of petri dishes stacked on the lab workbenches, with different colours, textures and shapes of fungi all emerging inside. We’d extracted enough DNA that the freezer, stuffed full of tubes, threatened to revolt. </p>
<p>Finally the time had come for me to analyse all the data, and discover just what we’d managed to find after all these months of work. In the first study of its kind, to our knowledge, in a major seed bank, we found <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.643731/full">hundreds of fungi hidden inside seeds</a> from the <a href="https://www.kew.org/science/our-science/projects/banking-the-worlds-seeds">Millennium Seed Bank</a>, some of which are likely to be species new to science and could be crucial for the future of plant health.</p>
<p>I can’t remember the moment when I first decided to study fungi. If only I had an anecdote about my time as a biology undergraduate looking down the microscope at some spores for the first time, overcome by their sheer majesty – but that would be fiction. For one thing, fungi barely appeared in my degree, and when they did it was usually in the negative context of causing disease.</p>
<p>Given that fungi are a whole kingdom of species which, alongside animals and plants, belong to the major domain of planet Earth’s multicellular life together called the “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z84jtv4/revision/11">eukaryotes</a>”, this is perhaps surprising. Yet this is the typical experience in both school and higher education (in the <a href="https://microbiologysociety.org/resource_library/knowledge-search/schoolzone-fungi-in-schools-a-neglected-potential-fungal-diseases.html">UK</a> and the <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2009/07/fun-fungi-mycology-careers">US</a> at least) and, unsurprisingly, when you don’t teach students about fungi, they don’t go on to study fungi. Which leads to fewer researchers studying fungi that can teach students about fungi and … you get the picture. Long story short, fungi are incredibly understudied compared to their sister kingdoms of animals and plants.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bargraph of the number of scientific papers published each year on animals, fungi and plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387200/original/file-20210302-13-1it5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proportion of scientific papers published each year for animals, plants and fungi. Data from EuropePMC.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I really can’t emphasise enough how much of an oversight this is. The <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13225-021-00472-y">latest estimate</a> of the total number of fungal species is 6.2 million. To put that in context, that would mean our planet is inhabited by <a href="https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.272.1.5/0">15 times</a> more fungi than plants. Other recent estimates for fungal diversity have ranged widely from <a href="https://www.asmscience.org/content/journal/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0052-2016">2.2 million</a> to <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/693564">165 million</a> species – but no matter which you go with, the numbers are all far greater than the 150,000 fungi which scientists have <a href="http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp">already found and described</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve barely scratched the surface, and I mean that quite literally – countless fungi will be underground and inside other organisms. These microscopic fungi, or more simply “microfungi”, are invisible to the naked eye, and so for a long time have remained under the radar. But that doesn’t mean they’re unimportant. Quite the opposite.</p>
<p>Yes, some will be pathogens, which can cause disease in <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-develop-the-genetic-tools-to-fight-ash-dieback-18931">plants</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/white-nose-syndrome-is-killing-millions-of-bats-via-a-contagious-fungus-heres-how-to-stop-it-91698">animals</a>. These tend to be the fungi that get the most attention, both in terms of public awareness and scientific research, and not without some good reason. With our increased global travel and trade, not to mention our contributions to climate change, we’re creating a perfect opportunity for new fungal pathogens to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10947">emerge and thrive</a>.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>But there’s so much more than just the pathogens. There are also the recyclers (“saprotrophs”), which break down organic matter and return nutrients to the soil in the continuous cycle of life and death. We live on a planet of finite resources, so it’s thanks to these little fungi doing the work to recycle them that our natural world can exist at all.</p>
<p>Countless fungi play <a href="https://stateoftheworldsfungi.org/2018/useful-fungi.html">key roles</a> in modern society: they can be a source of medicines such as antibiotics and immunosuppressants, industrial enzymes for detergents and manufacturing and new biomaterials to replace plastics. Even the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-every-new-baker-should-know-about-the-yeast-all-around-us-137687">humble baker’s yeast</a>, which underpins our everyday food and drink, can be used in the lab to study <a href="https://www.yourgenome.org/stories/using-yeast-in-biology">human genetics</a> or modified to produce <a href="https://theconversation.com/researchers-produce-opioid-pain-killer-from-genetically-modified-yeast-with-opium-poppy-genes-46057">important compounds</a>. And these are just the fungi we already know about – imagine the useful properties awaiting discovery in the fungi we are yet to find.</p>
<p>And maybe most famously there are the symbiotic partners known as mycorrhizal fungi, which form a relationship with plant roots, usually for mutual benefit: they can help the plant take up water and nutrients in return for carbohydrates. These fungi can form <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet">vast underground networks</a> of nutrient exchange between plants, popularly known as the “<a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/wood-wide-web-underground-network-microbes-connects-trees-mapped-first-time">wood wide web</a>”. As if that wasn’t enough, mycorrhizal fungi also help to increase the amount of <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/339/6127/1615">carbon stored in the soil</a>, and so play an important role in regulating global climate.</p>
<p>Life as we know it would, quite simply, be lost without fungi.</p>
<h2>Enter the endophytes</h2>
<p>Which brings me to the fungi I study. Mycorrhizal fungi aren’t the only ones to be found when we look at plants. All plant tissues contain fungi, in much the same way that us animals have an array of microorganisms living inside us: our “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/microbiome-3734">microbiome</a>”. These microfungi of plants are called fungal endophytes (endo=in, phyte=plant), and are defined by the fact that they live inside plants without causing any visible symptoms of disease.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fungal-microbiome-whether-mice-get-fatter-or-thinner-depends-on-the-fungi-that-live-in-their-gut-155942">Fungal microbiome: Whether mice get fatter or thinner depends on the fungi that live in their gut</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The sequencing revolution, which has enabled us to detect otherwise imperceptible organisms from mere traces of their DNA, has transformed our awareness of these microscopic fungi. A single plant individual is capable of hosting countless different fungal species.</p>
<p>As always, however, it’s not all that simple. When we find fungal endophytes inside healthy plants, some may be latent decomposers or pathogens – in other words, they are in a dormant state, waiting for the plant to die so that they can decay it, or for an opportunity to cause disease. At the same time, there are other fungal endophytes which we know can actually help their plant host, for instance by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13199-019-00636-0">improving germination</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-017-3241-x">seedling growth</a>. What we call the endophyte lifestyle is really more of a spectrum of interactions between plants and fungi, with both good and bad consequences for plant health. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=882&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386531/original/file-20210225-23-1ubixp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1109&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fungal endophyte <em>Epichloe coenophiala</em> growing in between grass leaf cells.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Hill/USDA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was these fungi, with all their mystery and potential, that captured my interest. Against the odds I did find my way to studying fungi, which started in earnest when I was lucky enough to get an undergraduate sandwich year placement at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with a senior scientist of fungal research, Ester Gaya. I’m still based there today, almost seven years later.</p>
<p>Many people don’t realise that Kew is more than its wonderful gardens; it’s also a major collections-based scientific research institution focused on the study of plants and fungi. In fact, it has the largest collection of dried fungi, known as a “fungarium”, in the world (1.25 million specimens).</p>
<p>And then there is the Millennium Seed Bank, which is also part of Kew. If anything, the term seed bank probably conjures up an image of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault: a vast concrete monolith emerging out of the Arctic snow like some sort of super-villain base. </p>
<p>The Millennium Seed Bank, nestled in the grounds of Wakehurst Place in the UK countryside, is rather less imposing to look at, but perhaps even more impressive inside. Coordinated by Kew, the seed bank is both a physical building – the <a href="https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/research-facilities/millennium-seed-bank">largest seed bank in the world</a> with over 2.3 billion seeds from almost 40,000 species – as well as a global partnership dedicated to the collection and conservation of seeds worldwide.</p>
<p>Seed banks are just what they sound like – a place to store seeds long-term as insurance against potential crises. And crisis is on the horizon: thanks to climate change and our unsustainable use of the planet, <a href="https://www.kew.org/science/state-of-the-worlds-plants-and-fungi">two in five plants</a> are estimated to be threatened with extinction. The mission of the Millennium Seed Bank is to find and preserve seeds of wild plants before they’re lost for good. </p>
<p>Seed banking is not just a backup for a hypothetical future scenario, as collections can already be put to good use – collecting seeds from different native communities, for instance, will be crucial for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-bushfires-kew/uks-kew-gardens-to-help-protect-australias-plants-after-wildfires-idUSKBN2002ZI">ecosystem recovery after wildfires</a> and for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.15498">successful reforestation</a>.</p>
<p>A fungal perspective puts a whole new spin on the idea of seed banking. It may not have been the primary goal, but in the process of preserving plant diversity, seed banks are also preserving the fungal diversity inside seeds. Of course, scientists working in seed banking have been aware of fungi before now, but the context has been decidedly negative. The <a href="http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/7b79ee93-0f3c-5f58-9adc-5d4ef063f9c7/">banking standards</a> from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations always refer to fungi as a contamination, a problem to be removed, and actually recommend use of fungicides to kill any fungi present. </p>
<p>This approach is rooted in reason, as many fungi can and will cause disease in plants, and a seed bank needs to avoid becoming a vector for plant diseases. But we’re increasingly realising that the microorganisms in and around us influence the world far more than previously understood. As humans, altering the balance of microorganisms in our gut can have all sorts of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/mehd.v26.26191%40zmeh20.2015.26.issue-s2">negative health consequences</a> and has even been <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-gut-microbiome-may-be-linked-to-dementia-parkinsons-disease-and-ms-144367">connected</a> to neurological disease. We know less about the microbiome of plants, but this will need to change if we are to successfully protect all the species at risk of extinction.</p>
<p>The idea that the Millennium Seed Bank must surely be full of these potentially helpful microfungi we call endophytes inside its seeds would not be a stretch to anybody who studies fungi or microbiology, and yet no one had ever looked before. This changed a few years ago, when Gaya first started to consider the question. But where to start, in such an enormous collection of seeds?</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ewFT8iZUQ84?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A look inside Kew’s fungarium.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The case study: banana wild relatives</h2>
<p>Our opportunity came thanks to a fellow PhD student, Simon Kallow, who studies how to store the seeds of banana wild relatives long-term for conservation. As the name suggests, crop wild relatives are the close relatives of our cultivated crops. They’re interesting to scientists as they’re <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-quest-to-save-the-banana-from-extinction-112256">far more genetically diverse</a> and so can provide a source of useful traits to breed into our crops, for instance to make them more resilient to climate change, pests or disease.</p>
<p>There’s another idea that the microbiome of wild relatives could also have a role to play in protecting our crops: that we can potentially introduce endophytes from wild relatives into crops to pass on useful properties, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311932.2018.1549195">such as stress tolerance</a>. Protecting wild relatives, and their microbiomes, can be seen as a safeguard for the future of the crops we all rely on for food.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-quest-to-save-the-banana-from-extinction-112256">The quest to save the banana from extinction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is particularly relevant for bananas, which are not only an important cash crop – worth <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/ca9212en/ca9212en.pdf">US$31 billion</a> a year – but also a significant part of people’s diets in the regions where they grow. In an unfortunate case of history <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-the-familiar-cavendish-banana-in-danger-can-science-help-it-survive-64206">repeating itself</a>, global banana crops are currently threatened by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-quest-to-save-the-banana-from-extinction-112256">fungal pathogen strain</a> called Foc TR4, and so it’s doubly important to conserve their wild relatives.</p>
<p>Kallow was interested in what fungal endophytes might be inside his wild banana seeds, and if they could be playing a role in how well the seeds survived storage and went on to germinate. It was the perfect chance for us to have a first look at what fungi <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.643731/full">might be hidden</a> inside the Millennium Seed Bank collections.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Wild banana seeds and closeup of fungi growing inside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387191/original/file-20210302-21-1y7a4oi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kallow had noticed fungi growing from inside his wild banana seeds.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We used two approaches – we crushed up seeds and sequenced any fungal DNA from inside, but we also tried to grow the fungi from inside seeds, known as “culturing”. That way, we captured as much of the diversity that was present as possible but also built a collection of living fungal endophyte cultures that we can use in the future.</p>
<p>The reality of working with organisms that are too small to see can be a little anticlimactic – a lot of the time you’re just looking at tiny amounts of colourless liquid in tubes. So besides from being useful, growing some species in culture is also a little more exciting and provides a first glimpse at the incredible hidden diversity. I think they can be rather beautiful too. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fungal endophyte cultures." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386479/original/file-20210225-23-ibfx9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Culturing fungi must be done under sterile conditions to make sure the cultures don’t become contaminated.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A hidden trove of fungi</h2>
<p>In looking at just six plant species, we were able to find almost 200 fungal species. Extrapolate up to the Millennium Seed Bank’s 40,000 plant species and – even if assuming there is some overlap of fungal endophytes between different plant species – you can end up with a heady estimate of fungal diversity hidden in their collections, potentially reaching <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.643731/full">over a million species</a>, some of which are likely new species to science.</p>
<p>Mining that diversity is intrinsically interesting in terms of studying the fungi themselves, but these are also species that may be important to the health of the plants they inhabit, and therefore crucial to the objectives of seed banking at large.</p>
<p>As we were able to grow some fungal endophytes in culture, we know that at least some species (mostly the very common ones) can survive the Millennium Seed Bank’s protocol of processing, drying and freezing seeds. There were other endophytes that we detected from sequencing their DNA, but which didn’t grow in culture – but these weren’t necessarily dead, as many fungi are more sensitive and don’t grow readily in the lab. In the future we will need to figure out the true extent of endophytes surviving the storage process in case there are important, rare species that are lost.</p>
<p>Our results support <a href="https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/84/1/143/587906">previous</a> <a href="https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-019-0723-5">studies</a> which suggest that fungi are usually mutually exclusive inside seeds. In other words, in most cases where we detected fungi inside the seeds, we only found a single species, suggesting that in the limited space of the seed one fungal species can often dominate and outcompete any others.</p>
<p>This raises an interesting question as to whether we can use this phenomenon to protect our plants from pathogens: if we can inoculate a plant with the “right” fungal endophyte, could it outcompete fungal pathogens that try to infect the seed? This idea needs to be tested in experiments, but it’s one example of why there is hope that we can use endophytes for a natural form of plant disease control.</p>
<p>We also found that the total number of fungal endophytes present in each set of seeds, as well as the specific combination of species, changed depending on the habitat that the seeds were collected from. This means that when researchers are working in the field, where they choose to collect seeds from can have unforeseen consequences on what microbiome will be preserved. </p>
<p>The proportion of seeds which were alive or germinated after storage also changed depending on habitat. Hopefully future experiments can confirm if the fungi themselves are contributing to this pattern. This is why it’s so valuable to have preserved living fungal cultures, as it allows us to use them in experiments to test many of these questions.</p>
<h2>The future is fungal</h2>
<p>As is so often the case in science, we emerged from this study with more questions than answers. But some of these questions, which have consequences for the way we protect seeds for the future, have never been researched before at the Millennium Seed Bank. Are we managing to preserve enough of the seed microbiome? How much will that matter for the plants’ health? </p>
<p>And then there are the questions about the fungi themselves – what can we learn from this previously unexplored gold mine of fungal diversity? There is so much yet to discover from the world of fungi, and so often it’s right under our noses. To rise to the challenge, in the first instance, we need to ensure people have the opportunity to learn about them – a different experience from what I had, barely hearing about fungi in university, and not at all at school.</p>
<p>In the summer of 2019 I helped to run the fungi stall at <a href="https://www.kew.org/science/engage/get-involved/science-festival">Kew’s Science Festival</a>, an annual public event where visitors are invited to take part in activities and talk to scientists about why plants and fungi are so important to our lives. I will always remember the wide-eyed looks as I explained that the biggest organism in the world is actually a <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2182291-humongous-fungus-is-older-than-christianity-and-weighs-400-tonnes/">400-tonne, 2,500 year old “humongous” fungus</a>, or that some mushrooms <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-mushrooms-glow-in-the-dark-heres-why-39075">glow in the dark</a> to attract insects.</p>
<p>Fungi are strange and cool and interesting enough that really all you have to do is share them and fascination will follow. Children and adults alike would approach our stall knowing almost nothing about fungi, but by the end of the weekend, fungi were among the top mentions of what visitors enjoyed most at the festival.</p>
<p>You can find amazing things once your eyes are opened to this weird and wonderful kingdom.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-crisis-how-museums-could-inspire-radical-action-142531?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Climate crisis: how museums could inspire radical action</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/prehistoric-communities-off-the-coast-of-britain-embraced-rising-seas-what-this-means-for-todays-island-nations-147879?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Prehistoric communities off the coast of Britain embraced rising seas – what this means for today’s island nations</a></em></p></li>
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rowena Hill is a Natural Environment Research Council funded PhD student with the London NERC DTP.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ester Gaya works for RBG Kew and receives funding from Evolution and Education Trust and Pragnell Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Kallow receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. </span></em></p>
The idea that seed banks must be full of potentially helpful microfungi inside seeds was not a stretch, and yet no one had ever looked before.
Rowena Hill, PhD Candidate, Fungi, at Kew Gardens and, Queen Mary University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152497
2021-02-11T12:44:42Z
2021-02-11T12:44:42Z
Durex condoms: how their teenage immigrant inventor was forgotten by history
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382564/original/file-20210204-22-nime82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ternopil-ukraine-january-29-2018-durex-1012284415">Dmytro Khlystun/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around 975 Durex condoms are sold <a href="https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/RECKITT-BENCKISER-GROUP-P-9590106/news/Durex-under-the-microscope-31971743/">every minute</a>. The <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/739346/condom-market-value-worldwide/">global condom market</a> is predicted to grow to over US$11 billion (£8 billion) by 2023, and Durex is in the privileged position of being the world’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10712088">most popular</a> brand. Yet until recently, the young man who invented Durex’s mass-produced condom had been forgotten – even by the manufacturer itself. </p>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id= https://theconversation.com/durex-condoms-how-their-teenage-immigrant-inventor-was-forgotten-by-history-152497&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p>The origins of Durex go back to the London Rubber Company, which began trading in 1915 and specialised in importing modern, disposable condoms for re-sale in Great Britain. In 1932 the firm underwent a game-changing switch from wholesaling to fabrication, when it started manufacturing in-house under the Durex brand. By the mid-1940s, London Rubber had the biggest production capacity in Britain, and by the mid-1960s, <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Protective_Practices/1d_oDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1">the world</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An unwrapped, unrolled 1967 condom, and a packet of three wrapped one." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381465/original/file-20210130-23-xzff9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1960s Durex Gossamer condom, photographed by Jessica Borge in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Private collection of Jessica Borge, 2018</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a social historian with an interest in businesses, I had been <a href="https://londonrubbercompany.com/">intrigued by London Rubber</a> ever since a friend pointed out the then-derelict factory in Chingford in the late 1990s, after production was moved to Asia. I was fascinated by the idea that thousands of ordinary Londoners made their living from condoms, and set about researching the topic for my PhD. Turning this work <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/protective-practices-products-9780228003335.php?page_id=120347&">into a book</a> gave me the opportunity to deepen my research. </p>
<p>The one question I really wanted to answer was who actually invented Durex condoms. They have long been attributed to a man called Lionel Alfred Jackson, a third-generation Russian-Jewish immigrant who founded London Rubber in 1915. It was Jackson who, in 1929, patented the Durex <a href="https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00000502932">trademark</a> (standing for “Durability, Reliability, and Excellence”). But surely there was more to this story? </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Red book cover reading 'Protective Practices: A History of the London Rubber Company and the Condom Business', JESSICA BORGE." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1099&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1099&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383482/original/file-20210210-19-132ze6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1099&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">McGill-Queen's University Press</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My style of research involves the painstaking examination of documents. But as no company archive for London Rubber is available to researchers, my investigation has involved forensic detective work, with discoveries often coming about through hunches. </p>
<p>The memorable name “Lucian Landau” had popped up in correspondence between London Rubber and the Family Planning Association (held at <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/chm5t55w">Wellcome Collection</a>) and on <a href="https://worldwide.espacenet.com/searchResults?ST=singleline&locale=en_EP&submitted=true&DB=&query=Lucian+Landau">patents</a>. But Landau wasn’t mentioned in the few official documents archived at <a href="https://vestryhousemuseum.org.uk/">Vestry House Museum</a>, or in the company magazine London Image, which had been supplied to me by ex-London Rubber employee <a href="http://www.heredit.com/issue/issue-thirty-two/">Angela Wagstaff</a>. This piqued my interest: Landau must have been somebody important if he was on the patents.</p>
<p>I checked the British Library on the off-chance it held some reference to Landau and was thrilled to find a rare copy of his <a href="http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=moreTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=BLL01010123553&indx=2&recIds=BLL01010123553&recIdxs=1&elementId=1&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&frbg=&&dscnt=0&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BLCONTENT%29&vl(2084770704UI0)=any&tb=t&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&srt=rank&tab=local_tab&dum=true&vl(freeText0)=Lucian%20Landau%2C%20Normal%20I%20suppose&dstmp=1611943551324">self-published autobiography</a>. Incredibly, Landau had written the story of his involvement with London Rubber. I was able to triangulate his account with the rest of my evidence, and the pieces fell into place.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of smiling man in warehouse coat stood outside door with sign for 'British Latex Products'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381462/original/file-20210130-19963-1952r6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lucian Landau, the inventor of Durex condoms, at the entrance to British Latex Products, 1932.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Vestry House Museum and the London Borough of Waltham Forest</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What I discovered was that while Jackson came up with the business model for supplying condoms, the technology behind Durex was invented by Landau, a Polish teenager living in Highbury and studying <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/5dfa25da-9317-3f70-be1d-cc2d6359ed57">rubber technology</a> at the former <a href="https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/about/our-university/our-history/">Northern Polytechnic</a> (now London Metropolitan University).</p>
<p>His story is fascinating: Landau had left London Rubber under a cloud in 1953 and was erased from the official company history. He then built a new life for himself as a medium and <a href="https://archive.org/details/arthurcclarkeswo0000fair?q=%22Lucian+Landau%22">psychic investigator</a>. Until now, Landau’s centrality to the modern condom has gone unrecognised. But if Landau was so important to London Rubber, how did he come to be erased from the history of Durex condoms?</p>
<h2>Landau in London</h2>
<p>Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1912, Landau was sent to London to study rubber technology by his family, who were small-time industrialists dealing in rubber, perfume, cosmetics and soap. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Cover of old prospectus, with college name in large letters, surrounded by decorative border." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381461/original/file-20210130-23-1a36kh0.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">Example prospectus, Northern Polytechnic Institute, for the 1922-23 session. Landau began his rubber technology course c.1929-1930.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reproduced by permission of London Metropolitan University's Library and Special Collections.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was 1929 and he was only 17. The expectation was that, once trained, he would return to Poland and take over his father’s business. But Landau soon realised he adored London and did not want to leave. “I felt more at home here than I ever felt in Warsaw,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I felt I could never leave this place.” </p>
<p>Attending rubber technology classes in Holloway and living with other boarders (and a singing parrot) in Highbury Place, his great pleasure was to explore the local area on foot. Upper Street and Chapel Market were favourites, and Landau quickly learned the streets of Islington, Hackney and Camden, the City and West End. “I was mainly interested in shop windows,” he said, “and particularly in various rubber articles.”</p>
<p>Having tasted independence, Landau was ready to go it alone in London but was ineligible to seek employment under his student visa. He could, however, start a business. His fascination with shop windows in this nation of shopkeepers would prove key. </p>
<p>Unconvinced of the quality of rubber toilet sponges available, Landau developed a new sponge process in the polytechnic’s lab, set up a manufacturing firm and offered employment. The Home Office granted him <a href="https://archive.org/details/b19974760M2862/page/308/mode/2up?q=%2522Lucian+Landau%2522">leave to remain</a>, so long as business continued. </p>
<p>But Landau was dissatisfied with toilet sponges. It was while experimenting with a Pirelli latex sample and some glass tubing, Landau writes, that he hit upon the idea of making latex condoms. “I knew that these products were all imported from Germany and America and there was no British manufacturer,” he wrote. “The plant required would be simple to construct and I could probably make it myself.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of large building with clock tower, with horse-drawn carts and carriages passing in front." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381460/original/file-20210130-19594-132gfwg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Northern Polytechnic Institute, Holloway Road, 1906, where Lucian Landau first experimented with latex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reproduced by permission of London Metropolitan University's Library and Special Collections.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Condoms have been around since ancient times. Early versions were often made from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R39Ehpbrdg">animal skin</a>, and production became a cottage industry in places like <a href="https://georgianera.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century-dildo-and-condom/">18th-century London</a>, where women ran <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Machine_Or_Love_s_Preservative_A_Poe/y5pkAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&kptab=overview">condom warehouses</a> around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Following <a href="http://madeupinbritain.uk/Rubber">Thomas Hancock’s</a> discovery of vulcanisation – the heat treatment of rubber – in the 1840s, heavy-weight, re-usable rubber sheaths were made. But these were far from ideal, having a bulky and uncomfortable seam along the lower edge.</p>
<p>Improvements towards the end of the 19th century led to condoms being made by dipping <a href="https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/4f72a78497f83e0308602bee">condom-shaped formers</a> into a sort of rubber <a href="https://listverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/10325331.jpg">cement</a>. This got rid of the seam but the process involved inflammable solvents that sometimes led factories to catch fire. But by the 1920s, condoms were being made using a safe latex dipping process developed in Germany and America. Latex was relatively new in Britain, giving Landau a first-mover advantage.</p>
<h2>Travelling condom salesman</h2>
<p>Hoping to generate interest in his new product, Landau revisited the shops from his walks. As luck would have it, a “Mr French” who ran a retail pharmacy at the corner of Mare Street and Well Street, Hackney, suggested that Landau seek out the legendary Lionel Jackson.</p>
<p>A travelling condom salesman, Jackson had put in the leg work visiting retailers – chemists’ shops, herbalists and “hygienic stores” – up and down the country, selling bought-in condoms wholesale for his company, London Rubber. Well known and respected, Jackson offered stockists a personal service and competitive margins. </p>
<p>Landau’s expertise in the production of rubber consumables presented Jackson with an exciting prospect: the chance to compete directly with manufacturers. So Jackson loaned Landau £600 to set up British Latex Products, to supply condoms to London Rubber under the Durex brand. Jackson took a 60% controlling share, retaining Landau at £5 per week. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Manual condom production began in 1932 underneath the “Rock-A-Bye” baby shoe works on a small industrial estate on Shore Road. Landau was barely 20 years old. Jackson gave Landau freedom to design and organise his plant without interference, and the two got along, Jackson being one of the few people at London Rubber whom Landau ever genuinely liked.</p>
<p>But in 1934, aged just 40, Jackson died from cancer of the spine. According to Landau’s autobiography, this had spread throughout his body and caused him enormous pain. His death was unexpected and there was no will, so his brother, Elkan, and sisters, Mrs Collins and Mrs Power, inherited the company. Operations were run by the young Angus Reid, who had been the first hire outside of the family eight years before Landau entered the scene.</p>
<p>Landau was not pleased with the new setup. He felt the remaining Jacksons to be “of limited intelligence” and found Elkan in particular a thorn in his side, although others at the firm spoke warmly of the man, who laughed a lot and brought everybody cakes. Years of animus followed and Landau experienced little contact with executives, preferring the methodical calm of his workshop. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, Landau was vital to London Rubber and remained in charge of production and R&D, overseeing the firm’s relocation to a purpose-built factory in Chingford in the late 1930s. It was here that Landau really began developing his technical ingenuity in condom production, especially during the second world war. Tested by wartime conditions, Landau had to find ways to produce a consistent product with varying qualities of latex. </p>
<p>From 1942, and under the wartime rationalisation scheme, latex was diverted to Chingford (and, crucially, away from competitors) so that London Rubber could supply the British forces with condoms. For a period, production was moved to a safer site underneath the Chingford viaduct, to protect workers (and condoms) from enemy bombing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Historic Durex rolled condom and packaging" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381464/original/file-20210130-19896-182ivca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Durex prophylactic condom c.1942-1945, produced by London Rubber Chingford under the supervision of Lucian Landau and supplied to the Allied Forces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Private collection of Jessica Borge, 2018.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At this stage, condom production was still a largely manual process, although some of the actual dipping was electronically assisted. Important parts of the process, such as stripping and testing the finished product, were done entirely by hand. The Herculean efforts involved in wartime production saw Landau maximise yield under pressured conditions. This ensured that, coming out of the war, London Rubber was Britain’s biggest condom manufacturer.</p>
<h2>The machines that made Durex</h2>
<p>After the war, Landau was made a director of London Rubber. But although he oversaw some important business decisions (such as taking the company public in 1950) his strength and legacy lay in technical achievements, which I have been able to corroborate by comparing his autobiography with my databank of documentary sources.</p>
<p>In particular, he was responsible for designing the sophisticated “automated protective” lines installed at the Chingford factory, “protective” being the preferred London Rubber word for condom. Together with the Durex brand, forever synonymised with condoms following the war, Landau’s automated machines constituted the strongest barrier to competition wielded by London Rubber. </p>
<p>Though developed by Landau in the 1940s, the first two automated machines were not installed until 1950 and 1952, after the wartime rationing of steel had ended. Each was about 200 yards long and had two “double decker” production lines, wherein hollow glass formers were dipped into two latex baths, on a large conveyor belt. These “double-dipped” condoms were then heat-treated, rinsed and rolled up by spinning brushes before being passed through a chalk solution to prevent sticking. They were then collected into a chute for air testing.</p>
<p>Incredibly, colour footage of this entire process survives, having been included in an award-winning educational film, <a href="https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b2847868x#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0">According to Plan</a>, produced by the company in 1964, which I <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02933984/document">have written about</a> elsewhere.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in white tests condoms on an automated production line." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383300/original/file-20210209-21-17e2wxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Electronic testing in the 1950s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Vestry House Museum and the London Borough of Waltham Forest</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thanks to these marvellous machines, production increased from 2 million condoms a year in the early 1930s, when the latex dipping was done manually, to the same volume each week in the early 1950s. By 1954, weekly production ran at 2.5 million, and there was there was a 29-fold increase in output overall as lines were added between 1951 and 1960. </p>
<p>Landau wasn’t the only inventor to create dipping chains. Fred Killian in Akron, Ohio, developed a similar technology in the 1930s. But whereas American condom manufacturers (such as Youngs) had to lease the Killian model, London Rubber’s machines were unique in Britain and protected by patent, meaning London Rubber could produce at economies of scale unmatched by other local producers. The product was also top quality, as I found out when I repeated a 1960s consumer test by filling an original 1967 Durex Gossamer with five pints of water as part of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOvc-riAc1U">recent talk</a> I delivered.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/693t03jabM0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Aged Condom Challenge: Can a 53-year-old Durex hold five pints of water?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But success also marked the end of the line for Landau, who had been harbouring ill feeling ever since Lionel Jackson’s death. This had been exacerbated by alleged dodgy dealings during the war when, Landau claims in his autobiography, Elkan Jackson and Angus Reid sold condoms on the black market. </p>
<p>After the war, a taxman shadowed Landau for a whole month while the company was under investigation for tax evasion related to the alleged black-marketing. In the end, Landau was cleared but Jackson and Reid (Landau wrote) were fined. Landau insisted upon his appointment to the board and 20% of London Rubber shares as compensation for being put in such a difficult position.</p>
<p>But these incidents never left him. Bad feeling was compounded by a series of unfortunate events in the 1950s, which led to his leaving the company for good.</p>
<h2>Landau’s last days</h2>
<p>London Rubber was a family firm with a positive ethos, routinely marking the achievements of its staff with a characteristic sense of occasion that made it an eventful and pleasant place to work. Life events (such as marriages and babies), as well as loyalty, were marked by the ceremonial giving of clocks, watches, layettes and other gifts. </p>
<p>Landau, by all accounts a deep-feeling but standoffish man, tended to keep himself to himself. Nonetheless, by the time his 21st work anniversary came up in 1953, he had a reasonable expectation that his tremendous accomplishments would be recognised. But the anniversary slipped by unmentioned and Landau did not receive the customary gold watch. This is seemingly corroborated by the absence of his name on the Long Service wall of fame (which was photographed for the company magazine, London Image, in 1969) and Landau was completely elided from <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20200930214041/https://www.durex.co.uk/pages/history">official company histories</a> – until I rediscovered him.</p>
<p>Historians of contraception and condoms (and, indeed, the companies that subsequently inherited the Durex brand) cannot be blamed for overlooking Landau. <a href="https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.809568">I did the same</a> before I looked deeper, particularly as the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20200930214041/https://www.durex.co.uk/pages/history">Lionel Jackson founding story</a> was so convenient.</p>
<p>But at the time, the neglect of Landau’s milestone seemed deliberate to him, and in the absence of internal company records, his is the only account of the incident we have. Personal misfortune befell Landau in the summer of 1953 during a love affair with switchboard operator Alice Maud (during his second divorce), which made them the subject of office gossip. Tragically, Maud took her own life, leaving Landau reeling. He kept the two aspirin bottles she had emptied for the rest of his life. </p>
<p>Back at London Rubber, tongues were wagging and Landau was miserable. “I asked myself why I should continue to work with people whom I did not like, and who did not really appreciate all I was doing,” he wrote. Enough was enough, and he resigned. Although some colleagues were markedly upset (his secretary also resigned in sympathy) there was little love lost. Landau picked up his things in September 1953 and never set eyes upon London Rubber again.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Grey card packets with purple writing reading 'Durex gossamers'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381457/original/file-20210130-19353-1khb00q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1960s Durex Gossamer, the first lubricated condom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Private collection of Jessica Borge, 2018.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At 42, Landau was still young and, with abundant shares and savings from London Rubber to support him, was free to pursue other interests alongside occasional consultancy work. He possessed a strong interest in spiritual matters, including mediumship (making contact with the dead), which was not unusual in the 20th century and was referenced fairly regularly in <a href="https://www.spookyisles.com/blithe-spirit-1945-review/">popular culture</a>.</p>
<p>Landau’s interest became more important when, as Landau wrote in his autobiography, he began to hear Maud speaking to him after her death, advising on day-to-day matters such as catching the correct tube train, which Landau reported finding useful. Apparently she had also passed a message from beyond the grave to the clairvoyant Florence Thompson, who Landau happened to see shortly after resigning. The message was to the point: Maud was sorry for what she had done but could not undo it. </p>
<p>Economically independent, making new friends and forever moved by his relationship with Maud, Landau spent the next 50 years developing his abilities as a medium through the London Spiritualist Alliance (now <a href="https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/events">College of Psychic Studies</a>) and the <a href="https://www.spr.ac.uk/about-spr">Society for Psychical Research</a>, in combination with investigating psychic phenomena. </p>
<p>Landau’s early adulthood had been monopolised by London Rubber, but his awareness of strange and seemingly inexplicable happenings had been with him since at least the 1930s, when he first started making condoms. Amazingly, there is video footage of a very elderly Landau recalling his “psychic experiences”, which I was directed to by the author <a href="https://gefmongoose.co.uk/">Christopher Josiffe</a>. It was only when I actually watched the video that I realised Landau had been captured describing a supposed incident of psychic healing that took place in the first factory in the 1930s, and described in his autobiography.</p>
<p>A girl’s hand had been crushed by a condom dipping rack but Landau, he wrote, healed her bloody, mangled fingers by holding them. The girl was apparently so grateful that she named her son after him. The video of him recounting this incident was filmed by Landau’s friend and colleague from the SPR, the late Mary Rose Barrington, who was a loyal supporter and wanted Landau’s achievements recognised. The society has kindly granted permission for me to show this excerpt for the first time.</p>
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<p>Landau had many mysterious experiences throughout his life, which are recounted <a href="https://archive.org/search.php?query=%2522Lucian%2520Landau%2522&sin=TXT">in various volumes</a> written by and for the wider community of people interested in psychic phenomena. He also published many papers on dowsing, but never lost his aptitude for everyday technical solutions, doing odd jobs around the College of Psychic Studies, such as mending televisions and plumbing. </p>
<p>But it was through his participation in London psychic and spiritualist communities in later life that Landau ultimately found happiness, meeting his third wife Eileen in 1955, and moving to the Isle of Man in 1967. Lucian Landau, psychic investigator, medium, dowser and original Durex technologist died in 2001, satisfied that his life’s work was complete.</p>
<p>Landau’s automated machines were in use up until the closure of the Chingford production plant in the summer of 1994. Today, delightfully, Landau’s name <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20201209181711/https://www.rb.com/newsroom/latest-news/news/2020/december/durex-under-the-microscope/">has been restored</a> to the official history of Durex following early publicity for <a href="https://londonist.com/london/history/london-rubber-company-factory-history-condoms">my book</a>. </p>
<p>I was hoping this would happen. It is easy to be cynical, but sometimes we only need look a little deeper to find the human story behind that which we take for granted.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-were-dreamt-up-100-years-ago-why-havent-our-fears-about-them-changed-since-153267?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Robots were dreamt up 100 years ago – why haven’t our fears about them changed since?</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-will-not-forget-our-colleagues-who-have-died-two-doctors-on-the-frontline-of-the-second-wave-148152?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘We will not forget our colleagues who have died’: two doctors on the frontline of the second wave</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-happened-the-morning-the-first-atomic-bomb-created-a-new-world-142184?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">This is what happened the morning the first atomic bomb created a new world</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Borge has received past funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Dittrick Museum of Medical History, the Guinness Partnership, the Wellcome Trust, the Business History Conference, the Business Archives Council, CHARM Association, European Association of the History of Medicine and Health, the European Research Council, Birkbeck College, Percy Skuy, and Dr Alison Payne. </span></em></p>
This is the story of Lucian Landau, the forgotten man who invented the technology that made Durex boom.
Jessica Borge, Digital Collections (Scholarship) Manager at King’s College London Archives and Research Collections; Visiting Fellow in Digital Humanities, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130668
2020-11-27T10:51:29Z
2020-11-27T10:51:29Z
Liberty cap: the surprising tale of how Europe’s magic mushroom got its name
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369097/original/file-20201112-21-1ymfwzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/psychedelic-mushroom-hand-412607932">Yellow_cat/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s autumn, the best season for mushroom pickers. And mushrooms – specifically magic ones – are in the spotlight. A <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40263-020-00748-y">growing body</a> of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31931272/">research</a> is showing that psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, has potential in treating psychological disorders like <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31931272/">depression</a>, <a href="https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/feature/psychedelics-entering-a-new-age-of-addiction-therapy/20066899.article?firstPass=false">addiction</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32170326/">PTSD</a>. The state of Oregon just voted to <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/09/oregon-just-voted-to-legalise-magic-mushrooms-13561453/">legalise</a> the mushrooms for therapeutic use – a US first.</p>
<p>Of the nearly 200 species of psychedelic mushrooms that have been identified worldwide, only one – <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em> – grows in any abundance in northern Europe. Like many mushrooms, <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em> is generally known not by its scientific designation, but by its common or folk name, the “liberty cap” mushroom.</p>
<p>For years, this bothered me. As a Roman historian, I know the liberty cap (the <em>pileus</em>, in Latin) as a hat given to a Roman slave on the occasion of their being freed. It was a conical felt cap, shaped like that of a smurf, and which undeniably bears a clear resemblance to <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em>’s distinctive pointy cap. </p>
<p>But how on earth did an obscure Roman social practice end up lending its name to a modern psychedelic? As <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.2016.1155371">I soon discovered</a>, the answer takes us through an assassination, a number of revolutions, a bit of poetry, a dash of xenophobia, and a very unusual scientific discovery.</p>
<p>The original liberty cap was an actual hat, worn by freed slaves in the Roman world to mark their status: no longer property, but never truly “free”, tainted by their history. For the freedman, it was a symbol both of pride and shame. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A silver coin bearing the words 'EID MAR' and a hat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369101/original/file-20201112-19-191u8qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brutus’s Eid Mar coin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eid_Mar.jpg#/media/File:Eid_Mar.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in the year 44 BC, the hat gained a new cultural currency after Julius Caesar was famously murdered on the Ides of March (March 15). To advertise his part in the deed, Marcus Junius Brutus (of “<em>et tu, Brute</em>” fame) minted coins, the obverse of which bore the legend EID MAR beneath a pair of daggers and the distinctive liberty cap. Brutus’s meaning was clear: Rome herself had been freed from Caesar’s tyranny.</p>
<p>Brutus’s use of this symbol translated it from a low status social marker into an elite political symbol, and one that enjoyed a considerably longer life than the short-lived Brutus himself. Throughout the remainder of the Roman period the goddess <em>Libertas</em> and the liberty cap were a commonly employed shorthand by emperors keen to stress the freedom that their absolute rule bought.</p>
<h2>Caps of revolution</h2>
<p>With the collapse of Roman power in Europe in the fifth century AD, the liberty cap was forgotten. But then, during the 16th century, as interest in and explicit emulation of Roman antiquity began to spread through the countries of Europe, the liberty cap again reached public consciousness.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Three men, one with a drum, wearing red caps." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369102/original/file-20201112-23-tf3zk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">French revolutionaries wearing bonnets rouges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygian_cap#/media/File:Sansculottes.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Books like Cesare Ripa’s <em>Iconologia</em> (1593) described the hat and its symbolism for educated audiences, and it again began to be used as a political symbol. When the Dutch drove the Spanish from Holland in 1577, coins bearing the liberty cap were minted, and William of Orange likewise minted liberty cap coins to commemorate his bloodless seizure of the English throne in 1688.</p>
<p>But it was in two of the great republican revolutions of the 18th century – the French and American revolutions – that it became a truly popular icon. Now blended with the visual form of the ancient <a href="https://academic.oup.com/fh/article-abstract/11/2/131/520339?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Phrygian cap</a>, the liberty cap (<em>bonnet rougue</em> in French) appeared no longer merely as a representational device but as an actual item of headwear or decoration.</p>
<p>In France, on June 20 1790, an armed mob stormed the royal apartments in the Tuileries and forced Louis XVI (later to be executed by the revolutionaries) to don the liberty cap. In America, revolutionary groups declared their rebellion against British rule by raising a liberty cap upon a pole in the public squares of their towns. In 1781 a medal, designed by no less than Benjamin Franklin to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, <em>Libertas Americana</em> (the personification of American Liberty) is depicted with wild, free flowing hair, the pole and cap of liberty slung across her shoulder.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Silver coin depicting liberty as a woman." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369103/original/file-20201112-17-tu983q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&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 1783 Libertas Americana medal, designed by Benjamin Franklin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygian_cap#/media/File:Libertas_Americana_silver_medallion_1783.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From headwear to fungi</h2>
<p>The revolutions of France and America were viewed with considerable disquiet from Britain. But the pole and cap of liberty clearly made an impact on a young poet by the name of James Woodhouse, whose 1803 poem, “Autumn and the Redbreast, an Ode”, paid a striking tribute to the varied beauty of mushrooms:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whose tapering stems, robust, or light,<br>
Like columns catch the searching sight,<br>
To claim remark where e’er I roam;<br>
Supporting each a shapely dome;<br>
Like fair umbrellas, furl’d, or spread,<br>
Display their many-colour’d head;<br>
Grey, purple, yellow, white, or brown,<br>
Shap’d like War’s shield, or Prelate’s crown—<br>
Like Freedom’s cap, or Friar’s cowl,<br>
Or China’s bright inverted bowl </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This seems to be the first ever connection of the physical cap of liberty and the distinctive pixie cap of the mushroom. It was clearly not used because it was an established name (note his inventive imagery with the other shapes he describes), but rather coined by Woodhouse as a poetic flourish. </p>
<p>This metaphor caught the attention of a famous reader, Robert Southey, who had reviewed the volume in which the poem appeared in 1804. In 1812, Southey, along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Omniana.html?id=UEkPAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">Omniana</a>, a two volume collection of table talk and miscellaneous musings intended to educated and inform the would-be conversationalist. Nestled in among attacks upon Catholic traditions and notes upon early English metre was the following observation on the “Cap of Liberty”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a common fungus, which so exactly represents the pole and cap of liberty, that it seems offered by nature herself as the appropriate emblem of Gallic republicanism, — mushroom patriots, with a mushroom cap of liberty.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Neither Woodhouse nor Southey and Coleridge identified the precise mushroom they had in mind with the cap of liberty metaphor. But as the discipline of mycology – the study of fungi – began to cement itself in the 19th century, a field driven by precisely the kind of gentleman scholars that would have kept a copy of Omniana on their shelves, the name was clearly and universally associated with <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little brown mushrooms growing in grass." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369095/original/file-20201112-15-wyyuzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Psilocybe semilanceata – or liberty caps – growing in the wild.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/liberty-caps-known-magic-mushrooms-growing-1827325079">JoeEJ/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At that time, this was an utterly obscure and unremarkable little mushroom below the notice of any but devoted mycologists. As common names for mushrooms began to be included in mycological handbooks, <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em> was routinely identified as the liberty cap. </p>
<p>Perhaps the earliest such example was in Mordecai Cooke’s 1871 Handbook of British Fungi. In 1894, Cooke published his Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms, which tellingly referred to <em>Psilocybe semilanceata</em>, within quotation marks, as “cap of liberty”, exactly the phrasing used by Coleridge, whom it would appear that Cooke was consciously quoting. By the 20th century, the name was firmly established.</p>
<h2>A mushroom becomes magic</h2>
<p>The story could, perhaps, end there, but it has a delightful coda, in which the liberty cap mushroom was propelled from total obscurity as merely one of literally hundreds of innocuous LBMs (little brown mushrooms) known only by scientific specialists to perhaps one of the best known members of Europe’s mycological fauna. </p>
<p>Throughout the literature written by Europeans on the customs and religions of the peoples of Central America, there existed rumours of a magical food that the Aztecs called <em>teonanácatl</em> (“the divine mushroom”). These rumours had long been discounted as superstitious mythologising, no more deserving of serious consideration than the shapeshifters of Norse and Icelandic saga. But in the early part of the 20th century, the divine mushroom captured the imagination of seemingly the most unlikely man on the planet, Robert Gordon Wasson, the vice president of the Wall Street banking firm JP Morgan.</p>
<p>Since the 1920s, Wasson had been obsessed with ethnomycology (the study of human cultural interactions with mushrooms). In the course of research that would lead to a voluminous bibliography, Wasson travelled to Mexico and there, after a long and frustrating search, finally found a woman who was willing to initiate him in the secrets of the sacred mushroom. He became (perhaps) the first white man to intentionally ingest a hallucinogenic fungus and published his experience in a 1957 Life article, “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeking_the_Magic_Mushroom">Seeking the Magic Mushroom</a>”.</p>
<p>Wasson’s discovery was a sensation. In 1958 a team led by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann – the man who first synthesised (and ingested) LSD – was able to isolate the main psychoactive compound in the mushrooms, which was named psilocybin as a nod to the fact that it was primarily mushrooms of the genus <em>Psilocybe</em> that possessed the chemical. Though species of the hallucinogen fungi were most concentrated in Central America, they began to be found worldwide. In 1969, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007153669800665">an article</a> in <em>Transactions of the British Mycological Society</em> established that none other than the innocuous little liberty cap contained psilocybin.</p>
<p>Though there are other psychedelic species that grow in Britain (including the distinctive red and white <em>Amanita muscaria</em> – <a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/fly-agaric/">fly agaric</a> – which contains muscimol not psilocybin), the liberty cap has secured a reputation as the poster-child for Britain’s domestically growing psychedelic fungi. Modern “shroomers” can’t resist punning on the liberty cap name – with its associations to the transcendental “liberation” afforded by psychedelics – and grassroots organisations such as the Shroom Liberation Front attest to this fact. </p>
<p>But in origin, the liberty cap’s name has nothing to do with psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary (“turn on, tune in, drop out”) or the 1960s counter culture. Rather – and somewhat improbably – it traces a path back through the political revolutions of the early modern period, via the murder of the tyrant Julius Caesar, to a conical cap worn by Rome’s former slaves.</p>
<p>To place the cap on their heads was a sign of their liberation. To pluck the modern liberty cap from the ground could see you spending a cool <a href="https://www.drugwise.org.uk/magic-mushrooms/">seven years</a> in jail.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrastos Omissi 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>
How on earth did an obscure Roman social practice end up lending its name to a modern psychedelic?
Adrastos Omissi, Lecturer in Latin Literature, University of Glasgow
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148498
2020-11-19T17:02:19Z
2020-11-19T17:02:19Z
Coronavirus has put scientists in the frame alongside politicians – and poses questions about leadership
<p>If there’s one thing we’ve got used to in the pandemic, it’s seeing our political leaders on TV standing next to scientists. So striking is the impact of scientists on policy that it has become hard to see such figures as anything other than leaders working alongside, rather than simply for, politicians.</p>
<p>The Swedish state epidemiologist <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5cc92d45-fbdb-43b7-9c66-26501693a371">Anders Tegnell</a> is a noteworthy example. His popularity in Sweden has reached levels normally beyond even the most popular political leaders. T-shirts bearing slogans such as “All power to Tegnell, our liberator” have become trendy, and more than one fan has had Tegnell’s face tattooed on their body. </p>
<p>Tegnell is given more airtime and was attributed greater leadership qualities than the Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven. Commentators have even referred to him as <em>landsfader</em> (father of the nation), which, with its overtones of Roman Augustan patriarchy, could hardly be more political.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NCaaFo-1uw8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Swedish man gets a tattoo of Swedish epidemiologist Anders Tegnell.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The US provides another interesting example of a scientist taking on a leadership role. Dr Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease specialist and an important White House adviser, became a de facto leader for large parts of the population during the crisis. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/3/21206011/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-stan-fandom-hero-donald-trump-white-house-task-force">Fauci’s fame and popularity</a>, especially in Democratic circles, is as striking as that of Tegnell in Sweden. And his stock as a national leader has risen to such a degree that he can credibly push back against some of Trump’s pronouncements.</p>
<p>It might not surprise us that scientists are involved in decision-making in a health crisis. Indeed, it seems obvious that politicians should call on scientific experts for help when facing a virus that poses a major threat to the population. Without scientific guidance, politicians and the public would struggle even more than they do now to navigate the pandemic. Yet from a historical perspective there is something rather unusual about today’s close alliance between scientists and politicians. In western culture, we have long been trained to understand the role of the scientist as standing in stark contrast to that of the politician. </p>
<h2>The leader and the bureaucrat</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2139277">an influential 1886 essay</a>, Woodrow Wilson, who was later to become the 28th US president, made a distinction between administration and politics. He argued that non-elected government officials should stay away from politics, which he understood as the realm of values-based decision making. </p>
<p>A few decades later, the German sociologist Max Weber made an even more influential distinction between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_authority">the charismatic leader</a> and the bureaucrat. The charismatic leader follows their inner conviction in a passionate struggle for power, whereas the bureaucrat obediently follows their political superiors while keeping their own politics at bay.</p>
<p>Within such dichotomies, scientists – to the extent that they contribute to political decision-making – clearly fall into the same camp as bureaucrats. Their task is to report the facts impartially to politicians when they are instructed to do so, allowing the political leaders to then decide how these facts fit their values and their vision for society.</p>
<p>Such distinctions have become deeply ingrained in our thinking and can take extreme forms. They do not only give rise to the image of the paper-pushing, risk-averse bureaucrat, but they also shape the contrasting idea of the leader as someone who stands above the rules by which ordinary people must abide. </p>
<p>True leaders, we are led to believe, must have a vision that transcends our world. Instead of engaging with the world as it is – which is the bureaucrat’s domain – the goal of the political leader is to create a new order. Instead of representing the world as it is – the task of the scientist – their goal is to lead us to another better world, even if that means ignoring or falsely representing the one in which we live.</p>
<h2>False dichotomy</h2>
<p>The strict conceptual dichotomy between the leader and the bureaucrat/scientist is not mirrored in the messy reality of the day-to-day running of nations.</p>
<p>Inevitably, scientists bring their values into their research, in deciding what deserves to be studied in the first place (as <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weber/">Weber acknowledged</a>) or how to communicate their results to a broader public. And, unlike their ideal counterparts, most real-life politicians and business leaders don’t consider themselves to reside in a sphere of pure “vision” that is above and beyond the realm of rules and facts.</p>
<p>Still, the leader-bureaucrat distinction continues to exert a great influence over us. And it can lead to problematic behaviour on both sides of the separation. </p>
<p>A traumatic lesson of the Holocaust is that the fantasy of the perfectly disinterested individual – concerned with nothing but obeying the rules set by their political superiors – can result in an evasion of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/29/hannah-arendt-adolf-eichmann-banality-of-evil">moral responsibility</a>, with disastrous consequences. </p>
<p>On the political side, the current occupant of the White House is a perfect contemporary example of a leader who feels untrammelled by contemporary norms. A <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1742715020937886">post-truth leader like US president Donald Trump</a> is not an anomaly but rather an extreme manifestation of how we have come to think about leadership and what we have come to expect from our leaders.</p>
<p>The idea that politics and science reside in distinct realms is, in short, itself the cause of significant problems. In the end, we don’t want bureaucrats or scientists who evade responsibility in the name of objectivity. Nor do we want leaders who consider themselves above the law. Different professional groups perform different roles in society, but those roles cannot and should not be thought in terms of rule-following versus rule-breaking behaviour, or in terms of facts (scientists) versus values (politicians).</p>
<p>Against the background of this cultural image of leadership, the roles taken on by scientists such as Tegnell and Fauci can be seen as a very positive development. </p>
<p>Scientists in leadership roles clearly play an important part in dealing with the pandemic. But just as importantly, the sight of scientists taking up these positions also does something to our notion of leadership. In particular, it challenges the dichotomy between leaders and bureaucrats that underpins popular leadership notions, such as visionary leadership, transformational leadership and authentic leadership.</p>
<p>The obvious good sense in bringing the most knowledgeable people into the decision-making process reminds us that good leadership is informed and not disconnected from what is happening around us. It reminds us that it takes an interest in the present and is not merely a mobilisation of the masses by means of a projected future.</p>
<h2>Is science-based leadership possible?</h2>
<p>But a word of caution is also appropriate. In the media coverage of and commentary on the pandemic, one often encounters the celebration of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/new-zealand-ardern-election-science-climate-2648384056.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1">“science-based leadership”</a>, a notion that is reminiscent of the 19th-century fantasy of a society designed around the discoveries of science alone – as espoused by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/positivism">positivist philosophers</a>. </p>
<p>In this media narrative, countries that have done well in battling the virus, such as Germany and New Zealand, are depicted as “science-based”, whereas countries that have messed up, such as the US and Brazil, are “anti-science”. </p>
<p>“Science”, in much of the media, quickly becomes reduced to “the facts”, and the facts quickly become numbers. A country is deemed to be following a “science-based” policy when it closely monitors the latest numbers of COVID cases, deaths, people in intensive care, and so on, and adjusts its policy accordingly.</p>
<h2>Precautionary principle</h2>
<p>In reality, things are not quite so straightforward. The results of scientific research are rarely, if ever, sufficiently clear-cut to allow them to be turned into specific policy measures without a further layer of political consideration. And there is no established unity among different sciences that would allow contrasting findings in, say, epidemiology and psychology to be “scientifically” weighed against each other. </p>
<p>Also, instead of following, as natural and logical steps, from the results of research, much of the key policymaking in supposedly science-based responses to the pandemic relied on the precautionary principle: the taking of determined action on a just-in-case basis. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3RC7EGDtOYM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The precautionary principle explained.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>New Zealand, for example, decided to “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0275074020941721">go hard and go early</a>”, before any significant body of scientific evidence was available to predict the outcomes of different approaches. Indeed, one way of conceiving of the precautionary principle more broadly is as a substitute for science when decisions need to be made and there is a limited amount of scientific evidence to provide a basis on which to make them. </p>
<p>While science is indispensable for a good understanding of what is happening today and how we may respond to it, it cannot come close to providing answers to all questions we are facing. The answers to bigger questions, such as those involving the setting of priorities (for example, balancing social wellbeing against short-term health outcomes), necessarily depend on value judgements. Weber gravely overshot the mark in his insistence that there are, and should be, two completely distinct sets of people, with one set acting in obedience to the other. But he was right in recognising that scientific input can only ever be limited in leadership decisions.</p>
<p>The popularity of the idea of science-based leadership is understandable as a counter-narrative to the way post-truth leaders have responded to the pandemic. If it merely points to the importance of scientific experts in mitigating the pandemic, there is also little to object to. But the kind of leadership that is needed in times of crisis (as well as in normal times, if such a thing exists) requires more than the inputting of numbers and swift decision making derived from calculating results. Ultimately, we must also reflect on how we want to live, what outcomes we value, and how to achieve these ends.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sverre Spoelstra 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>
We shouldn’t see politicians and scientists as residing in distinct, separate realms.
Sverre Spoelstra, Associate professor, Lund University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.