tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/year-in-review-23352/articles
Year in Review – The Conversation
2021-12-21T13:44:21Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173402
2021-12-21T13:44:21Z
2021-12-21T13:44:21Z
Devastating Colorado fires cap a year of climate disasters in 2021, with one side of the country too wet, the other dangerously dry
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438533/original/file-20211220-17-17j2v0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5971%2C3950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wildfires that swept through Sequoia National Forest in California in September 2021 were so severe they killed ancient trees that had adapted to survive fires.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CaliforniaDrought/a45fcec1f06d4095ac742f3632cbddae/photo">AP Photo/Noah Berger</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alongside a lingering global pandemic, the year 2021 was filled with climate disasters, some so intense they surprised even the scientists who study them.</p>
<p>Extreme rainstorms turned to raging flash floods that <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/heavy-rainfall-which-led-to-severe-flooding-in-western-europe-made-more-likely-by-climate-change/">swept through mountain towns in Europe</a>, killing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58992093">over 200 people</a>. Across Asia, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/over-57-million-affected-climate-disasters-across-asia-pacific-2021">excessive rainfall inundated wide areas</a> and flooded <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/21/china-floods-subway-people-trapped/">subway stations in China</a>. Heat waves shattered records in <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/western-north-american-extreme-heat-virtually-impossible-without-human-caused-climate-change/">the Pacific Northwest</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/06/24/june-heat-wave-europe-russia/">Europe and the Arctic</a>. Wildfires <a href="https://theconversation.com/western-fires-are-burning-higher-in-the-mountains-and-at-unprecedented-rates-as-the-climate-warms-167706">swept through communities in California</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/world/canada/canadian-wildfire-british-columbia.html">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/11/1033718496/climate-change-forest-fires-greek-island-evia-greece">Greece</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/11/world/australia/flooding-fire-climate-australia.html">Australia</a>. </p>
<p>The area around Boulder, Colorado, was so <a href="https://twitter.com/Weather_West/status/1476653425639182341">unusually dry</a> on Dec. 30, 2021, that a <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSBoulder/status/1476706118986567684">powerful wind storm</a> sent grass fires racing through neighborhoods in Superior and Louisville, burning <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=W2ehEa_BRY8">hundreds of homes</a> in a matter of hours. Officials said the winds were so strong, there was <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=W2ehEa_BRY8">little firefighters could do</a> but evacuate homes and businesses in the fires’ paths.</p>
<p>In the U.S. alone, damage from the biggest climate and weather disasters is expected to total well <a href="https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/time-series">over US$100 billion in 2021</a>. Many of these extreme weather events have been <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/">linked to human-caused climate change</a>, and they offer a glimpse of what to expect in a rapidly warming world.</p>
<p>In the U.S., something in particular stood out: a sharp national precipitation divide, with one side of the country too wet, the other too dry.</p>
<p><iframe id="hQ1IU" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hQ1IU/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>As a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/geology/wu_shuang-ye.php">climate scientist</a>, I study the impact of global warming on precipitation and the water cycle. Here’s what happened with precipitation in the U.S. in 2021 and why we’re likely to see similar scenarios in the future.</p>
<h2>The east-west weather divide</h2>
<p>The eastern U.S. weathered storm after storm in 2021. <a href="https://www.weather.gov/ohx/August212021HistoricFlooding">Record rainfall in Tennessee</a> triggered deadly flash flooding in August. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/hurricane-ida-2-reasons-for-its-record-shattering-rainfall-in-nyc-and-the-northeast-long-after-the-winds-weakened-167252">remnants of Hurricane Ida</a> merged with another front days after the hurricane hit Louisiana and became so intense they set rainfall records and flooded subway stations and basement apartments in New York and Pennsylvania, with devastating consequences. Severe storms <a href="https://theconversation.com/tornadoes-and-climate-change-what-a-warming-world-means-for-deadly-twisters-and-the-type-of-storms-that-spawn-them-173645">hit several states with deadly tornadoes</a> in December.</p>
<p>Almost the entire West, meanwhile, was in some <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/DataTables.aspx">stage of drought</a>, helping to fuel <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148908/whats-behind-californias-surge-of-large-fires">wildfires that swept</a> through forests <a href="https://theconversation.com/moving-beyond-americas-war-on-wildfire-4-ways-to-avoid-future-megafires-168898">and towns</a>.</p>
<p>This kind of east-west weather divide can be enhanced by <a href="https://www.weather.gov/arx/winter2122?fbclid=IwAR0qlDXTI-1U5z87HC1K3PG-LKT0gq_1Q0NPr9CU_l3pKNzsw6txnlOdgU4">La Niña</a>, a periodical phenomenon fueled by Pacific Ocean temperatures that tends to leave the Southwest drier than normal and the North and much of the eastern half of the U.S. wetter. </p>
<p>But something else is going on: Global warming fuels both dryness and extreme rainfall.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Several cars and a large pickup truck are piled up against a bridge after being swept downstream by a flood." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438536/original/file-20211220-49229-az9wu2.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">Flash flooding swept away cars and damaged homes in Tennessee in August 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXTennesseeFlooding/a08385a9aa4b4d4c808424dda293414d/photo">AP Photo/John Amis</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3 impacts of global warming on rainfall</h2>
<p>Three things in particular happen to precipitation when the planet warms.</p>
<p>1) Global warming increases evaporation, leading to more drying of land and plants and also more overall precipitation.</p>
<p>Higher temperature increases evaporation from Earth’s surface, drying out vegetation and soils, which can fuel wildfires. It also increases the atmosphere’s capacity to hold moisture at a rate of about 7% per degree Celsius that the planet warms. With more moisture evaporating, global precipitation is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-water-cycle-is-intensifying-as-the-climate-warms-ipcc-report-warns-that-means-more-intense-storms-and-flooding-165590">expected to increase</a>, but this increase is not uniform.</p>
<p>2) Global warming leads to more intense precipitation.</p>
<p>With higher temperature, more moisture is needed to reach the condensation level to form precipitation. As a result, light precipitation will be less common. But with more moisture in the atmosphere, when storm systems do develop, the increased humidity leads to heavier rainfall events.</p>
<p>In addition, storm systems are fueled by latent heat – the energy released into the atmosphere when water vapor condenses to liquid water. Increased moisture in the atmosphere also enhances latent heat in storm systems, increasing their intensity.</p>
<p>Research shows that both the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM">frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events has increased</a> since the 1950s over most land areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People walk down stairs into a flooded subway station." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438544/original/file-20211220-50538-voyeoa.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 remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded subway stations in New York City in September 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/commuters-walk-into-a-flooded-3rd-avenue-149th-st-subway-news-photo/1235009695">David Dee Delgado/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>3) Global warming tends to make wet places wetter and dry places drier.</p>
<p>Precipitation is not distributed evenly over the planet because of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fd03fBRsuU">global atmosphere circulation pattern</a>. This global circulation brings moisture to places where winds come together, such as the tropical regions where we find most of the world’s rainforests, and away from places where winds diverge, such as the midlatitudes where most world’s deserts are located.</p>
<p>Assuming no significant changes in global wind patterns, increases in evaporation and moisture will mean more moisture is transported from dry areas to wet areas and into the storm tracks at higher latitudes. Global warming could also potentially change the global circulation pattern, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600871">causing a shift</a> in the world’s wet and dry regions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Rows of dead trees lie on their sides in a flat field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438542/original/file-20211220-18663-y7hrwk.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 California farmer pulled out almond groves in June 2021 because of a lack of water to irrigate them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dead-almond-trees-lie-in-an-open-field-after-they-were-news-photo/1234466682">Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mountains, moisture and the east-west divide</h2>
<p>These dynamics are also affected by local conditions, such as the shape of the land, the types of plants on it and the presence of major water bodies.</p>
<p>The western U.S., with the exception of the West Coast, is dry in part because it lies in the rain shadow of mountains. The westerly wind from the Pacific Ocean is forced upward by the mountain ranges in the West. As it moves up, the air cools and precipitation forms on the windward side of the mountains. By the time the wind reaches the leeward side of the mountains, the moisture has already rained out. As the wind descends the mountains, the air warms up, further reducing the relative humidity.</p>
<p>Higher temperature in areas like these where the moisture supply is already limited means less humidity in the air, leading to less rain. Higher temperature and less precipitation would also reduce snow packs in the mountains and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-00996-w">cause earlier melt in spring</a>. All these changes are likely to increase aridity in the West.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People looking from a viewing platform at Lake Mead, where a white ring on the stone walls shows how far water has dropped below normal." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438543/original/file-20211220-23-88kvw9.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 ‘bathtub ring’ around Lake Mead in July 2021 reflected record low water levels in the Colorado River reservoir, which fell below 35% capacity and triggered water use restrictions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-white-bathtub-ring-around-lake-mead-shows-the-record-news-photo/1233759073">Photo by David McNew/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The eastern U.S., on the other hand, receives abundant moisture from the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico carried by the easterly trade wind. With abundant moisture supply, increasing temperature means more moisture in the atmosphere, leading to more precipitation and stronger storms.</p>
<p>This is <a href="https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/7/">what years of precipitation records show</a> and what is <a href="https://www.globalchange.gov/nca4">projected for future precipitation</a> based on climate models. Both show a decrease in annual precipitation in the West, likely meaning more long periods of drought, and an increase in the East with global warming.</p>
<p>[<em>Read The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p><em>This article was updated Dec. 30, 2021, with the fires in Boulder County, Colorado.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173402/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shuang-Ye Wu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
US disasters in 2021 told a tale of two climate extremes. A climate scientist explains why wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas drier.
Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173270
2021-12-13T14:22:43Z
2021-12-13T14:22:43Z
Machines, inventions and ‘good cities’: a pick of science and tech books
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436129/original/file-20211207-104971-1nsil0e.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">Shutterstock/VMW</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>With the year drawing to a close, many people will be wondering what books they may have missed out on in 2021. For those who prefer a heftier beach read, The Conversation Africa asked several academics to recommend the best science or technology-related books they read this year.</em></p>
<h2>Tolullah Oni</h2>
<p><strong>Palaces for the People by Eric Klinenberg, 2018</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/557044/palaces-for-the-people-by-eric-klinenberg/">Palaces for the People</a> by social scientist Eric Klinenberg was a stand-out book for me.</p>
<p>In the context of rapid urbanisation across Africa with significant investment in hard infrastructure like water and sanitation, the book introduces the notion of social infrastructure – shared physical places and institutions that shape social life – as critical for healthy societies. These range from outdoor green spaces like parks to indoor shared spaces like public libraries.</p>
<p>These are spaces that support physical activity and connection across social divides. Investing in this type of infrastructure can reap the benefits of social inclusion as well as physical and mental health.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436131/original/file-20211207-172173-1tp90vr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1162&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">Penguin Random House</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The book also highlights social infrastructure’s potential to improve urban resilience. For instance, Klinenberg researched a heat wave in Chicago that killed hundreds of people. He found that while poor neighbourhoods had the highest death rates overall, neighbourhoods that looked like they should have fared badly but had some of the lowest death rates also had strong social infrastructure. This included sidewalks and well-maintained streets, libraries and community organisations that drew people out of their homes into public life in normal times. </p>
<p>In the heatwave crisis, this infrastructure helped to identify and reach out to particularly vulnerable people and to prevent death.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical role that public space can play in addressing or aggravating pre-existing inequality, with public spaces that were usually the domain of cars <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23748834.2020.1806459">appropriated for physical activity and social connection</a>. This highlights the unmet demand for such places in our cities.</p>
<p>The book supports the notion that a core dimension of any “good city” is public space, an important mediator of equitable access to health-promoting opportunities. In that vein, I would argue that a good city is one in which planning of public space integrates health and climate resilience with principles of equity and inclusion to enhance urban resilience and health-proof the future of the city and its population.</p>
<p>Several cities across the African continent have recently developed resilience and climate action plans with mitigation and adaptation strategies. The book is a reminder that alongside hard infrastructure, planned interventions should not neglect social infrastructure as a powerful approach to equitably creating health.</p>
<h2>Christa Kuljian</h2>
<p><strong>The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, 2020</strong></p>
<p>Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez loves her field, which she says is not widely known because it is wedged between physics and chemistry. Ramirez’s book <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/alchemy-us">The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another</a> explores eight stories of how humans and matter transform one another. </p>
<p>The stories of clocks, steel rails, copper cables, photographic film, light bulbs, and silicon chips show how these technological and scientific developments have shaped human culture. “I use storytelling with the hopes of bringing the wonder and fun of science to more people,” says Ramirez.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436132/original/file-20211207-19-1ru7y1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&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">The MIT Press</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1966, the Polaroid Corporation created the system that produced two instant photographs in one minute for official documents, without a darkroom and added chemicals. Polaroid began to sell this film to the South African government under apartheid, to create ID photos for passbooks. In 1970, chemist Caroline Hunter, an African American employee at Polaroid, caught wind of the sales, and led a protest that ultimately resulted in the company’s withdrawal from South Africa. This is just one of the fascinating stories Ramirez tells about photographic film. In each of her eight essays, she introduces us to new perspectives, forgotten innovators, and the unintended consequences of scientific discoveries. </p>
<p>By showing many inventors as human and flawed, rather than as geniuses, Ramirez makes science more accessible. Everyone can create something, she says, “from a sandwich to a solar cell”, so stories of science need to reflect the fact that innovation is universal. As Ramirez suggests in her front matter, perhaps the famous science fiction novelist <a href="https://www.octaviabutler.com/theauthor">Octavia Butler</a> was thinking of materials science and The Alchemy of Us when she wrote: “All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you.”</p>
<h2>Abiodun Egbetokun</h2>
<p><strong>How Humans Judge Machines by César Hidalgo, Diana Orghian, Jordi Albo-Canals, Filipa De Almeida and Natalia Martin, 2021</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.judgingmachines.com/">How Humans Judge Machines</a> is the outcome of experimental social research carried out at the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a>.</p>
<p>It has an important message for today’s world: humans need a balanced view of machines. We tend to be biased against machines. For instance, if there is an accident involving self-directed technology such as an autonomous car, humans are more likely to reject the technology as unviable before even considering that the engineers may have made a design mistake that led to the accident in the first place.</p>
<p>Why is this important? We are now in a world driven by technologies. As the technology frontier continuously shifts forward, devices and solutions keep getting better. If we are biased against technologies, we may resist or reject technological solutions that could improve social welfare.</p>
<p>As explained in the book, a medical diagnosis tool that is not perfectly accurate but is more accurate than human doctors may be rejected if technology failures are perceived with a strong negative bias. Conversely, if we are overly optimistic about technological solutions, we may adopt hostile technology and fail to recognise the negative consequences until it is too late.</p>
<p>There are many reasons I find the book valuable. First, it is based on solid, peer-reviewed science. The experiments presented in the book involved nearly 6,000 randomly selected individuals. Even academic articles sometimes fail to meet this standard of representations and scrutiny. Second, the book deals with a topical issue: how to efficiently foster profitable interaction between human and machine in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This is one question that policymakers worldwide grapple with, and the book provides clear answers.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=875&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1099&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1099&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436134/original/file-20211207-140895-1xxwaqa.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">The MIT Press</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Third, the book is multidisciplinary; its insight is rooted in different knowledge traditions. Such insight is practical and free from disciplinary bias. The scenarios compare people’s reactions to human and machine actions across the five dimensions of moral psychology, and visit contemporary issues such as algorithmic bias, privacy and labour markets.</p>
<p>Finally, it is written in clear language for a general audience. I believe that most readers will enjoy reading this book as much as I have.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173270/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
These books offer insights into building better cities, the stories behind major inventions, and the interaction between humans and machines.
Natasha Joseph, Commissioning Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/105736
2018-12-16T19:21:39Z
2018-12-16T19:21:39Z
Broken records, ‘crunch’ and freemium that’s not free: 2018 was a huge year in gaming
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250187/original/file-20181212-76965-17sgkt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digital games are incredibly time-consuming and costly to produce.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boy-playing-fortnite-1153000715?src=JmVmIuTQfeStP_y4ynFKFw-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>2018 has been a big year for video games – and not just because of the games that were released. </p>
<p>We’ve seen broken revenue records, burgeoning discussions about the labour that goes into producing games, and a crack-down on predatory practices that squeeze more dollars out of players.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, eSports and livestreaming showed bumper growth. Progressively updated games, and the “early access” trend continued to both delight and frustrate. </p>
<p>In the games themselves, we got a heavy dose of nostalgia with new twists on the classics. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-playing-fortnite-lead-to-video-game-addiction-the-world-health-organisation-says-yes-but-others-disagree-98458">Could playing Fortnite lead to video game addiction? The World Health Organisation says yes, but others disagree</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Bumper revenues</h2>
<p>The “battle royale” game Fortnite was the most <a href="https://theconversation.com/stay-alive-and-if-something-moves-shoot-it-one-year-of-phenomenal-success-for-fortnite-103528">outstanding and unexpected success</a> of the year, hitting <a href="https://www.polygon.com/fortnite/2018/9/20/17884036/how-many-fortnite-monthly-players-2018">78.3 million players in August 2018</a> and bumping developer Epic Games to a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/it-s-an-epic-deal-fortnite-maker-scores-1-76-billion-from-investors-20181027-p50car.html">US$15 billion dollar valuation</a>.</p>
<p>Cementing the economic scale of video-games, Rockstar Games’s Red Dead Redemption 2 had the second highest opening weekend for any media release ever, grossing <a href="http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2375981">US$725 million</a> – and outstripping any of the latest Marvel movies .</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/247436/original/file-20181127-130896-i6v4si.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">Red Dead Redemption 2 grossed USD$750 million in its opening weekend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">instacodex/flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Scrutiny of practices</h2>
<p>Accompanying these dizzying numbers were reports of “crunch” – excessive and extensive periods of overtime – <a href="https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/10/rockstar-games-red-dead-redemption-2-culture-of-crunch/">to get games released on time</a>. </p>
<p>This has led to louder conversations about the labour that goes into making games, and a growing <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-10-26/rockstar-red-dead-redemption-overtime-game-workers-union/10419706">unionisation movement</a>. </p>
<p>Attention also focused on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/loot-boxes-and-pay-to-win-features-in-digital-games-look-a-lot-like-gambling-88010">gambling-like transactions</a> that now pervade “freemium” games. These games are free to play, but include many premium features that can be accessed with an unlimited number of small, in-game purchases (or “microtransactions”). </p>
<p>In June, the Australian Senate <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Gamingmicro-transactions">referred some of these practices to a senate inquiry</a>, which concluded with a recommendation for a more comprehensive review.</p>
<h2>The classics re-imagined</h2>
<p>Many of 2018’s most anticipated and celebrated games drew heavily from the past. Games like Enhance Games’s acclaimed Tetris Effect, and Nintendo’s Pokémon: Let’s Go are both re-imaginings of classic games from well-established franchises.</p>
<p>It may be that the biggest MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) lauch for 2019 will be the <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/22/18010408/blizzcon-2018-world-of-warcraft-classic-demo-details">re-release of the 2004 “classic” version</a> of World of Warcraft. </p>
<p>Gaming hardware manufacturers are tapping into this too, with devices like <a href="https://www.nintendo.com.au/snes-classic/">Nintendo Classic Mini</a> selling out at launch.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-punts-on-gaming-to-lure-millennials-back-to-the-platform-98158">Facebook punts on gaming to lure millennials back to the platform</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Increased longevity of games</h2>
<p>Digital games are incredibly time-consuming and costly to produce. As such, games are taking on longer life cycles, with increased focus on online multiplayer game modes. </p>
<p>A good example is 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V, which had an initial development budget over <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/the-making-of-rockstar-games-red-dead-redemption-2.html">US$250 million</a>. Thanks to the enduring popularity of its online mode, the game is now the most <a href="https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-04-09-gta-v-is-the-most-profitable-entertainment-product-of-all-time">profitable media product of all time</a>.</p>
<p>Bethesda has followed this with a (so far <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/11/23/after-a-historically-bad-launch-is-fallout-76-worth-saving/#1e7936fb320f">poorly received</a>) foray into the online space with Fallout 76, an online version of its popular singleplayer Fallout series. </p>
<p>With the life cycle of game development stretching across multiple years, it’s likely that future game releases will focus on longer life cycles for games and to support online play, where players can continually make regular microtransactions while they play (as is the case of Grand Theft Auto V).</p>
<h2>eSports and livestreaming</h2>
<p>eSports and livestreaming have continued to prove immensely popular in 2018. </p>
<p>Valve’s Dota 2 amassed its largest prize-pool to date, over <a href="https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments">US$25 million</a>. And new eSports promise to emerge, with Valve releasing Artifact this month – its take on the popular digital card game genre (competing with Blizzard’s Hearthstone). </p>
<p>Further blowing up this space, Epic Games announced over US$100 million in prize money for <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/12/17456852/fortnite-world-cup-100-million-epic-games-e-sports-tournaments-e3-2018">Fortnite’s eSport in 2019</a>. </p>
<p>Much of the success of games like Fornite can be attributed to the recent and rapid growth of video game livestreaming on platforms like Twitch, where you can watch other people play games.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S1VuZ2FdQhM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fortnite streamer ‘Ninja’ on Ellen.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins exemplifies this as a now global phenomenon transcending Twitch; he even <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1VuZ2FdQhM">played with TV host Ellen</a>. Ninja amassed a viewership of over 600,000 concurrent viewers when he broadcast his gameplay session with popular celebrities like <a href="https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-battle-royale/2018/3/23/17152730/ninja-drake-fortnite-discord-record">Drake</a>.</p>
<p>Given the immense popularity of watching games, it is likely we will continue to see games designed to be watched, and not just played.</p>
<h2>Early access and the ongoing evolution of games</h2>
<p>It’s no coincidence that many of the games mentioned so far didn’t actually launch this year, with various trends changing what it means to talk about a “year in videogames”.</p>
<p>Games like Hello Games’s No Mans Sky have been <a href="https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/zmk4w8/we-spent-an-hour-talking-to-hello-games-about-everything-no-mans-sky">updated significantly</a> in 2018, following the game’s rocky 2016 launch. These updates have been <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/27/17619906/no-mans-sky-next-review-update">very positively received</a> – but because it is an online game, the 2016 version people paid for no longer exists. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gaming-or-gambling-study-shows-almost-half-of-loot-boxes-in-video-games-constitute-gambling-99013">Gaming or gambling: study shows almost half of loot boxes in video games constitute gambling</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Another persistent model is to release unfinished games in “early access” mode while development is ongoing. Digital distribution platforms like Steam are a popular venue for early access games. The digital storefront dedicates an <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/genre/Early%20Access/">entire section</a> to early access games, inviting gamers to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Discover, play, and get involved with games as they evolve.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some games have now been in early access for <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2018/11/8/18073538/dayz-beta-final-release-early-access">more than five years</a>. </p>
<p>So when is a game really released? The Australian space-trading game <a href="http://objectsgame.com/the-game/overview/">Objects in Space</a> was nominated for a 2018 <a href="https://www.australiangamesawards.com">Australian Game Award</a>, but subsequently removed (at the request of the developer) as it is still in early access. </p>
<p>As we see it, iteratively updated games and the “early access” trend represent a mixed blessing. This business model has allowed the invention of entirely new genres of games that can succeed when supported by early access and improved via player feedback.</p>
<p>Coupled with this there is also an increasing trend of “<a href="https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37317/abandonware">abandonware</a>”, or unfinished games abandoned by their developer despite being sold to players with the promise of future updates and improvements.</p>
<p>In any case, forecasting what games will have the biggest impact in the next 12 months has become close to impossible. Perhaps it is a case for the <a href="https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/11/a-funny-game-about-being-a-frog-detective/">Frog Detective</a>?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Marcus Carter receives funding from The University of Sydney, and is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Microsoft Research Centre for Social, Natural User Interfaces at The University of Melbourne. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Egliston 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>
Fortnite was the most outstanding and unexpected success of 2018, hitting 78.3 million players in August, and bumping developer Epic Games to a US$15 billion dollar valuation.
Marcus Carter, Lecturer in Digital Cultures, SOAR Fellow., University of Sydney
Ben Egliston, PhD candidate in Media and Communications, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89445
2017-12-22T04:20:06Z
2017-12-22T04:20:06Z
Speaking with: social researcher and author Hugh Mackay on 2017, ‘a really disturbing year’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200125/original/file-20171220-4951-lo530s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social researcher Hugh Mackay and The Conversation's FactCheck Editor Lucinda Beaman.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>“I’ve found 2017 a really disturbing year.”</p>
<p>That’s the summary from writer, thinker and social researcher Hugh Mackay. </p>
<p>Mackay spoke in December with The Conversation’s FactCheck Editor Lucinda Beaman at the Sydney launch of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversations-2017-yearbook-articles-from-australias-top-thinkers-86204">The Conversation 2017 Year Book: 50 standout articles from Australia’s top thinkers</a>. Among the essays featured in the book is Mackay’s enormously popular and thought-provoking article titled <a href="https://theconversation.com/hugh-mackay-the-state-of-the-nation-starts-in-your-street-72264">The state of the nation starts in your street</a>. </p>
<p>The discussion, which you can hear in full on The Conversation’s Speaking With podcast above, touched on issues ranging from the rise of Donald Trump and what it means for Australian politics, to social dislocation and distrust in our institutions – and in each other.</p>
<p>Mackay said: “We’re now seeing many long term trends coming to fruition”.</p>
<p>“What is happening to Australian society is that we are edging in that same direction [as America]: more inequality, a growing number of people who feel as though the political narrative – such as it is – has got nothing to do with them,” he said.</p>
<p>“Fragmentation is the theme of 2017,” he said, citing concerns about loneliness and disconnected communities. </p>
<p>As for what we can do differently in 2018? Part of the solution, Mackay said, is getting off the screens and connecting with people in our local neighbourhoods.</p>
<p>“We don’t have to be prime minister, we don’t have to be in government, we don’t have to be the lord mayor of Sydney to produce changes that could transform our way of life and mental health,” he said.</p>
<p>“We’re like most species on the planet in our deep need of each other, our deep need to feel connected, to feel as though we belong to herds and tribes, neighbourhoods groups and communities.”</p>
<p>“So the first thing I would say is let’s recognise that this strange collection of people that I live with in my apartment block or in my street <em>are</em> my neighbours and the neighbourhood.”</p>
<p>“We’re all friendly with our friends and we all know how to be nice to people we like. The great thing about neighbourhoods is they’re full of people we may like or dislike, very different from us,” he said. “It’s very good for our moral development to have to learn how to rub along with people you didn’t choose.”</p>
<p>When you move into a neighbourhood, he said, “you have imposed upon yourself a moral obligation to engage with whatever that community turns out to be. Because in a crisis, you’re going to need each other.”</p>
<p>“If you know that someone in your street or in your apartment block is living alone and you don’t see much of them, make sure you’ve made contact. Just knock on the door and say ‘G'day, I’m Hugh, I’m not going to bother you but I’m here’,” he said.</p>
<p>“It’s a good time of year to be saying ‘what can we do?’. Because it’s the season when it doesn’t seem deeply weird to organise a street party, or to invite the neighbours in.”</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/speaking-with.../id934267338">Subscribe</a> to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on Apple Podcasts, or <a href="http://tunein.com/radio/Speaking-with---The-Conversation-Podcast-p671452/">follow</a> on Tunein Radio.</em></p>
<p><strong>Music</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/The_Contessa/Wisteria">Free Music Archive: Blue Dot Sessions - Wisteria</a></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Author and social researcher Hugh Mackay says fragmentation was among the key themes of 2017 – but he has some concrete suggestions on how we can do better in 2018.
Sunanda Creagh, Senior Editor
Lucinda Beaman, FactCheck Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/88917
2017-12-21T14:21:52Z
2017-12-21T14:21:52Z
Giving and fundraising: 4 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198362/original/file-20171208-27677-1cl0g6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">To mark its 30th anniversary in business, the national PetSmart chain is donating enough food to serve animals in need an estimated 60 million meals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/BABGAM-San-Diego-Christmas-Shoot/8ec63a21780f4df39577534ab6963939/1/0">Sandy Huffaker/AP Images for PetSmart</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although Americans give nearly <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-influences-american-giving-78800">US$400 billion a year</a> to museums, churches, food pantries and other nonprofits that employ <a href="http://www.independentsector.org/about/the-charitable-sector/">one in 10 of the nation’s workers</a>, informed guidance for givers and fundraisers alike can be hard to find outside niche publications.</p>
<p>The Conversation’s coverage in 2017 of everything from billionaire Jeff Bezos’s open-ended call for <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-jeff-bezos-gets-wrong-and-right-with-his-populist-philanthropy-79740">philanthropic suggestions</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-religion-motivates-people-to-give-and-serve-81662">the role faith plays</a> in motivating donations is helping to bridge that gap, including several articles from our archive that explain the charitable world’s fundamental dynamics. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198349/original/file-20171208-27719-rudu2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&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">Learning by doing can help turn students into philanthropists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/endowment-grantor-philanthropy-generosity-giving-619913111?src=8N1ey_53eAXzXbbtmZaruQ-1-6">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<h2>1. Why people give</h2>
<p>Sara Konrath, a psychologist based at Indiana University’s Lilly School of Philanthropy, teamed up with Femida Handy, a University of Pennsylvania economist, to identify the most common drivers of giving decisions. Through research, they have zeroed in on <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-reasons-why-people-give-their-money-away-plus-1-why-they-dont-87801">five common motivations</a> and one disincentive: People may “feel like they can’t afford it.”</p>
<p>From the most to least common these categories are “altruism, trust, social, (financial) constraints, egoism and taxes,” Konrath and Handy say. And “because ‘ATSCET’ is hard to remember, we chose the handy acronym TASTE for Charity.”</p>
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<h2>2. What donors should know</h2>
<p>U.S. donors generally must figure out for themselves which of the more than <a href="http://nccs.urban.org/data-statistics/quick-facts-about-nonprofits">1 million eligible causes</a> deserve their (<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-congress-should-let-everyone-deduct-charitable-gifts-from-their-taxes-78323">potentially tax-deductible</a>) charitable gifts. And because federal, state and local authorities do little to regulate nonprofits, it’s largely up to the public to identify the groups that abuse this trust and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donors-can-help-make-nonprofits-more-accountable-85927">deprive them of their dollars</a>.</p>
<p>Some scholars are trying to get the word out regarding some best practices that can help everyone give more wisely to nonprofits that are responsible and effective. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-giving-cash-not-clothing-is-usually-best-after-disasters-83405">Julia Brooks</a>, a researcher with the <a href="https://hhi.harvard.edu/">Harvard Humanitarian Initiative</a>, puts it this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Delivering things that people need on the ground simply doesn’t help disaster-struck communities as much as giving them – and relief organizations – money to buy what they need. What’s more, truckloads of blue jeans and cases of Lunchables can actually interfere with official relief efforts. If you want to do the greatest good, send money.”</p>
</blockquote>
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<h2>3. What fundraising research suggests</h2>
<p>Most nonprofits rely heavily on the funds they raise from the public, so they naturally spend ample time and energy on planning, drafting and executing their appeals to current, past and potential donors. But how do they decide what to do or what to say? </p>
<p>Academic experts are increasingly digging into these nuts-and-bolts questions, such as whether it makes a difference to mention that a big donor will <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-the-biggest-bang-out-of-matching-funds-79737">match every gift</a> during a giving campaign or if people are more likely to make a donation in response to seeing <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-happy-faces-or-sad-faces-raise-more-money-77775">happy or sad faces</a> in a charity’s pitch. They’re conducting studies in <a href="https://www2.gmu.edu/news/1367">real-world</a> and <a href="https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/the-effective-philanthropy-lab/">laboratory settings</a> to test their theories about which nuts and bolts work better and even why they’re better too.</p>
<p>Genevieve Shaker at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy joined forces with Robert Christensen of Brigham Young University’s Romney Institute of Public Management to study the dynamics of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-works-in-workplace-giving-81243">workplace giving</a> – a collective tradition that <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/An-Unsteady-Titan-Tries-to/233946">appears to be waning</a>.</p>
<p>“Employers should know that when they do more to encourage philanthropy, it can make a big difference,” they write. </p>
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<span class="caption">A United Way workplace giving form used in a campaign at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/images/news/20170915_United_Way_Kickoff_Lunch_LK_617.jpg">Liz Kaye/IU Communications</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>4. How to inspire future philanthropists</h2>
<p>Another way Americans can learn more about giving is to study it in school. As Jodi Benenson, an assistant professor of public administration at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and two other scholars explain, students in dozens of schools around the country are taking what’s known as hands-on “experiential philanthropy” courses.</p>
<p>“Students get real money, typically about $10,000 per class, to give away to local nonprofits,” they write, adding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Undergraduates majoring in everything from chemistry to philosophy and business to history enroll. While some of them are or want to become rich, others do not come from wealth or aspire to become upper-class. All of them sign up because they want to learn how to use their money and time to make change on the issues they care most about.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As a result, these scholars say, universities are now cultivating a <a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-by-giving-how-todays-students-can-become-tomorrows-philanthropists-86424">new generation of philanthropists</a> who are actively involved in their local communities.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Doris Buffett’s Learning by Giving Foundation funds undergraduate courses at colleges and universities across the country that offer for-credit courses that combine the study of theory with the practice of philanthropy.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Ever wondered which fundraising appeals work best or what kind of charitable donations are ideal after disasters strike?
Emily Schwartz Greco, Philanthropy + Nonprofits Editor, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89261
2017-12-21T14:20:47Z
2017-12-21T14:20:47Z
With science under siege in 2017, scientists regrouped and fought back: 5 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199506/original/file-20171215-17878-iqytoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=242%2C23%2C4789%2C3002&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can't keep a good scientist down.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/nKNrOZ5MXZY">Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>2017 may well be remembered as the year of alternative facts and fake news. Truth took a hit, and experts seemed to lose the public’s trust. Scientists felt under siege as the Trump administration <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-guerrilla-archivists-saved-history-and-are-doing-it-again-under-trump-72346">purged information from government websites</a>, appointed <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-politicians-think-they-know-better-than-scientists-and-why-thats-so-dangerous-72548">inexperienced or adversarial individuals</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-administrations-zeal-to-peel-back-regulations-is-leading-us-to-another-era-of-robber-barons-84961">to science-related posts</a> and left <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-a-us-president-settle-on-his-science-policy-69953">important advisory positions</a> empty. Researchers braced for cuts to federally funded science.</p>
<p>So where did that leave science and its supporters? Here we spotlight five stories from our archive that show how scholars took stock of where scientists stand in this new climate and various ways to consider the value their research holds for society.</p>
<h2>1. A risk to standing up for science</h2>
<p>In April, the March for Science mobilized more than a million protesters worldwide to push back against what they saw as attacks on science and evidence-based policy. But some people in the research community <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-at-risk-if-scientists-dont-think-strategically-before-talking-politics-63797">worried about a downside</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-scientists-engage-in-activism-72234">scientists being perceived as advocates</a>.</p>
<p>Emily Vraga, assistant professor in political communication at George Mason University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-march-for-science-participants-advocate-without-losing-the-publics-trust-76205">put the conundrum this way</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“On one hand, scientists have relevant expertise to contribute to conversations about public policy…. On the other hand, scientists who advocate may risk losing the trust of the public.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Maintaining that trust is imperative for scientists, both to be able to communicate public risks appropriately and to preserve public funding for research, she wrote.</p>
<p>Vraga and her colleagues’ research suggests that scientists don’t lose credibility when they advocate for policies based on their expertise. But there’s a distinction to be made between advocacy and mere partisanship – statements motivated by the science are received differently than if they’re perceived as driven by political beliefs.</p>
<h2>2. Rhetorical tools at the ready</h2>
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<span class="caption">Protesting is one thing, communicating a message is another.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Cedric Rock Smith</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>With the feeling that there’s a “war on science” afoot, savvy scientists are thinking about how to defend their work. University of Washington professor of communication Leah Ceccarelli says they can <a href="https://theconversation.com/defending-science-how-the-art-of-rhetoric-can-help-68210">look toward the field of rhetoric</a> for help in how to get their messages across. She writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Before dismissing this recommendation as a perverse appeal to slink into the mud or take up the corrupted weapons of the enemy, keep in mind that in academia, ‘rhetoric’ does not mean rank falsehoods, or mere words over substance.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s about building persuasive arguments, built on solid foundations, she says. Rhetoricians study effective communication – and they’re happy to open their toolbox to scientists.</p>
<p>Indeed, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-a-scientific-message-across-means-taking-human-nature-into-account-70634">science of science communication</a> is becoming a hot area of inquiry, as practitioners <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-gorilla-suits-and-blowfish-fallacies-have-to-do-with-climate-change-72560">investigate and disseminate</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/communicating-climate-change-focus-on-the-framing-not-just-the-facts-73028">various techniques</a> for effectively <a href="https://theconversation.com/inoculation-theory-using-misinformation-to-fight-misinformation-77545">spreading accurate scientific information</a>.</p>
<h2>3. What you miss out on when science gets cut</h2>
<p>Scientists are always scrambling to secure funding for their research, and during the first year of the Trump administration, it seemed science projects were consistently on the budget chopping block. </p>
<p>Christopher Keane, the vice president for research at Washington State University, made the case that federal funding for science ultimately <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-federal-budget-funds-scientific-research-its-the-economy-that-benefits-80651">revs up regional economies</a>, particularly when scholars within academia join forces with entrepreneurs in the private sector:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“<a href="http://www.sciencecoalition.org/downloads/AMI_v3_4-17-17.pdf">Thousands of companies</a> can trace their roots to federally funded university research. And since the majority of federally funded research takes place <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/82xx/doc8221/06-18-research.pdf">at America’s research universities</a> – often in concert with federal labs and private research partners – these spinoff companies are often located in their local communities all across the country.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>4. Slashing science projects hurts workers</h2>
<p>Ohio State University economist Bruce Weinberg described how <a href="http://iris.isr.umich.edu">a unique data set</a> allowed him and his colleagues to <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-feels-the-pain-of-science-research-budget-cuts-75119">actually follow the money</a> on federally funded scientific research. Using administrative data, they were able to identify everyone paid to work on a research project, not just the few who appear as authors on any culminating journal articles.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This is valuable because we’re able to identify students and staff, who may be less likely to author papers than faculty and postdocs but who turn out to be an important part of the workforce on funded research projects. It’s like taking into account everyone who works in a particular store, not just the manager and owner.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The majority of people employed on research projects turn out to be somewhere in the training pipeline, whether undergraduates, graduate students or postdocs.</p>
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<p>And to do all that work, Weinberg points out, labs need to purchase everything from “computers and software, to reagents, medical imaging equipment or telescopes, even to lab mice and rats.” Cut the federal funding for science and the economic effects will ripple out far beyond just university science buildings.</p>
<h2>5. Basic research powers later patents</h2>
<p>Skeptics may wonder: What’s the big deal? So we take a few years off from funding some basic research. Does basic research really matter? <a href="https://theconversation.com/tracing-the-links-between-basic-research-and-real-world-applications-82198">As Northwestern University’s Benjamin F. Jones and Mohammad Ahmadpoor put it</a>, the:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“‘ivory tower’ view of academic endeavors suggests that science is an isolated activity that rarely pays off in practical application. Related is the idea that marketplace innovation rarely relies on the work of universities or government labs.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But is that right? To find out if basic research actually does lead to usable practical advances, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9527">designed a study to investigate</a> the links between patentable inventions and scientific research. Jones and Ahmadpoor created a “social network” style map, which connects patents and science papers using the reference citations in each. They found that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Among research articles that receive at least one citation, a full 80 percent could be linked forward to a future patent. Meanwhile, 61 percent of patents linked backward to at least one research article.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s impossible to predict which basic research projects will be important in the marketplace, but they wrote that a very high share of scientific research does link “forward to usable practical advances. Most of the linkages are indirect, showing the manifold and unexpected ways” in which basic research can ultimately pay off.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89261/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
President Trump’s first year was a rough one for scientists and others who value truth and expertise. Many rallied to the cause, while others used research to make the case for the value of science.
Maggie Villiger, Senior Science + Technology Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89262
2017-12-21T14:20:18Z
2017-12-21T14:20:18Z
Creating a sustainable future: 5 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199482/original/file-20171215-17863-17ib8m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even pocket parks in cities (Duane Park in Lower Manhattan, pictured here) can shelter wildlife. Read below for ideas about urban biodiversity and other green innovations.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Tribeca_duane_park.jpg">Aude</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much news about the environment in 2017 focused on controversies over Trump administration actions, such as proposals to promote more use of coal and budget cuts at relevant federal agencies. At the same time, however, many scholars across the United States are pursuing innovations that could help create a more sustainable world. Here we spotlight five examples from our 2017 archives.</p>
<h2>1. Restoring the Rio Grande</h2>
<p>Although many Americans may not realize it, the United States and Mexico work together on many environmental issues along their joint border, including drinking water, sanitation and flood control. Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-a-better-vision-for-the-us-mexico-border-make-the-rio-grande-grand-again-73111">proposes a bolder vision</a>: greening the entire Rio Grande Valley, which forms more than half of the border. </p>
<p>Restoring vegetation along the river and creating more green space along both sides would help improve river flow and water quality, Montemayor writes. And it could make the border region an attraction that brings Mexicans and Americans together: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“As the Rio Grande advances to the Gulf of Mexico, it cuts through incredibly valuable, beautiful and remote landscapes, including Big Bend National Park in Texas and the Cañon de Santa Elena, Ocampo, and Maderas del Carmen reserves in Mexico. Traveling its length could become a trip comparable to hiking the Appalachian Trail, with opportunities to see recovering natural areas and wildlife and learn from two of the world’s richest cultures.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199488/original/file-20171215-17842-11454hj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View of Tule Canyon and the Rio Grande from Burro Bluff, Big Bend National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nps.gov/rigr/planyourvisit/lower_cyns.htm">National Park Service</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Making jet fuel from sugarcane</h2>
<p>Jet airplane travel is one of the world’s fastest-growing greenhouse gas emissions sources. For this and other reasons, including concerns about oil price spikes, there is growing interest in producing jet fuel from nonpetroleum sources. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of Illinois are working on making <a href="https://theconversation.com/jet-fuel-from-sugarcane-its-not-a-flight-of-fancy-84493">jet fuel from sugarcane</a>, an abundant and low-cost source. But they are doing it with a twist. Instead of fermenting cane juice into an alcohol-based fuel, as Brazil already does for motor vehicles, they have engineered the cane to produce oil that can be used to make biodiesel. </p>
<p>This engineered version, which they call lipidcane, could become a lucrative crop. “We calculate that growing lipidcane containing 20 percent oil would be five times more profitable per acre than soybeans, the main feedstock currently used to make biodiesel in the United States, and twice as profitable per acre as corn,” the authors write. They also are engineering it to be more cold tolerant so that it can be grown on marginal land in the southeastern United States. </p>
<h1>3. A legal right to a clean environment</h1>
<p>Are all humans <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-a-healthy-environment-a-human-right-testing-the-idea-in-appalachia-80372">entitled to live in a clean and healthy environment</a>? West Virginia University legal researcher Nicholas Stump and his colleagues are exploring this proposal in a challenging setting: Appalachia, where mining and logging have severely damaged the environment and polluted the air, water and soil. Appalachia is well-suited for a bottom-up, critically informed approach that focuses on human rights at the grassroots level, he writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Discussing rights at the local level will give people opportunity to describe specific harms they have experienced from activities such as mountaintop removal and fracking. It also will help to promote participatory democracy for citizens who have long been denied real self-determination.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This work is part of West Virginia University’s new <a href="https://aji.law.wvu.edu/home">Appalachian Justice Initiative</a>, which will include research, advocacy and direct legal services and outreach to Appalachian communities. “Our goal is to help people in our region call for laws and actions that actually guarantee the right to a healthy Appalachian environment,” Stump explains.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/66179035" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Appalachia residents protest mountaintop removal coal mining in Washington DC, May 8, 2013.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h1>4. Stemming world hunger with marine microalgae</h1>
<p>Feeding a growing world population sustainably in the coming decades will be a major environmental challenge. Large-scale farm production pollutes air and water, generates greenhouse gas emissions and degrades soil. </p>
<p>William Moomaw, professor of international environmental policy at Tufts University, and Asaf Tzachor, a Ph.D. candidate at University College London, see marine microalgae as <a href="https://theconversation.com/micro-solutions-for-a-macro-problem-how-marine-algae-could-help-feed-the-world-85702">a key untapped resource</a>. These tiny organisms live in fresh and salt water, and form the base of marine food chains. They are the sources of the omega-3 fatty acids and amino acids that humans get by eating fish. Moomaw and Tzachor call for “cutting out the middle fish” and developing foods based directly on microalgae.</p>
<p>“Most algae-based products are marketed in the United States as dietary supplements, but we believe the time has arrived to introduce algae-based foods to the dining table,” they write.</p>
<p>Microalgae can be grown in open ponds or sealed tubes in a laboratory. Moomaw and Tzachor calculate that producing one kilogram of beef-sourced essential amino acids would require 148,000 liters of freshwater and 125 square meters of fertile land. In contrast, producing the same amount from an omega-3 rich microalgae called <em>Nannochloropsis oculata</em>, raised in an open pond with brackish water, would require only 20 liters of freshwater and 1.6 square meters of nonfertile land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199490/original/file-20171215-17848-g7ghjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing algae indoors in photobioreactors conserves land and water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Photobioreactor_PBR_4000_G_IGV_Biotech.jpg">IGV Biotech</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h1>5. Understanding biodiversity in cities</h1>
<p>Sustainable strategies for the future don’t have to be technically complex or sweeping. Geographer Christopher Swan of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, studies biodiversity in parks, backyards and other natural areas around the city of Baltimore. Swan wants to see <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-nature-what-kinds-of-plants-and-wildlife-flourish-in-cities-71680">what species thrive in cities</a> and how human activities affect them.</p>
<p>As urban dwellers build and remodel houses and develop neighborhoods, they divide urban space into small units with many edges, Swan has found: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This benefits species that thrive at edges, like white-tailed deer and nuisance vines, but harms others that require larger interior habitats, such as certain birds. As human activities create a more fragmented environment, it becomes increasingly important to create linkages between natural areas, such as preserved forests, to maintain populations and their biodiversity.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Humans also move species around: They bring plants into their yard, and trap and remove nuisance animals such as squirrels.</p>
<p>Swan is working with his students to identify native plant species that can thrive in poor urban soils, and to identify species traits – such as offering habitat for pollinating insects – that can make species valuable in urban settings. With information like this, city managers can restore and support urban wildlife, making cities more inviting places to live.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89262/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Trump administration rollbacks dominated news about the environment in 2017 – but beyond Washington D.C., many researchers are developing innovative visions for a greener future.
Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Cities Editor, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/88621
2017-12-21T14:19:52Z
2017-12-21T14:19:52Z
From internet trolls to college dropouts: Our 6 favorite charts from 2017
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199289/original/file-20171214-27597-7qg88l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where we've been in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/destinations-pinned-on-map-761527345?src=73Ra-hKwDpnPnLaTs6-6rw-1-18">rawpixel.com/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s Note: As the year comes to an end, we rounded up some of our favorite graphs and maps from archival articles The Conversation published in 2017.</em></p>
<h2>1. Invisible inequality</h2>
<p>America may be getting richer, but who’s reaping the reward? The economic gap in the U.S. has widened over the past few decades. Today, the top 10 percent of U.S. households control over three-quarters of the country’s wealth.</p>
<p>But as inequality gets worse, something curious happens: <a href="https://theconversation.com/inequality-is-getting-worse-but-fewer-people-than-ever-are-aware-of-it-76642">More and more people think that they actually live in a meritocracy</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="Fy3k0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Fy3k0/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>“People on either side of the income divide cannot see the breadth of the gap that separates their lives from those of others,” explains Jonathan J.B. Mijs at Harvard University. “As the gap grows wider, other people’s lives are harder to view. Rising inequality prevents people from seeing its full extent.”</p>
<h2>2. Don’t ditch the degree</h2>
<p>What do Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They’re all massively successful tech icons – and they all dropped out of college. </p>
<p>Dropping out is a well-worn trope in modern stories of business success. But a study of 11,745 U.S. leaders shows that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-the-college-dropout-75760">dropouts like Zuckerberg are outliers</a>. Ninety-four percent of the leaders attended college, about half at an elite school like Princeton. </p>
<p><iframe id="Egg6u" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Egg6u/7/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>“Perhaps in the future, college may not be as important to employers,” write the researchers at Duke University and Chemnitz University of Technology. “But for now, college dropouts who rule the world are rare exceptions – not the rule.”</p>
<h2>3. Hollywood’s diversity problem</h2>
<p>Hollywood has fielded criticism in recent years for a lack of diversity on the silver screen. In 2016, 7 in 10 speaking roles <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/news/hollywood-diversity-little-rise-study-1202510809/">went to white actors</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, a study of over 800 top movies suggests that the best earners at the domestic and international box offices tend to have white leads and majority-white casts. </p>
<p><iframe id="5B42F" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5B42F/2/" height="600px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Roberto Pedace at Scripps College suggests that studios may be pandering to prejudiced consumers, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-arent-hollywood-films-more-diverse-the-international-box-office-might-be-to-blame-86905">movies with diverse casts can struggle abroad</a>: “The revenue implications of international audience preferences are simply too large for studios to ignore.” </p>
<h2>4. Big business in the Big House</h2>
<p>The number of prisons in the U.S. has more than tripled since 1970. Roughly 70 percent have been built in rural communities – largely in southern states like Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas. </p>
<p><img width="100%" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/xUOxfaTdBpycKlYYP6/giphy.gif"></p>
<p>Prisons can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-prison-building-will-continue-booming-in-rural-america-71920">a means of survival for struggling communities</a>, writes John Eason at Texas A&M University. “Prisons provide a short-term boost to the local economy by increasing median family income and home value while reducing unemployment and poverty.”</p>
<h2>5. Opioids by the numbers</h2>
<p>About 64,000 people died of drug overdose in the U.S. in 2016 – many from heroin, fentanyl and other opioids. </p>
<p>Oxycodone, a semi-synthetic pain medication, is one of the most commonly prescribed opioids in the U.S. In fact, U.S. per capita oxycodone consumption is much higher than other developed nations.</p>
<p><iframe id="H3rv6" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/H3rv6/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Andrew Kolodny at Brandeis University says that overprescription is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-opioid-epidemic-in-6-charts-81601">one of the driving causes of the epidemic</a>. “Until opioids are prescribed more cautiously and until effective opioid addiction treatment becomes easier to access, overdose deaths will likely remain at record high levels.”</p>
<h2>6. The trolls among us</h2>
<p>The internet can be a nasty place. Take a trip into the comments section under a news article or YouTube video, and you might see name-calling, graphic threats or even hate speech. </p>
<p>Who’s posting this stuff? A study of millions of comments on CNN.com suggests that <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-experiments-taught-us-why-people-troll-72798">almost anyone can be pushed to troll others</a> – under the right circumstances.</p>
<p><iframe id="FJVpT" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FJVpT/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>According to the team’s research, negative comments peak late at night and on Mondays. </p>
<p>What’s more, the more troll comments there are in a particular discussion, the more likely future participants will also troll. As the authors at Stanford University and Cornell University write, “Many ‘trolls’ are just people like ourselves who are having a bad day.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88621/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
How do diverse movies fare in the international box office? What time do trolls like to post their comments? We look back on some of this year’s most intriguing graphs and maps.
Aviva Rutkin, Data Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89136
2017-12-21T14:12:25Z
2017-12-21T14:12:25Z
A grim year for the smartphone: 5 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199174/original/file-20171214-27568-7l8ora.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">At some point, it stopped being all fun and games.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smartphone-junkie-197065211?src=tUVkXgcN5_9fcfuy259QCA-1-1">lassedesignen/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The year 2017 marked the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. Five years ago, for the first time, over 50 percent of Americans owned a smartphone. Today, it’s <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/">77 percent</a>.</p>
<p>The benefits of smartphones are manifest: They serve as radio, TV and camera; cookbook, newspaper and novel; messenger, map and matchmaker. They’re a constant companion, resting on our nightstand when we go to sleep, and even keeping us company when we go to the bathroom.</p>
<p>Many of us couldn’t imagine life without them.</p>
<p>But only recently have researchers started to explore the long-term effect of smartphones on our lives. Highlighting studies exploring the relationship between smartphone use and mental health, sleep, learning and romance, the articles we published this year create a more nuanced portrait of the device. </p>
<h2>From phantom buzzes to phubbing</h2>
<p>University of Michigan research scientist Daniel J. Kruger was surprised to learn that 80 percent of college students were experiencing “phantom cellphone buzzes” – the sensation that their phone was vibrating in their pocket and alerting them to a call or a text, when, in fact, nothing of the sort had occurred.</p>
<p>To Kruger, it sounded eerily similar to what happens to addicts:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“One of the features of addictions is that people become hypersensitive to cues related to the rewards they are craving… So might the same thing happen to people who crave the messages and notifications from their virtual worlds?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-phantom-cellphone-buzzes-73829">In his study</a>, he found that those who tended to use their phones as an emotional crutch – much in the same way a drug user will turn to drugs to make himself feel better – did, in fact, experience more phantom buzzes.</p>
<p>This emotional reliance might explain why <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/smartphone-separation-anxiety-nomophobia-why-feel-bad-no-phone-personalised-technology-a7896591.html">we feel so anxious</a> when we’ve accidentally left our phone at home. Or why, when we’re in a stressful situation, <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-smartphone-as-security-blanket-what-it-means-for-marketers/">we’ll retreat into our phones</a>. In fact, it’s so easy to disappear into news and social media feeds that the average American checks his or her smartphone once every six-and-a-half minutes, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-talking-dead-how-personality-drives-smartphone-addiction-62411">or 150 times a day</a>. </p>
<p>Baylor University marketing professor Jim Roberts wanted to know what sort of effect this constant checking was having on romantic relationships. He even came up with a word for the phenomenon: phubbing (a combination of “phone” and “snubbing”):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Most know what it’s like to be phubbed: You’re in the middle of a passionate screed only to realize that your partner’s attention is elsewhere. But you’ve probably also been a perpetrator, finding yourself drifting away from a conversation as you scroll through your Facebook feed.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Roberts’s participants reported that phubbing was a source of tension in their relationships because it sent a clear signal that their partners were choosing their smartphones over them. Fights over smartphone use often ensued.</p>
<p>“Something as seemingly innocent as using a smartphone in the presence of a romantic partner undermines the quality of the relationship,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/she-phubbs-me-she-phubbs-me-not-smartphones-could-be-ruining-your-love-life-68463">he concluded</a>.</p>
<h2>The kids aren’t all right</h2>
<p>San Diego State psychology professor Jean Twenge has studied the differences between generations like baby boomers and millennials. Over the past few years, she’s been particularly interested in “iGen” – those born after 1995, and the first generation of kids to spend their entire adolescence with smartphones.</p>
<p>This past year, she published <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501151989">a book</a> detailing some of her findings. <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-teen-mental-health-deteriorating-over-five-years-theres-a-likely-culprit-86996">They weren’t pretty</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Between 2010 and 2015, the number of U.S. teens who felt useless and joyless – classic symptoms of depression – surged 33 percent in large national surveys. Teen suicide attempts increased 23 percent. Even more troubling, the number of 13- to 18-year-olds who committed suicide jumped 31 percent.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The economy was good. Teachers weren’t assigning more work. Teens weren’t swamped with extracurriculars. However, just as teen depression and suicide began to increase, smartphone ownership crossed the 50 percent threshold. By 2015, 73 percent of teens had access to a smartphone.</p>
<p>It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why deteriorating teen mental health could be linked to smartphone use. But Twenge did note that teens with a smartphone are spending less time hanging out with their friends, and she highlights a <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/04/a-new-more-rigorous-study-confirms-the-more-you-use-facebook-the-worse-you-feel">spate</a> of <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069841">recent</a> <a href="http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2016.0259?journalCode=cyber">studies</a> showing how time spent on social media has an adverse effect on mental health.</p>
<p>Less sleep, which is a major risk factor for depression, might also explain teens’ growing mental health issues. In a recent analysis of two large national surveys, Twenge found that the number of U.S. teens who reported sleeping less than seven hours a night jumped 22 percent between 2012 and 2015. </p>
<p>“[By 2015], 43 percent of teens reported sleeping less than seven hours a night on most nights – meaning almost half of U.S. teens are significantly sleep-deprived,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/teens-are-sleeping-less-but-theres-a-surprisingly-easy-fix-85157">she wrote</a>.</p>
<p>Again, smartphone use seems to be the X factor. Twenge found that the more time teens spend on their phones, the less sleep they’re likely to get.</p>
<p>Teachers have certainly <a href="https://www.itproportal.com/features/teachers-vs-kids-social-media-and-smartphones/">recognized the distraction smartphones pose</a>, and many ban them in the classroom. At the same time, more and more schools across the country are replacing traditional textbooks with digital versions.</p>
<p>While students tend to prefer reading from screens, University of Maryland’s Patricia Alexander and Lauren Trakhman wanted to know how this influenced their ability to retain information. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-enduring-power-of-print-for-learning-in-a-digital-world-84352">In a series of studies</a>, they found that students read faster on screens, but their ability to recall specific facts suffered. (They suspect it has something to do with the disruptive effect scrolling has on comprehension.) </p>
<p>However, they’re not trying to stop the march of progress, and “don’t want to downplay the many conveniences of online texts, which include breadth and speed of access.”</p>
<p>Rather, they want to emphasize that printed texts still have “value for learning and academic development.”</p>
<p>When digesting these recent studies on smartphones, the same approach could be applied. Smartphones aren’t going anywhere, and these findings don’t mean you should throw your smartphone away. </p>
<p>But for all of the ways the smartphone has made our lives easier, the technology can clearly undermine our ability to thrive, whether it’s building relationships or getting a good night’s sleep.</p>
<p>It’s all the more reason to become cognizant of how, when and why we’re using our phones.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
With studies from the past year exploring the relationship between smartphone use and mental health, sleep, learning and romance, a more nuanced portrait of the device has emerged.
Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/70656
2016-12-26T21:54:43Z
2016-12-26T21:54:43Z
2016, the year that was: Environment + Energy
<p>If 2015 ended on a note of hope, with the successful conclusion of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">Paris climate talks</a>, the overriding impression of 2016 is that last year’s optimism has been answered with a large reality check.</p>
<p>The Paris Agreement was meant to herald a year in which politicians would finally cut through the stalemate and start saving the planet. Instead we watched aghast as <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">swathes of the Great Barrier Reef were killed by climate change</a>, while the political uncertainty only grew. Donald Trump completed his improbable climb to the US political summit, and Australian climate politics stayed mired in the trenches.</p>
<p>Nowhere was that more evident than in the unseemly <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-dont-know-why-south-australias-wind-farms-stopped-working-so-hold-off-on-the-blame-game-66631">blame game</a> over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-caused-south-australias-state-wide-blackout-66268">statewide blackout</a> that plunged South Australia into darkness on a stormy night in September.</p>
<p>With fingers being pointed at the state’s reliance on wind power, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used the incident to call for an <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-uses-south-australian-blackout-to-push-for-uniformity-on-renewables-66275">end to Labor states setting their own agendas on renewable energy</a>. That was despite analysis showing that the blackout was due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-keep-the-lights-on-how-a-cyclone-was-used-to-attack-renewables-66371">22 transmission towers being knocked over</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-victorias-hazelwood-power-station-is-no-threat-to-electricity-supply-66024">planned closure of Victoria’s Hazelwood power station</a> prompted more argument over <a href="https://theconversation.com/hazelwoods-closure-wont-affect-power-prices-as-much-as-you-might-think-67773">cheap brown coal versus expensive electricity</a>. The debate culminated in the Turnbull government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-government-rules-out-an-emissions-intensity-scheme-70039">24-hour dalliance</a> with the idea of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/emissions-trading-for-electricity-is-the-sensible-way-forward-70137">emissions intensity scheme</a> for power stations (a policy that Labor <a href="https://theconversation.com/policycheck-labors-phased-emissions-trading-scheme-58496">took to July’s federal election</a>).</p>
<p>The episode was seen as a slapdown for minister Josh Frydenberg, who in July had been handed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-environment-energy-superportfolio-can-deliver-real-action-heres-how-62771">“superportfolio” of energy and environment</a> in an overdue acknowledgement that these issues are now one and the same.</p>
<p>One of Frydenberg’s biggest tasks for 2017 will be handling the planned review of climate policy. Figures <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/22/australias-greenhouse-gas-emissions-are-rising-official-figures-show">released quietly before Christmas</a> underline the fact that Australia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/direct-action-not-giving-us-bang-for-our-buck-on-climate-change-59308">on course to miss the government’s 2030 emissions target</a> of 26-28% below 2005 levels. This year’s events proved that the electricity sector, the biggest source of emissions, is in <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-energy-sector-is-in-critical-need-of-reform-61802">serious need of reform</a>.</p>
<p>In the states, Queensland continued to navigate a legal course for the controversial <a href="https://theconversation.com/carmichael-mine-jumps-another-legal-hurdle-but-litigants-are-making-headway-69423">Carmichael coal mine</a>, while SA Premier Jay Weatherill <a href="https://theconversation.com/sa-doesnt-need-a-nuclear-plebiscite-weatherill-just-needs-to-make-a-decision-68819">suggested a plebiscite</a> to decide whether the state should build an international nuclear waste dump.</p>
<p>In fact, one of the year’s quietest periods for environmental policy was during the federal election campaign itself – neither <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sound-of-silence-why-has-the-environment-vanished-from-election-politics-59658">climate</a> nor <a href="https://theconversation.com/nature-is-neglected-in-this-election-campaign-at-its-and-our-own-peril-56445">conservation</a> rated more than the briefest of mentions.</p>
<h2>Death comes to the reef</h2>
<p>The year’s biggest single environmental story was the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-pictures-a-close-up-look-at-the-great-barrier-reefs-bleaching-57495">unprecedented coral bleaching that hit the Great Barrier Reef</a> in March and April. The bleaching affected <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-taskforce-more-than-1-000-km-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-bleached-57282">more than 1,000km of the reef</a> and prompted a storm of media reports – some <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-stats-are-bad-enough-without-media-misreporting-58283">more accurate than others</a>. </p>
<p>Months later, the damage is clear: <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">two-thirds of corals on the reef’s northern stretches are dead</a>. Researchers are <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-the-great-barrier-reef-recover-from-its-worst-ever-bleaching-67063">watching anxiously to see how much will bounce back</a>.</p>
<p>Elsewhere on the high seas, there was better news for environmentalists. Oil giant BP <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-11/bp-withdraws-from-great-australian-bight-drilling/7921956">cancelled plans to drill in the Great Australian Bight</a>, and Australia’s Macquarie Island research station <a href="https://theconversation.com/disruption-over-macquarie-island-calls-for-some-clever-antarctic-thinking-65558">earned a reprieve</a> after being slated for closure by the government.</p>
<p>In October, nations signed off on creating the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-china-came-in-from-the-cold-to-help-set-up-antarcticas-vast-new-marine-park-67911">world’s biggest marine park</a> in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Meanwhile, Australia had a win (of sorts) in its battle with Japan’s whaling program, successfully <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-international-whaling-resolution-will-do-little-to-stop-japan-killing-whales-67854">sponsoring a resolution</a> to provide greater oversight of “scientific” whaling. </p>
<p>In reality, however, the voluntary measure will have little effect on Japan’s activities. Perhaps it’s time to <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-a-less-confrontational-approach-to-whaling-more-whales-could-be-saved-68064">admit that whaling cannot be stopped altogether</a>, and maybe even try some “<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-whale-poo-diplomacy-help-bring-an-end-to-whaling-69154">whale poo diplomacy</a>” instead.</p>
<h2>Talking Trump</h2>
<p>Speaking of diplomacy, when delegates <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-climate-talks-move-to-marrakesh-heres-what-they-need-to-achieve-67487">arrived at November’s UN climate summit in Marrakech</a>, they were expecting to begin putting flesh on the bones of the previous year’s Paris Agreement. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/paris-climate-agreement-enters-into-force-international-experts-respond-68124">came into force</a> with record speed just 11 months after it was signed.</p>
<p>But on its third day the summit was hit by a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-view-from-marrakech-climate-talks-are-battling-through-a-trump-tsunami-68597">Trump tsunami</a>” as the surprise US election result dawned. Perhaps understandably, the conference morphed into a <a href="https://theconversation.com/marrakech-climate-talks-produced-defiance-towards-trump-but-little-else-69056">show of defiance</a> towards the new president-elect.</p>
<p>It is still <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/22/donald-trump-paris-climate-deal-change-open-mind">unclear</a> whether Trump will follow through on his threat to withdraw from the Paris deal. For those keen to see global climate action continue, perhaps the most optimistic view is that Trump will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-politician-can-singlehandedly-bring-back-coal-not-even-donald-trump-69424">unable to revive the coal economy singlehanded</a>, and that if the United States does relinquish the climate leadership it has belatedly shown under President Barack Obama, China will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-china-and-europe-should-form-the-worlds-most-powerful-climate-bloc-69211">more than willing to step up</a>.</p>
<h2>Heat and ice</h2>
<p>While the political hot air flowed, the climate records kept tumbling. 2016 is set to be confirmed as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-set-for-hottest-year-on-record-world-meteorological-organization-68567">hottest year ever recorded</a>, although September did bring an end to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/september-brought-the-worlds-record-breaking-hot-streak-to-an-end-but-dont-chill-out-67381">streak of 16 consecutive record-setting months</a>.</p>
<p>In May, the southern hemisphere joined the north in <a href="https://theconversation.com/southern-hemisphere-joins-north-in-breaching-carbon-dioxide-milestone-59260">passing the symbolic milestone</a> of 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But the good news is that global emissions seem, at long last, to have <a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-emissions-have-stalled-global-carbon-budget-2016-68568">plateaued</a> – although the picture is less rosy when it comes to <a href="https://theconversation.com/methane-from-food-production-might-be-the-next-wildcard-in-climate-change-69894">methane emissions</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/el-nino-is-over-but-has-left-its-mark-across-the-world-59823">El Niño came to an end</a>, after helping to push Australia’s summer sea temperatures to <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-summers-sea-temperatures-were-the-hottest-on-record-for-australia-heres-why-56906">record levels</a>. We learned that rising seas have <a href="https://theconversation.com/sea-level-rise-has-claimed-five-whole-islands-in-the-pacific-first-scientific-evidence-58511">claimed five entire Pacific islands</a>, while the Arctic ice is at record low levels, driven by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-arctics-freakishly-warm-winter-is-due-to-humans-climate-influence-70648">freak bout of human-induced warm weather</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Earth’s last remaining wild places are being <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-global-road-building-explosion-is-shattering-nature-70489">crisscrossed by roads</a>, although there was some rare good news in the only place on Earth where tigers, rhinos, orangutans and elephants all live together – a treasured Indonesian forest now <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-news-for-the-only-place-on-earth-where-tigers-rhinos-orangutans-and-elephants-live-together-58777">saved from logging</a>.</p>
<p>If all that wasn’t enough, we were told that we are <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-official-welcome-to-the-anthropocene-epoch-but-who-gets-to-decide-its-here-57113">officially living in the Anthropocene Epoch</a>, courtesy of nuclear weapons testing – which came to Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/sixty-years-on-the-maralinga-bomb-tests-remind-us-not-to-put-security-over-safety-62441">60 years ago this year</a>.</p>
<h2>A more nature-loving 2017?</h2>
<p>Having polished off your <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-pick-an-ethically-raised-ham-this-christmas-69640">ethically raised Christmas ham</a>, perhaps now is the time to resolve to engage a bit more with the natural world in 2017. </p>
<p>While you might not be able to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-im-spending-three-months-sailing-right-around-antarctica-for-science-67782">sail a scientific voyage around Antarctica</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-14-wild-orange-bellied-parrots-left-this-summer-is-our-last-chance-to-save-them-69274">climb trees to save orange-bellied parrots</a>, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-i-discovered-one-of-the-greatest-wildlife-gatherings-on-earth-in-far-north-queensland-66904">discover previously unknown wild gatherings of animals</a>, there are things you can do at home.</p>
<p>You might decide to join in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-citizen-science-is-great-news-for-our-native-wildlife-63866">citizen science program</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/gardening-series-31530">tend your garden</a>, or get to know some of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/hidden-housemates-24843">fascinating critters who share your home</a>.</p>
<p>You could even get closer to nature while doing the most 2016 thing possible: <a href="https://theconversation.com/pokecology-people-will-never-put-down-their-phones-but-games-can-get-them-focused-on-nature-63105">playing Pokémon GO</a>.</p>
<p>So if the past year in environmental news has left you feeling despondent, look on the bright side – at least you don’t have <a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-housemates-australias-huge-and-hairy-huntsman-spiders-55017">a ball of 150 huntsman spiders</a> living in your house … or do you?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In a year of coral bleaching, power blackouts, electricity arguments and Donald Trump, 2016 made the previous year’s climate of environmental optimism rather difficult to maintain.
Michael Hopkin, Deputy Chief of Staff, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/70593
2016-12-26T21:54:36Z
2016-12-26T21:54:36Z
Year in Review: FactCheck and the weasel-words, cherry-picking and overstatements of 2016
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150852/original/image-20161220-24310-1gl71mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Conversation published 29 FactChecks over the eight week federal election campaign</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>2016 was the year of “<a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016">post-truth</a>” politics, of <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/dec/13/2016-lie-year-fake-news/">fake news</a> and “<a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/rendezview/out-of-the-way-logic-feelpinions-are-taking-over/news-story/6f4d0d5ba933b9a381b4581266fde0d1">feelpinions</a>”. But while facts may have fallen out of fashion abroad, the popularity of The Conversation’s FactCheck articles show that many Australians still expect and demand their politicians stick to some sort of mutually agreed upon reality.</p>
<p>Bald-faced lies are, thankfully, fairly rare in Australian politics. Being caught in an outright fib or blooper is still seen as shameful. The problem in Australia is that facts and statistics are frequently twisted to paint a misleading picture. </p>
<p>Weasel-words, cherry-picking and overstatements are common. Our politicians and lobby groups are masterful at disguising opinion and ideology as fact, and making statements that, ultimately, aren’t checkable. These tactics are harder to spot, but equally dangerous.</p>
<p>Sometimes FactCheck finds politicians and other public figures to be completely correct. We should recognise and commend leaders who use facts accurately, in context and tell the whole story. That’s when Australians have the best chance of making informed decisions about their country.</p>
<p>2016 was a federal election year in Australia, and our academic experts worked harder than ever during the marathon political campaign. We published 29 <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/election-factcheck-2016-27402">Election FactChecks</a> over the eight week campaign, nearly one every two business days – an impressive output from our experts given the rigour of The Conversation’s FactCheck <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-the-facts-maam-a-guide-to-the-conversations-factcheck-process-61158">process</a>. </p>
<p>We ask authors to double-check the numbers, scrutinise the fine print, play devil’s advocate, question their assumptions, produce charts, provide links, improve their sourcing, rewrite their copy for clarity – and then all FactChecks are blind reviewed. That means an independent expert academic who doesn’t know the identity of the lead author checks that the story is sound.</p>
<p>Throughout the year, we fact-checked claims about all the key issues making headlines in Australia, and cast a sceptical eye on politicians and public figures of all political stripes. <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/factcheck-qanda-6550">Our Q&A FactChecks</a>, in which we fact-checked comments made on the ABC TV show each week, commanded a large audience.</p>
<p>A few themes came up over and over again: <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-how-much-was-spent-on-the-cambodia-refugee-deal-and-how-many-were-settled-68807">refugees</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-what-are-the-real-numbers-on-refugees-and-other-migrants-coming-to-australia-66912">asylum seekers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-welfare-recipients-owe-the-australian-government-about-3-5-billion-61906">welfare reform</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-has-the-job-market-got-so-bad-that-people-have-stopped-looking-for-work-67457">job market</a>, the state of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-what-are-the-facts-on-jobs-and-growth-in-australia-70114">economy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-is-labor-planning-to-increase-taxes-by-100-billion-over-ten-years-59159">tax</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-does-australia-have-one-of-the-most-unequal-education-systems-in-the-oecd-58156">inequality</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-have-eight-of-australias-12-most-emission-intensive-power-stations-closed-in-the-last-five-years-65036">energy</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-do-australians-with-an-average-seafood-diet-ingest-11-000-pieces-of-plastic-a-year-55145">environment</a> to name a few. </p>
<p>You can read a list of our ten best-read FactChecks of 2016 at the end of this article. Some personal favourites that didn’t make the top ten include our 2016 <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-you-tell-fact-from-fiction-take-the-conversation-2016-factcheck-quiz-to-find-out-70212">FactCheck Quiz</a> produced by Deputy FactCheck Editor Lucinda Beaman; a FactCheck on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-do-refugees-cost-australia-100m-a-year-in-welfare-with-an-unemployment-rate-of-97-54395">welfare cost and unemployment rate of refugees</a>; a <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-suicide-one-of-the-leading-causes-of-maternal-death-in-australia-65336">handful</a> of FactChecks on <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-was-lyle-shelton-right-about-transgender-people-and-a-higher-suicide-risk-after-surgery-55573">suicide</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-do-eating-disorders-have-the-highest-mortality-rate-of-all-mental-illnesses-66495">risk</a>; one on how <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-is-australia-among-the-only-major-advanced-economies-where-pollution-levels-are-going-up-59731">emissions are tracking around the world</a>; a FactCheck on projected <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-as-the-climate-changes-are-750-million-refugees-predicted-to-move-away-from-flooding-63400">climate change refugee numbers</a>; a FactCheck on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-does-the-government-spend-more-on-negative-gearing-and-capital-gains-tax-discounts-than-on-child-care-or-higher-education-61009">“cost” of negative gearing</a>; an evidence-based analysis of <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-could-a-vote-among-under-30s-in-australia-possibly-deliver-a-greens-prime-minister-60256">whether a vote among under 30s could deliver a Greens prime minister</a>; and a FactCheck on <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australias-use-of-antibiotics-in-general-practice-20-above-the-oecd-average-68657">antibiotic overuse</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>FactCheck owes a debt of gratitude to our interns, who pore over transcripts, monitor the media and help track down expert authors to write the FactChecks. A special thanks to Jennifer Cooke, who helped coordinate FactCheck coverage as Deputy FactCheck Editor during the federal election and to the generous 3,500 readers who donated to a crowd-funding effort that allowed Lucinda Beaman to be hired as ongoing Deputy FactCheck Editor. </p>
<p>Most importantly, thank you to all our readers, who believed in 2016 that facts still matter.</p>
<h2>Top 10 best-read FactChecks of 2016</h2>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-30-of-northern-territory-farmland-and-22-of-tasmanian-farmland-foreign-owned-65155">FactCheck: Is 30% of Northern Territory farmland and 22% of Tasmanian farmland foreign-owned?</a> By Bill Pritchard, University of Sydney, Erin Smith, University of the Sunshine Coast (reviewed by Jeffrey Wilson).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-are-many-refugees-illiterate-and-innumerate-59584">Election FactCheck: are many refugees illiterate and innumerate?</a> By Georgina Ramsay, University of Newcastle (reviewed by Lucy Fiske).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-has-the-nbn-been-delayed-59906">Election FactCheck Q&A: has the NBN been delayed?</a> By Rod Tucker, University of Melbourne (reviewed by Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-what-are-the-real-numbers-on-refugees-and-other-migrants-coming-to-australia-66912">FactCheck Q&A: what are the real numbers on refugees and other migrants coming to Australia?</a> Khanh Hoang, Australian National University (reviewed by Sara Davies)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-is-the-australian-sex-party-right-about-religious-organisations-tax-and-record-keeping-61427">Election FactCheck: is the Australian Sex Party right about religious organisations, tax and record-keeping?</a> By Bronwen Dalton, University of Technology Sydney (reviewed by Ann O'Connell).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-are-one-in-three-age-pensioners-living-under-the-poverty-line-65715">FactCheck Q&A: are one in three age pensioners living under the poverty line?</a> By Rafal Chomik, UNSW Australia (reviewed by Ben Phillips).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-global-demand-for-coal-still-going-through-the-roof-60234">Election FactCheck Q&A: is global demand for coal still going through the roof?</a> By Lynette Molyneaux, The University of Queensland (reviewed by John Rolfe).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-it-true-australias-unemployment-payment-level-hasnt-increased-in-over-20-years-59250">Election FactCheck Q&A: is it true Australia’s unemployment payment level hasn’t increased in over 20 years?</a> By Peter Whiteford, Australian National University (reviewed by Gerry Redmond).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-australia-among-the-lowest-taxing-countries-in-the-oecd-59229">Election FactCheck Q&A: is Australia among the lowest-taxing countries in the OECD?</a> By Helen Hodgson, Curtin University (reviewed by Kevin Davis).</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-has-the-coalition-presided-over-the-most-sustained-fall-in-australian-living-standards-since-records-began-60327">Election FactCheck: Has the Coalition presided over the most sustained fall in Australian living standards since records began?</a> By Peter Whiteford, Australian National University (reviewed by Roger Wilkins).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You can read all our 2016 FactChecks on our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/factcheck">FactCheck page</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70593/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Bald-faced lies are fairly rare in Australian politics but, in 2016, weasel-words and cherry-picking were common. Politicians and public figures are experts at disguising opinion and ideology as fact.
Sunanda Creagh, Senior Editor
Lucinda Beaman, FactCheck Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/70212
2016-12-16T03:31:24Z
2016-12-16T03:31:24Z
Can you tell fact from fiction? Take The Conversation 2016 FactCheck quiz to find out
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150436/original/image-20161216-26056-1pmnjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who got their facts right in 2016?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://urbanlight.net.au/">Chris Zissiadis, urbanlight photography</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>2016 was the year that gave us “post-truth” as the <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/word-of-the-year-2016">Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year</a>, assurances that people “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGgiGtJk7MA">have had enough of experts</a>”, and an increasingly powerful tide of <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/dec/13/2016-lie-year-fake-news/">fake news</a>. </p>
<p>Through all this, FactCheck ploughed on. Our experts fact-checked the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/election-factcheck-2016-27402">2016 Australian federal election</a>, claims from lobby groups, and assertions across the political spectrum. All FactChecks are <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-the-facts-maam-a-guide-to-the-conversations-factcheck-process-61158">blind reviewed</a> by a second expert to ensure accuracy.</p>
<p>We think facts matter more than ever. So who got it right and who got it wrong in 2016?</p>
<p>Take The Conversation’s 2016 FactCheck quiz to find out. </p>
<iframe width="100%" height="1000" id="enp-quiz-iframe-266" class="enp-quiz-iframe" src="https://engagingnewsproject.org/quiz-embed/266"></iframe>
<p>Read the full FactCheck articles here:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Would backpackers be <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-would-backpackers-be-better-off-working-in-australia-than-nz-england-or-canada-69332">better off working in Australia</a> than NZ, England or Canada?</p></li>
<li><p>Have average out-of-pocket costs for GP visits <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-have-average-out-of-pocket-costs-for-gp-visits-risen-almost-20-under-the-coalition-66278">risen almost 20%</a> under the Coalition?</p></li>
<li><p>Has the Grand Mufti of Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-has-the-grand-mufti-of-australia-condemned-terrorist-attacks-overseas-62688">condemned terrorist attacks overseas</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Do eating disorders have the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-do-eating-disorders-have-the-highest-mortality-rate-of-all-mental-illnesses-66495">highest mortality rate</a> of all mental illnesses?</p></li>
<li><p>How unusual is <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-how-unusual-is-compulsory-voting-and-do-90-of-new-zealanders-vote-without-it-62443">compulsory voting</a>, and do 90% of New Zealanders vote without it?</p></li>
<li><p>Are one in three age pensioners <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-are-one-in-three-age-pensioners-living-under-the-poverty-line-65715">living under the poverty line</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Have eight of Australia’s 12 most emission intensive power stations <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-have-eight-of-australias-12-most-emission-intensive-power-stations-closed-in-the-last-five-years-65036">closed in the last five years</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the government spend <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-does-the-government-spend-3-billion-each-year-on-the-offshore-asylum-seeker-detention-system-61677">$3 billion each year</a> on the offshore asylum seeker detention system?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the Australian Sex Party right about <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-is-the-australian-sex-party-right-about-religious-organisations-tax-and-record-keeping-61427">religious organisations, tax and record-keeping</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Is <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-is-crime-getting-worse-in-australia-60119">crime getting worse</a> in Australia?</p></li>
<li><p>Is <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-global-demand-for-coal-still-going-through-the-roof-60234">global demand for coal</a> still going through the roof?</p></li>
<li><p>Is Australia among the <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-australia-among-the-lowest-taxing-countries-in-the-oecd-59229">lowest-taxing countries in the OECD</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Is a week’s worth of Newstart equal to what a politician can claim for <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-a-weeks-worth-of-newstart-equal-to-what-a-politician-can-claim-for-one-night-in-canberra-64598">one night in Canberra</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Is Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-is-australias-foreign-debt-nearly-1-trillion-up-from-74-billion-last-year-60250">foreign debt nearly $1 trillion</a>, up from $74 billion last year?</p></li>
<li><p>Has the <a href="https://theconversation.com/election-factcheck-qanda-has-the-nbn-been-delayed-59906">NBN been delayed</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Is Australia the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-australia-the-world-leader-in-household-solar-power-56670">world leader in household solar power</a>?</p></li>
<li><p>Has the level of casual employment in Australia stayed steady for the past <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-has-the-level-of-casual-employment-in-australia-stayed-steady-for-the-past-18-years-56212">18 years</a>? </p></li>
<li><p>Can foreign seafarers be paid <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-can-foreign-seafarers-be-paid-2-an-hour-to-work-in-australian-waters-under-laws-passed-by-labor-55939">$2 an hour</a> to work in Australian waters, under laws passed by Labor?</p></li>
<li><p>Does Australia run one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-australia-run-one-of-the-most-generous-student-loan-schemes-in-the-world-52696">most generous student loan schemes</a> in the world?</p></li>
<li><p>Are Australians <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-are-australians-paying-twice-as-much-for-electricity-as-americans-69980">paying twice as much</a> for electricity as Americans?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>For all our FactCheck coverage, click <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/factcheck">here</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Who got it right and who got it wrong in 2016? Take The Conversation’s 2016 FactCheck quiz to find out.
Sunanda Creagh, Senior Editor
Lucinda Beaman, FactCheck Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52604
2015-12-30T13:26:13Z
2015-12-30T13:26:13Z
2015, the year that was: education
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106924/original/image-20151222-27894-1r46xgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">2015 showed how much race still matters in education.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/illinoisspringfield/14028616900/in/photolist-nnEk4b-eiuvry-KDhJy-ej1W7q-55XtUM-eiVc1e-ej1W31-eiVcN4-eiVbVi-ej1Wgh-eiVbJt-nnE5di-nDRU4x-nE8SN7-nDRTSF-nnEixq-eiVd42-eiVcyz-4SzDm9-bXYQjm-bXYQfb-ekDWdG-ekyb2e-ekDW4N-eioLFi-nE8Vx5-eiVcng-ej1VDd-eiVc7n-eiVbRe-eiVbwp-eiVbpt-nDWs9C-nE9MZD-nE9Mx6-eiVbFa-ej1Wkm-ej1V2w-ej1UUC-ej2fzj-eiVvST-bWUZvG-nDWtLq-nDRVyB-nnE6BR-nnEjSE-nnE8qj-nFWawZ-nDWsDf-nDWstf">Illinois Springfield</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As we approach 2016, we look back at the big stories of The Conversation’s education coverage over the past 12 months.</em></p>
<p>2015 was a year of much turmoil: higher education witnessed student activism not quite seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-history-is-shaping-the-studentblackout-movement-51078">since the free speech movement</a> of the 1960s.</p>
<p>The spark for the protests came from the University of Missouri – where students’ demands for racial justice <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-and-troubled-racial-past-of-mizzou-50639">had gone unheard</a>. With the football team joining the protesting students, events took a different turn and resulted in the resignation of the president, Tim Wolfe. Thereafter, protests spread to <a href="https://www.eab.com/daily-briefing/2015/11/24/student-protests-spread-to-more-than-100-campuses-nationwide">over 100</a> other campuses.</p>
<h2>Racism on campus</h2>
<p>Over the past year, scholars writing for The Conversation have emphasized how much race continues to be a factor in students’ success – and not just in college, but even through their early school years.</p>
<p>As some have pointed out, academia suffers from a <a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-academia-black-professors-are-expected-to-entertain-while-presenting-46249">“stunning lack of diversity.”</a> Black scholars <a href="https://theconversation.com/reflections-of-a-black-female-scholar-i-know-what-it-feels-like-to-be-invisible-39748">describe experiences</a> ranging from <a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-academia-black-professors-are-expected-to-entertain-while-presenting-46249">racial slights</a> to outright discrimination. At the K-12 level, research shows that black students <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-harsher-disciplinary-measures-school-systems-fail-black-kids-39906">are more likely</a> to receive out-of-school suspensions for minor violations of the code of conduct. </p>
<p>On campuses, students have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-missouri-president-ouster-offer-lessons-to-universities-grappling-with-a-racist-past-50493">demanding for some time the renaming</a> of buildings whose names evoke a troubled racial past. Many universities and their past leaders were <a href="https://theconversation.com/unsurprised-by-missouri-scholars-on-the-roots-of-racial-unrest-on-campus-50636">intimately connected</a> to the slave trade and slavery. This year further escalated some of the tensions.</p>
<p>In this environment, Fisher v University of Texas, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-crucial-texas-case-on-race-considerations-in-college-admissions-44117">case</a> challenging the University of Texas’s race-conscious admissions policy, took on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-scholars-emphasize-the-need-for-affirmative-action-43692">even greater significance</a>. The policy <a href="https://theconversation.com/ban-on-affirmative-action-in-medicine-will-hurt-all-39904">allows the university</a> to build a racially and ethnically diverse student body. But the case challenging it says it violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.</p>
<h2>Tenure, college costs, guns</h2>
<p>The debates on university campuses in 2015 were many, and not just to do with race. </p>
<p>The issue of academic freedom became a fractious one after Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker put forward a proposal to slash spending on education and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-else-will-we-lose-when-wisconsin-faculty-loses-tenure-42929">modify the state laws</a> on tenure.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106925/original/image-20151222-27890-phlnmb.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">There were many issues of concern this year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dustpuppy/6852779/in/photolist-B86n-B6Lt-B6YW-B7Ps-B8mC-B84A-B8ht-B7nq-B87p-pjYumV-pztNyb-aExUV3-B6E4-B7MX-B8ck-B6FR-B7u4-B7HG-B7eu-B8f3-B7zp-B7Vz-B733-B835-B76t-B7BW-B7bp-B8ko-B6Rn-B71h-B7wz-B786-B7py-B81G-B6K3-B7L7-B7DZ-B6Xo-B6SS-B79N-B7Xb-B7jt-B6Q8-B7cL-B8ac-B6MU-B7Tj-8ZPW1y-ym1o-ym1c">Björn Láczay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All over again, issues of college affordability were <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-debt-give-students-more-information-to-make-wise-college-choice-decisions-46064">brought center-stage</a> by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s announcement of a US$350 billion debt-free college plan. <a href="https://theconversation.com/clintons-debt-free-college-comes-with-a-price-tag-46378">Our experts argued</a> how such a large expansion in federal dollars would come at a cost. </p>
<p>And while students struggled with debt, smaller colleges struggled to keep student enrollment high enough. One of them, Sweet Briar, a women’s liberal arts college, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-we-learn-from-sweet-briars-near-death-44055">among those hit hard</a> by declining enrollment. While the board voted to close the doors, its alumnae made efforts to keep it going for at least another year.</p>
<p>In Texas, meanwhile, a “Campus Carry” gun law passed in spring 2015, <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-guns-on-campus-lead-to-grade-inflation-40748">raising faculty fears</a> about the possibility of grade inflation. </p>
<h2>Teachers, testing, new ESSA</h2>
<p>If higher education was in turmoil, so was K-12. </p>
<p>Testing pressures led to an ever-growing number of parents, teachers and students “opting out” of testing <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-opting-out-of-testing-how-did-we-get-here-40364">across all 50 states</a>. Some experts <a href="https://theconversation.com/arne-duncans-legacy-growing-influence-of-a-network-of-private-actors-on-public-education-48790">put the blame</a> on the influence of a “network” of private actors over the policies implemented under US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who will be leaving office at the end of this year.</p>
<p>A number of scholars commented on how policies have left schoolteachers <a href="https://theconversation.com/crisis-in-american-education-as-teacher-morale-hits-an-all-time-low-39226">highly demotivated</a>. In an effort to <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-somber-message-on-world-teachers-day-2015-our-teachers-are-at-risk-48550">improve the “annual yearly progress”</a> of their students, some schools not only <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-child-left-behind-fails-to-work-miracles-spurs-cheating-38620">resorted to unethical practices</a>, but also punished teachers for low scores. </p>
<p>How then are teachers being evaluated? It isn’t clear. Not least when music teachers can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-it-get-more-absurd-now-music-teachers-are-being-tested-based-on-math-and-reading-scores-47995">evaluated</a> based on the math and reading scores of students.</p>
<p>In answer to some of these concerns, before the end of the year, President Obama signed The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) – which will replace the NCLB and end many of testing and evaluation policies, although <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-every-student-succeeds-act-still-leaves-most-vulnerable-kids-behind-46247">experts still urge caution</a> on wholeheartedly embracing the ESSA.</p>
<p>Despite the odds, schoolteachers and university professors remained unfailing in their commitment, innovation and dedication to their students. Indeed, innovative examples of teaching were among our best-read stories as well. Here are some:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-understanding-the-prisoners-dilemma-can-help-bridge-liberal-and-conservative-differences-46166">How understanding the prisoner’s dilemma can help bridge liberal and conservative differences</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/want-more-innovation-try-connecting-the-dots-between-engineering-and-humanities-42800">Want more innovation? Try connecting the dots between engineering and humanities</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/a-teacher-uses-star-trek-for-difficult-conversations-on-race-and-gender-43098">A teacher uses Star Trek for difficult conversations on race and gender</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/through-the-brewing-class-what-beer-making-can-teach-students-about-business-42396">Through the brewing class: what beer-making can teach students about business</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/using-wikipedia-a-scholar-redraws-academic-lines-by-including-it-in-his-syllabus-39103">Using Wikipedia: a scholar redraws academic lines by including it in his syllabus</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-artists-creative-ways-to-teach-english-to-immigrant-kids-42588">‘Teaching artists’: creative ways to teach English to immigrant kids</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The year 2015 escalated many of the tensions that have existed on university and college campuses for a long time. It will be remembered as the year of student activism.
Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor/ Director of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52201
2015-12-29T20:49:12Z
2015-12-29T20:49:12Z
2015, the year that was: Arts + Culture
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105921/original/image-20151215-23172-14aa7lw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's time to look back on a year of art and culture. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Blake Danger Bentley. Melbourne street art </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>So, yes, that’s another year, folks. Here’s a rough overview of what we did in our Arts + Culture coverage. If you liked it, let us know. If you didn’t, well, let us know anyway – it’s (almost) always nice to hear from you. </p>
<h2>Arts policy</h2>
<p>The year was dominated, in Australia at least, by changes to arts funding, primarily through the unexpected creation, in the May budget, of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/national-programme-for-excellence-in-the-arts">National Program for Excellence in the Arts</a> (NPEA), which saw a proposed A$104.7 million of funds redirected to that new body, a move that threatened – it was argued – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/arms-length-forget-it-its-back-to-the-menzies-era-for-arts-funding-41743">cherished arms-length funding principle</a> of the Australia Council. </p>
<p>To say the proposed changes, ushered in by then Minister for the Arts George Brandis, were unpopular, would be an understatement. </p>
<p>A bit of number crunching suggested <a href="https://theconversation.com/philosophy-vs-evidence-is-no-way-to-orchestrate-cultural-policy-42487">ideology rather than hard evidence</a> was behind the move – and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-senate-inquiry-into-arts-funding-a-new-live-performance-work-46751">Senate Inquiry into Arts Funding</a> received more than 2,200 submissions, mostly protesting the changes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105659/original/image-20151214-30728-15z8kd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artists got creative when protesting arts policy changes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">chiaralily</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/writers-and-publishers-are-all-at-sea-under-brandis-and-the-npea-44842">Writers and publishers</a> were deeply concerned, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-country-for-new-videogames-brandis-and-abbott-are-playing-with-our-creative-future-44309">videogame designers</a> no less so. </p>
<p>Amid claims that the big national arts organisations were <a href="https://theconversation.com/brandis-is-waging-a-culture-war-artists-must-take-direct-action-42615">failing to stand up for</a> those in the small to medium arts sector, we looked at some effective strategies to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-inquiry-some-notes-on-effective-strategy-to-free-the-arts-43386">free the arts</a>” and other ways to productively <a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-dos-and-donts-for-thinking-about-arts-funding-and-the-npea-46186">frame the debate</a>. </p>
<p>In November, under the new arts minister Mitch Fifield, the NPEA was replaced with a new body, Catalyst — Australian Arts and Cultural Fund, which – <a href="https://theconversation.com/out-with-the-npea-in-with-catalyst-expert-response-51026">according to our expert panel</a> – went <em>some</em> way to making amends for the NPEA. But only some way, with only marginal gains – if at all – for the artists and organisations deemed to be most at risk. </p>
<p>Needless to say, the issue remains contentious and the message coming through time and again was that artists – despite signs to the contrary – are <a href="https://theconversation.com/catalyst-or-npea-we-need-to-grow-up-artists-arent-playthings-for-the-government-51106">not playthings for the government</a>. </p>
<h2>Music</h2>
<p>In a state of happy, growling rage we offered an appreciation of a traditionally maligned musical genre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-for-extreme-metal-45770">extreme metal</a>, considered the links between <a href="https://theconversation.com/isis-propaganda-and-gangsta-rap-videos-47212">ISIS propaganda and gangsta rap videos</a>, and asked – in all seriousness – what Pluto (the would-be planet, not the dog) might sound like, given our long-standing <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-might-pluto-sound-like-our-musical-love-affair-with-the-cosmos-44758">musical love affair with the cosmos</a>. </p>
<p>Still in space, but in a galaxy further, much further away, we offered a <a href="https://theconversation.com/star-wars-the-force-awakens-a-sound-fetishists-guide-to-the-trailer-and-beyond-49503">sound fetishist’s guide</a> to the Star Wars universe, discovering in the process that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Chewbacca’s expressive groans are a carefully composed mix, courtesy of a walrus, bears and a number of other animals, some sick at the time of recording.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Who knew?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105660/original/image-20151214-23466-17zdjlu.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Playing music with your toddler will promote childhood development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After getting back to basics with a few of our music pieces – such as: <a href="https://theconversation.com/im-right-youre-wrong-wait-what-is-a-song-35913">what is a song?</a> – we were pleased to report on new research showing that <a href="https://theconversation.com/jamming-with-your-toddler-how-music-trumps-reading-for-childhood-development-49660">jamming with toddlers</a> is even better for their development than reading. </p>
<h2>Visual art</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105664/original/image-20151214-32644-1nf5614.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peter Paul Rubens and workshop, Flemish (1577–1640). The Adoration of the Magi (c. 1620). Oil on canvas. The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Acquired from the collection of Dufresne, Amsterdam, 1770.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of the NGV.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kit Messham-Muir gave us an overview, in December, of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-2015-looked-like-in-visual-art-51819">what visual art in 2015 looked like</a> from his perspective. </p>
<p>From ours, it was as engrossing as ever. Among the standout pieces we ran were those on <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-fellow-aus-tra-aliens-aleks-danko-at-sydneys-museum-of-contemporary-art-review-45313">Aleks Danko</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bill-violas-selected-works-puts-us-in-the-hands-of-a-gentle-master-37655">Bill Viola</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/experiments-with-light-james-turrell-dazzles-at-the-nga-35677">James Turrell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-camera-is-god-photographer-trent-parke-grapples-with-an-impossible-humanism-51315%20Melissa%20Miles">Trent Parke</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-overdue-appreciation-of-st-gill-australias-first-painter-of-modern-life-44579">ST Gill</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ian-norths-antarctic-artworks-evoke-the-beauty-and-terror-of-our-era-39636">Ian North</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lurid-beauty-australian-surrealism-and-its-echoes-reviewed-51240%20Anita%20Pisch">Australian Surrealism</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105666/original/image-20151214-29732-1sx8mzz.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trent Parke, Bathurst races, NSW 1999, from the series Minutes to Midnight, gelatine silver print.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monash Gallery of Art, City of Monash Collection.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two visiting shows of note were <a href="https://theconversation.com/masterpieces-from-scotland-is-easily-the-greatest-exhibition-of-old-master-works-to-visit-sydney-51038">Masterpieces from Scotland</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/masterpieces-from-the-hermitage-puts-the-great-in-catherine-the-great-review-45435">Masterpieces from the Hermitage</a>. And among the big prizes, we offered some perspective on the 2015 <a href="https://theconversation.com/nigel-milsom-wins-the-archibald-our-most-fun-festival-of-faces-44717">Archibald Prize</a> and the – <a href="https://theconversation.com/congratulations-natasha-bieniek-but-the-wynne-prize-is-deeply-flawed-44763">deeply flawed?</a> – Wynne Prize.</p>
<h2>Books</h2>
<p>In books, we ran <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/arts-reviews">reviews</a>, of course, but we were mightily concerned by questions surrounding the book industry and writing, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-read-the-australian-book-industry-in-a-time-of-change-49044">how to read the Australian book industry in a time of change</a>, and the long-awaited, “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-book-council-of-australia-well-its-better-than-nothing-47549">better than nothing</a>”, Book Council of Australia, which – in a twist of fate worthy of a particularly nonsensical airport thriller – <a href="https://theconversation.com/short-shelf-life-the-book-council-of-australia-is-stuffed-back-on-the-rack-52382">was canned before it even began</a>. </p>
<p>The heated debate around <a href="https://theconversation.com/read-it-and-weep-the-book-trade-needs-more-than-parallel-import-restrictions-51585">parallel import restrictions</a> on books has only just begun, and will continue well into 2016, if not beyond. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105922/original/image-20151215-23179-1g5rruv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What is speculative fiction?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Khánh Hmoong</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We did our best to get under the skin of <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-under-the-skin-of-speculative-fiction-science-fiction-and-scientific-romance-43107">speculative fiction, science fiction and scientific romance</a>, pondered <a href="https://theconversation.com/terry-pratchett-jane-austen-and-the-definition-of-literature-47278">Terry Pratchett, Jane Austen, and the definition of literature</a>, explained <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-magical-realism-51481">magical realism</a>, and posited the idea that <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-struggle-is-yours-why-failure-is-the-new-literary-success-46204">failure is the new literary success</a>.</p>
<p>We stated the obvious: that we need <a href="https://theconversation.com/books-by-women-are-not-enough-we-need-better-womens-stories-43173">more women’s stories</a>, looked at <a href="https://theconversation.com/telling-the-real-story-diversity-in-young-adult-literature-46268">diversity, or lack of, in young adult literature</a>, and looked at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/radical-young-muslim-the-arab-australian-novel-in-the-21st-century-46269">Arab-Australian novel in the 21st century</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105923/original/image-20151215-23172-10570y6.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Writer’s block.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M Yashna</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We delved into <a href="https://theconversation.com/coming-up-blank-the-science-of-writers-block-47853">science of writer’s block</a>, walked the line between <a href="https://theconversation.com/highbrow-and-middlebrow-are-irrelevant-when-it-comes-to-which-writing-survives-49951">middlebrow and high-brow</a>, and marvelled at how <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-is-neither-good-nor-bad-but-writing-makes-it-so-51722">writing about sex</a> can be done – like the act itself – decently, atrociously, or somewhere in between. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=806&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105667/original/image-20151214-898-d2n623.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1012&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geoffrey Rush in King Lear.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Green</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Theatre</h2>
<p>Shakespeare, as is his wont, raised his head in Australia in 2015 – with Geoffrey Rush <a href="https://theconversation.com/king-lear-reincarnates-as-geoffrey-rush-its-a-bloody-tragedy-51117">reincarnating as King Lear</a> and Hamlet finding himself in <a href="https://theconversation.com/bell-shakespeares-hamlet-reviewed-the-same-great-themes-in-some-strange-new-haunts-50382">some strange new haunts</a>.</p>
<p>Toni Morrison’s highly-anticipated stage show Desdemona invited us to <a href="https://theconversation.com/toni-morrisons-desdemona-invites-us-to-listen-not-just-hear-49224">listen not just hear</a>, while a new version of 1984 <a href="https://theconversation.com/two-plus-two-equals-1984-is-this-orwells-nightmare-or-a-smug-satire-for-the-inner-party-48000">asked us to look afresh</a> at a classic text. </p>
<p>Did a new staging of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal stand up to its celebrated reputation? Playwright <a href="https://theconversation.com/betrayal-by-harold-pinter-and-our-betrayal-of-ourselves-46270">Julian Meyrick thought so</a>. And Seventeen at Belvoir was a brilliant theatrical event – albeit with <a href="https://theconversation.com/seventeen-at-belvoir-a-brilliant-theatrical-event-with-a-happy-hetero-ending-45832">a happy, hetero ending</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105668/original/image-20151214-29732-cb3l5m.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peter Carroll and Maggie Dence in Seventeen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Boardman/Belvoir</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was little chance of a happy ending in a new reimagining of Sophocles’ classic tragedy Antogone, and yet still, in 2015, Greek tragedy was <a href="https://theconversation.com/antigone-now-greek-tragedy-is-the-debate-we-have-to-have-46136">a debate we still needed to have</a>. </p>
<h2>Screen</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105669/original/image-20151214-30712-vcl4t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Critics have been preoccupied with the gender politics of Fury Road. Enter the Doof Warrior…</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Warner Bros. Pictures and © Roadshow Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the big screen, we considered <a href="https://theconversation.com/stanza-and-deliver-the-filmic-poetry-of-mad-max-fury-road-42750">the filmic poetry of Mad Max: Fury Road</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/up-up-and-away-the-future-of-the-comic-book-movie-40243">future of comic book movies</a>, and asked – most importantly? – <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-fans-love-schwarzenegger-his-terrible-one-liners-of-course-44302">why fans still love Schwarzenegger</a>.</p>
<p>We covered films, from Tanna, described as <a href="https://theconversation.com/award-winning-film-tanna-sets-romeo-and-juliet-in-the-south-pacific-49874">Romeo and Juliet in the south Pacific</a> to Spectre – which would be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/elegiac-melancholic-spectre-would-be-a-fitting-if-strange-end-to-james-bond-50658">fitting end to the James Bond</a> franchise – to the big-screen adaptation of <a href="https://theconversation.com/holding-the-man-and-bringing-hiv-aids-in-australia-to-a-mainstream-audience-4325">Holding the Man</a> </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105672/original/image-20151214-30728-1d6gbvx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Love complicates the complex marriage deals arranged by parents on the island of Tanna, though rarely with such profound ramifications as those depicted in the film.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Contact Films</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also suggested three ways <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-ways-screen-australia-can-actually-improve-diversity-in-the-industry-5199">Screen Australia can actually improve diversity</a> in the Australian film and TV industry and celebrated the launch of Ari Mattes’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ari-mattes-97857">new regular column on all things screen</a>. </p>
<p>On the small screen, we investigated the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-case-of-the-immortal-detective-sherlock-holmes-and-his-enduring-appeal-50597">enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/true-detective-breaking-bad-the-simple-truth-about-complexity-40082">simple truth about complexity in screen writing</a> and why <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-reasons-better-call-saul-works-a-scriptwriters-perspective-39579">Better Call Saul was standout TV</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105673/original/image-20151214-32644-14ayf01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in Sherlock,</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Channel Nine</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You haven’t seen Better Call Saul? Want to know what happens? Of course you don’t, because <a href="https://theconversation.com/spoiler-alert-culture-is-taking-all-of-the-fun-out-of-television-43331">spoiler-alert culture is taking all of the fun out of television</a>.</p>
<p>Closer to home, we asked whether, after 30 years, <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-30-years-can-neighbours-and-australians-become-good-friends-38779">Neighbours and Australians can become good friends</a>, whether The Beautiful Lie was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-beautiful-lie-a-radical-recalibration-of-leo-tolstoys-anna-karenina-49886">a radical recalibration of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina</a>, whether ABC’s The Divorce was <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-tv-its-opera-what-to-make-of-abcs-the-divorce-51985">opera, or not opera</a>, or something in between. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105674/original/image-20151214-30740-u4ugyg.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Matthew McConaughey as Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson as Martin Hart in True Detective.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of FOXTEL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Gender</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105677/original/image-20151214-32644-2kv2o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Damned Whores and God’s Police.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked whether “genius” was still a country for <a href="https://theconversation.com/genius-still-a-country-for-white-middle-class-heterosexual-men-35257">white, middle class, heterosexual men</a>, what was really going on with <a href="https://theconversation.com/keep-an-eye-on-vocal-fry-its-all-about-power-status-and-gender-45883">critiques of “vocal fry”</a>, and why <a href="https://theconversation.com/damned-whores-and-gods-police-is-still-relevant-to-australia-40-years-on-mores-the-pity-47753">Damned Whores and God’s Police</a> is still – alas – relevant to Australia 40 years on.</p>
<p>We also looked at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/chrissie-hynde-sexual-assault-and-the-blame-game-in-rape-46879">blame game in rape</a>, the ever-present issue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/opera-sexual-violence-and-the-art-of-telling-terrible-tales-44238">sexual violence in opera</a>, and the latest iterations of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/orange-is-the-new-black-true-detective-and-the-gender-problem-on-prestige-tv-43830">gender problem in prestige TV</a>. </p>
<p>We held a magnifying glass to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-song-to-unite-the-gender-politics-of-eurovision-still-divide-41754">divisive gender politics of Eurovision</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bowie-and-gender-transgression-what-a-drag-44569">David Bowie and his gender transgression</a>, and decided that, unrelated to either of those, we are right to make a scene about <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-right-to-make-a-scene-about-gender-equity-in-the-australian-screen-industry-51728">gender equity in the Australian screen industry</a>. </p>
<p>And, in case you’re wondering, we crunched some numbers on our Arts + Culture contributors in 2015: we ran articles by 434 authors, with a gender split of 50% female, 48% male and 2% unknown. </p>
<h2>Obituaries</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105679/original/image-20151214-30712-9b46wc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1082&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Betty Churcher in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Film Australia, John Tsiavis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We ran commentary in 2015 on the passing of Betty Churcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/betty-churchers-death-is-a-loss-for-the-arts-and-for-australia-39571">a loss for the arts and Australia</a>, on whether Colleen McCullough, who died in January, <a href="https://theconversation.com/was-colleen-mccullough-under-regarded-as-a-writer-the-next-few-chapters-will-tell-36940">was under-regarded as a writer</a>, and on whether Jules Wright, the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/jules-wright-courageous-australian-theatre-director-died-earlier-this-year-did-you-know-49130">courageous Australian theatre director</a>” was overlooked in her native country. </p>
<p>We marked the passing of Gordon Darling with a piece on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-late-gordon-darling-and-the-gentle-art-of-philanthropy-47854">the gentle art of philanthropy</a>, and remembered EL Doctorow, the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-el-doctorow-the-conscience-of-the-usa-45043">conscience of the USA</a>”.</p>
<p>In film, we revisited the late Wes Craven’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/wes-craven-revisiting-the-people-under-the-stairs-46891">The People Under the Stairs</a>. </p>
<h2>Arts reviews</h2>
<p>Many of the pieces linked to already in this round-up come under the banner of “arts reviews”. But three that haven’t been mentioned, which immediately spring to mind, are reviews of the Brian Wilson biopic <a href="https://theconversation.com/love-and-mercy-what-brian-wilsons-story-tells-us-about-genius-and-music-44519">Love and Mercy</a>, of Radiohead collaborator <a href="https://theconversation.com/stanley-donwood-radiohead-and-the-power-of-musical-artwork-41683">Stanley Donwood</a>, and of <a href="https://theconversation.com/bjork-at-moma-the-line-between-art-and-music-is-becoming-ever-more-blurred-37607">Björk at MoMA</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105682/original/image-20151214-30740-1pznzdr.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paul Dano as the young Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy (2015).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francois Duhamel/image.net</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can see all of the arts reviews published on the Australian site, and those by our colleagues in the US, UK, Africa and France, at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/arts-reviews">Arts Reviews topic page</a>. </p>
<h2>Festivals</h2>
<p>In lieu of being able to offer comprehensive coverage of every festival that happens throughout the year, we continued to box clever, or as cleverly as we could, with targeted coverage of shows within the festival circuit whenever we felt we could add value. With that in mind, we dipped into – among others – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/adelaide-festival">Adelaide Festival</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/brisbane-festival">Brisbane Festival</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/sydney-festival">Sydney Festival</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/sydney-film-festival">Melbourne Festival</a>, and the writers festivals in both <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/sydney-writers-festival">Sydney</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/melbourne-festival">Melbourne</a>. </p>
<h2>Series</h2>
<p>Four series stood out this year in Arts + Culture and – if you haven’t already – I’d heartily recommend luxuriating with at least one of them over the holiday period and beyond, whether it’s our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/creativity-series">Creativity series</a>, our excellent series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/on-playwriting">On Playwriting</a>, on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/writing-history">Writing History</a>, or our ongoing series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/religion-mythology">Religion and Mythology</a>. </p>
<p>Naturally, we hope to see you in 2016. Until then: happy holidays. </p>
<h2>Top ten most read</h2>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/jamming-with-your-toddler-how-music-trumps-reading-for-childhood-development-49660">Jamming with your toddler: how music trumps reading for childhood development</a> by Liam Viney, University of Queensland</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/weighing-up-the-evidence-for-the-historical-jesus-35319">Weighing up the evidence for the ‘Historical Jesus’</a> by Raphael Lataster, University of Sydney</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-might-pluto-sound-like-our-musical-love-affair-with-the-cosmos-44758">What might Pluto sound like? Our musical love affair with the cosmos</a> by Liam Viney, University of Queensland</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-day-i-dont-feel-australian-that-would-be-australia-day-36352">The day I don’t feel Australian? That would be Australia Day</a> by Chelsea Bond, Queensland University of Technology</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-graffiti-is-vandalism-lets-rethink-the-public-space-debate-38972">Not all graffiti is vandalism – let’s rethink the public space debate</a> by Liam Miller, The University of Queensland</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/lego-pompeii-creates-less-pomp-and-more-yay-in-the-museum-36059">Lego Pompeii creates less pomp and more yay in the museum</a> by Craig Barker, University of Sydney</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/whitesplaining-what-it-is-and-how-it-works-48175">‘Whitesplaining’: what it is and how it works</a> by Catriona Elder, University of Sydney</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-conspiracy-theories-arent-harmless-fun-43923">Why conspiracy theories aren’t harmless fun</a> by Patrick Stokes, Deakin University</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rape-scene-in-brad-pitts-fury-no-one-is-talking-about-33638">The rape scene in Brad Pitt’s Fury no-one is talking about</a> by Melanie O'Brien, University of Technology Sydney</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/no-feminism-is-not-about-choice-40896">No, feminism is not about choice</a> by Meagan Tyler, RMIT University</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52201/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
It’s another year in Arts + Culture, so in case you missed it we’ve collected all the best coverage of screen, theatre, music, books and culture in one place.
Paul Dalgarno, Editor
Madeleine De Gabriele, Deputy Editor: Energy + Environment
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52265
2015-12-28T20:06:51Z
2015-12-28T20:06:51Z
2015, the year that was: Health + Medicine
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106429/original/image-20151217-32587-19ls94z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A snapshot of 2015: health reviews, Health Check series, thalidomide series, Medicare versus private health insurance. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP; Shutterstock; Julian Smith/; Dave Hunt/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This was the year of the health review – on <a href="https://theconversation.com/mental-health-changes-should-be-judged-on-outcomes-not-promises-51303">mental health care</a>, the response to <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/ice">ice</a>, Medicare, private health insurance, the pharmacy industry … and the list goes on. </p>
<p>But while little new policy was announced in 2015, debates continued about where the health system should be headed.</p>
<h2>Keeping a lid on rising health costs</h2>
<p>After 17 months on life support, the GP co-payment <a href="https://theconversation.com/medicare-co-payment-timeline-38302">finally died</a> and was “burned and cremated” in March. Just as well; while the co-payment mark II was reduced to A$5, non-concession patients may have ended end up paying a A$30 more, according to <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-medicare-rebate-cut-could-cost-patients-up-to-40-more-37118">Grattan Institute analysis</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105917/original/image-20151215-23182-tmkcyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We don’t have a co-payment but Australians are still likely to pay more for GP visits because of the rebate freeze.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://http://www.shutterstock.com/">Rido/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Coalition tried to justify its failed GP co-payment as an attempt to rein in consumers, who were driving the increase in Medicare costs. But it turns out <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-policy-not-consumer-behaviour-is-driving-rising-medicare-costs-51604">government policy</a> was mostly to blame. </p>
<p>As Stephen Duckett wrote in November:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The co-payment proposal sank like a lead balloon partly because it was seen as inefficient and unfair, but also because the public didn’t have any ownership of the “problem” the changes sought to address.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, the freeze on GP fees remains, some of which may be passed on to consumers. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-cost-of-gp-rebate-freeze-may-see-co-payments-rise-from-the-dead-38786">analysis</a> by the University of Sydney’s BEACH researchers shows that freezing GP earnings until 2017-18 equates to a 7.1% cut in real terms. Assuming this cut is passed on to non-concesssional patients, each visit would cost around A$8 more. </p>
<p>Most experts agree the key to a more sustainable health system is to better coordinate the care of the sick and elderly who use a disproportionate amount of health care. <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-policy-rethink-as-frequent-gp-attenders-account-for-41-of-costs-38966">Just 12.5% of the population</a> account for 41% of costs, and older people are using <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-medicare-sustain-the-health-of-our-ageing-population-49579">more and more health services</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105912/original/image-20151215-23193-ehsure.jpg?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>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A small group of patients use almost half of the primary health resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/costly-and-harmful-we-need-to-tame-the-tsunami-of-too-much-medicine-48239">lauren rushing/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Paying doctors a fixed sum to care for a patient for the entire year, rather than a fee for each visit or service, is one solution, <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-funding-models-are-a-long-term-alternative-to-medicare-co-payments-35382">Peter Sivey wrote</a>. </p>
<p>Another is to better target the tests and treatments that are given, and to tame the tsunami of too much medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/costly-and-harmful-we-need-to-tame-the-tsunami-of-too-much-medicine-48239">Ray Moynihan explained</a>. The current review of the Medicare schedule presents an opportunity to do just this.</p>
<p>Another key review currently underway is investigating the private health insurance industry. Premiums increased by an average of 6.2% in April, well above CPI and annual health inflation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=646&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105890/original/image-20151214-23210-sl6sze.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Private health insurance rebate increases vs CPI and health inflation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-a-snapshot-of-private-health-insurance-in-australia-39237">The Conversation</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response to this rise, we published a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/private-health-insurance-in-australia">six-part series</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-a-snapshot-of-private-health-insurance-in-australia-39237">infographic</a> investigating why half of Australians have private health insurance, how the carrot and stick <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-health-insurance-carrot-and-stick-reforms-have-failed-heres-why-38501">private health insurance reforms</a> have failed and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-debate-were-yet-to-have-about-private-health-insurance-39249">options for reform</a>. </p>
<p>We’ll bring you more next year when the private health insurance review is complete. </p>
<h2>The thalidomide tragedy</h2>
<p>This month we ran a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/thalidomide-series">13-part series on thalidomide</a>, the drug that caused thousands of miscarriages in the late 1950s and early ‘60s and left more than 10,000 children severely disabled. </p>
<p>We explored the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nazis-lies-and-spying-private-detectives-how-thalidomides-maker-avoided-justice-51730">history of the scandal</a>: how the drug was <a href="https://theconversation.com/remind-me-again-what-is-thalidomide-and-how-did-it-cause-so-much-harm-46847">developed and marketed</a>, how the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-thalidomides-makers-ignore-warnings-about-their-drug-47092">manufacturer ignored warnings</a> it was causing harm, and whether something similar <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-thalidomide-happen-again-46813">could happen today</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://theconversation.com/timeline-key-events-in-the-history-of-thalidomide-50970">timeline</a> and at-a-glance <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-a-snapshot-of-the-thalidomide-tragedy-50968">infographic</a> provided a snapshot of how it unfolded. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105900/original/image-20151214-23172-b2sh3d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-a-snapshot-of-the-thalidomide-tragedy-50968">The Conversation – part of our thalidomide infographic.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then we heard from the victims who are still <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-thalidomide-survivors-have-such-a-tough-time-getting-compensation-47164">struggling to gain</a> compensation and are <a href="https://theconversation.com/society-is-also-to-blame-for-thalidomiders-worsening-health-47562">experiencing</a> a new range of ageing-related conditions, exacerbated by their disability. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105911/original/image-20151215-23186-1a0hikn.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">Starting near the end of World War II and continuing until the 1970s, the US government sponsored radiation experiments on human subjects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AExercise_Desert_Rock_I_(Buster-Jangle_Dog)_002.jpg">Exercise Desert Rock I Buster Jangle Dog. By Federal Government of the United States [Public domain]</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, we looked at the impact of the tragedy on <a href="https://theconversation.com/regulations-have-improved-since-thalidomide-but-drug-scares-are-still-possible-48661">regulation</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/thalidomide-taught-us-to-use-medications-with-care-during-pregnancy-not-to-stop-using-them-51862">women’s fear</a> about taking medicines during pregnancy, and how thalidomide is <a href="https://theconversation.com/thalidomide-the-drug-with-a-dark-side-but-an-enigmatic-future-50330">used today</a> to treat conditions such as leprosy and bone cancer. </p>
<p>This followed our broader historical series in June on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/on-human-experiments">human experimentation</a>, which explored the chequered history of wartime experiments and how these wrongs shaped medical ethics. </p>
<h2>Other key series and packages</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-pain-and-what-is-happening-when-we-feel-it-49040">think of pain</a> as something that strikes certain parts of our body when something is damaged, but it’s much more complicated than that. Our ten-part series on pain examined the <a href="https://theconversation.com/pain-drain-the-economic-and-social-costs-of-chronic-pain-49666">economic and social costs</a> of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-different-cultures-experience-and-talk-about-pain-49046">chronic</a> pain, how we experience and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-right-words-matter-when-talking-about-pain-50450">talk about</a> pain, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/genders-experience-pain-differently-and-women-have-it-more-49428">gender</a>, cultural and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-dictates-how-much-pain-you-feel-after-injury-48985">psychological</a> differences at play. </p>
<p>Our weekly consumer <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/health-check">Health Check</a> series continued and generated popular discussion on food comas, whether your brain can be “full”, and why some people feel the cold more than others. </p>
<p>Our in-depth packages examined how <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/chemical-messengers">hormones affect</a> our mood, sleep and satiety; and the issues surrounding IVF and donor conception, including a reader-expert <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-questions-answered-on-donor-conception-and-ivf-45715">Your Questions Answered forum</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/105909/original/image-20151215-23166-vyyl9r.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">Our experts in law, embryology, sociology and psychology answered your questions on IVF and donor conception.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/34547181@N00/12034531933/">Philippe Put/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also canvassed some controversial but innovative options for tobacco control: <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-next-for-tobacco-control-a-smoke-free-generation-42248">prohibit the sale</a> of tobacco to people born after 2000, make cigarettes <a href="https://theconversation.com/next-step-for-tobacco-control-make-cigarettes-less-palatable-42549">less palatable</a>, target <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-reduced-demand-for-cigarettes-next-step-is-to-target-the-supply-42360">the supply</a>
and introduce a <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-smoking-history-the-case-for-a-smokers-licence-42362">smoker’s licence</a>. </p>
<h2>Special mentions</h2>
<p>The Conversation welcomed two new health columnists in 2015: Simon Chapman, whose <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/simon-chapman-ao-1831">Smoke Signals column</a> provided some much-needed plain speaking on tobacco, e-cigarettes, wind farms and the scientific method; and Jayne Lucke, whose <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/jayne-lucke-8193">Facts of Life column</a> reflects on sex, health and society.</p>
<p>Thanks to all our authors and <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/columns">columnists</a> Michael Vagg, Ian Musgrave, Andrew Whitehouse, Alessandro Demaio, Steve Ellen, Simon Chapman and Jaye Lucke. </p>
<p>And of course, thank you to our regular readers. Have a happy and healthy new year.</p>
<p><em>– Fron Jackson-Webb, Alexandra Hansen and Sasha Petrova</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Health + Medicines’s most popular stories for 2015:</strong> <br>
1. <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-the-science-of-hangry-or-why-some-people-get-grumpy-when-theyre-hungry-37229">Health Check: the science of 'hangry’, or why some people get grumpy when they’re hungry</a> <br>
2. <a href="https://theconversation.com/happy-news-masturbation-actually-has-health-benefits-16539">Happy news! Masturbation actually has health benefits</a> <br>
3. <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychopaths-versus-sociopaths-what-is-the-difference-45047">Psychopaths versus sociopaths: what is the difference?</a> <br>
4. <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-does-hair-change-colour-and-turn-grey-37966">Health Check: why does hair change colour and turn grey?</a> <br>
5. <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-mosquitoes-seem-to-bite-some-people-more-36425">Health Check: why mosquitoes seem to bite some people more</a> <br>
6. <a href="https://theconversation.com/orthorexia-nervosa-when-righteous-eating-becomes-an-obsession-36484">Orthorexia nervosa: when righteous eating becomes an obsession</a> <br>
7. <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-pursuit-of-happiness-why-some-pain-helps-us-feel-pleasure-37478">In pursuit of happiness: why some pain helps us feel pleasure</a> <br>
8. <a href="https://theconversation.com/mondays-medical-myth-you-cant-mix-antibiotics-with-alcohol-4407">Monday’s medical myth: you can’t mix antibiotics with alcohol</a> <br>
9. <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-do-some-people-feel-the-cold-more-than-others-37805">Health Check: why do some people feel the cold more than others?</a> <br>
10. <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-protein-supplements-45766">Health Check: here’s what you need to know about protein supplements</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52265/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
This was the year of the health review – mental health care, Medicare, private health insurance, the pharmacy industry … and the list goes on. But how much movement was there on policy?
Fron Jackson-Webb, Deputy Editor and Senior Health Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52324
2015-12-27T21:38:39Z
2015-12-27T21:38:39Z
2015, the year that was: Environment + Energy
<p>Environmental news, as a rule, doesn’t deal in triumphs. So the sight of leaders holding their arms aloft in celebration after clinching the historic <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">Paris climate agreement</a> will stand as a defining image of 2015 – a moment of cartharsis after more than two decades of infuriatingly sluggish climate diplomacy.</p>
<p>After two weeks of round-the-clock negotiations (and years of work beforehand), the <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-paris-what-was-really-achieved-at-the-cop21-climate-summit-and-what-next-52320">Paris climate summit</a> has delivered the first binding treaty under which all nations, rich and poor, will join the bid to limit global warming to “well under 2°C”, and possibly no more than 1.5°C.</p>
<p>The climate hasn’t been saved yet, despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vulnerable-nations-bloc-looks-set-to-redraw-the-climate-politics-map-51536">vulnerable nations’</a> impressive success in lobbying for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-1-5-became-the-most-important-number-at-the-paris-climate-talks-51960">1.5°C target to be included</a> in the agreement. The emissions pledges made so far will <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-countries-need-to-at-least-double-their-efforts-on-climate-study-49731">fall well short of the goal</a>, and will need significant strengthening under the review process enshrined in the agreement. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, getting all 196 parties to sign the deal was a diplomatic coup, six years after the disappointment and acrimony of the Copenhagen talks.</p>
<p>Midway through the conference we learned that <a href="https://theconversation.com/growth-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-slowed-in-2015-so-have-we-finally-reached-the-peak-51669">global greenhouse emissions maybe, just maybe, have already peaked</a>, but peaking is not enough – the agreement calls for the world to become effectively carbon-neutral by the second half of the century. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/2015-to-be-hottest-year-ever-world-meteorological-organization-51310">near-certainty that 2015 will be the hottest year on record</a> is a reminder that global warming is well underway. Time and <a href="https://theconversation.com/unburnable-carbon-why-we-need-to-leave-fossil-fuels-in-the-ground-40467">carbon budgets</a> are tight.</p>
<h2>Targets and auctions</h2>
<p>The buildup to the climate summit dominated the agenda all year, in Australia and abroad. China, the world’s biggest greenhouse emitter, unveiled plans for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-big-to-fail-china-pledges-to-set-up-landmark-emissions-trading-scheme-48214">national emissions trading scheme</a>, while Pope Francis made an <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/papal-encyclical">influential call to action</a> on the environment.</p>
<p>Domestically, Tony Abbott’s government pledged to <a href="https://theconversation.com/abbott-says-australias-climate-target-is-economically-responsible-45954">cut emissions by 26-28% on 2005 levels by 2030</a> as its pre-Paris promise (a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-2030-climate-target-puts-us-in-the-race-but-at-the-back-45931">mediocre effort</a>, according to some). </p>
<p>Earlier in the year it held its first <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-emissions-reduction-auction-results-at-a-glance-40728">reverse auction</a> for the Emissions Reduction Fund, which will use public money to invest in emissions-reducing projects without a carbon tax. <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-these-numbers-australias-emissions-auction-wont-get-the-job-done-40761">Doubts still remain</a> over whether it is fit for purpose.</p>
<h2>Energetic efforts</h2>
<p>It was a torrid year for renewable energy, after the government succeeded in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-the-reduced-renewable-energy-target-affect-investment-41505">scaling back the Renewable Energy Target</a> and told the Clean Energy Finance Corporation <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-should-keep-its-hands-off-clean-energy-finance-44581">not to invest in wind farms</a> (new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has now <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbull-has-lifted-tony-abbotts-wind-power-investment-ban-20151211-glly40.html">reversed that move</a>).</p>
<p>Coal, on the other hand, was still in favour. After hitting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/adani-court-case-leaves-the-climate-change-question-unanswered-45706">legal roadblock over skinks and snakes</a> (but not greenhouse emissions), Indian firm Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland has now been <a href="https://theconversation.com/greg-hunt-approves-adanis-carmichael-coal-mine-again-experts-respond-49227">re-approved</a>. Not only that, but Attorney General George Brandis struck back at the “radical activists” who opposed the approval, announcing <a href="https://theconversation.com/brandis-changes-to-environmental-laws-will-defang-the-watchdogs-46267">plans to restrict green groups from waging similar “lawfare”</a> in the future.</p>
<p>One of the reasons green groups oppose the Carmichael mine is the fact that the coal will be shipped across the Great Barrier Reef. Australia faced the prospect of international embarrassment as the UN World Heritage Committee weighed up whether to add the Reef to its official <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/">list of world heritage in danger</a> – an ignominy generally reserved for heritage sites in war-torn places like Iraq and the Congo.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106327/original/image-20151216-30092-1hagxsg.jpg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not officially in danger - but not safe yet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Underwater Earth/Catlin Seaview Survey/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the event <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-reprieved-now-it-must-prove-it-can-care-for-the-reef-42330">Australia was reprieved</a> after persuading the UN that it now has policies in place to safeguard the Reef. Progress will be reviewed in 2019, and as our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">Reef threats series</a> pointed out, the problems are many and complex.</p>
<h2>Into hot water</h2>
<p>Elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean, scientists have watched the unfolding El Niño, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/bom-were-calling-it-the-2015-el-nino-is-here-41598">officially arrived in May</a> and has steadily gathered in force since. As <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-drought-looms-the-murray-darling-is-in-much-healthier-shape-just-dont-get-complacent-50063">drought threatens to return to the Murray-Darling Basin</a>, meteorologists are uncomfortably aware that El Niño’s effects on Australia can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-indian-ocean-and-el-nino-join-forces-things-can-get-hot-and-dry-48969">harsh, unpredictable, and hot</a>.</p>
<p>Speaking of heat, you wouldn’t have wanted to be sitting in Volkswagen’s boardroom as the news broke about the company’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/volkswagen-emissions-scandal">systematic gaming of vehicle emissions testing</a>, bringing worldwide condemnation. It’s still not clear how widespread the issue will turn out to be, but Australian diesel drivers will face a rough road ahead regardless – 2016 is the year that Australia’s lax vehicle emissions standards will finally be <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-emissions-rules-will-put-yet-another-bump-in-the-road-for-diesels-49510">brought into line with much of the rest of the developed world</a>, potentially wiping out much of the financial advantage of driving a diesel.</p>
<p>Of course you could always catch a tram – or at least you might in a few years, if the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-light-rail-genie-is-out-of-the-bottle-but-how-many-cities-will-get-their-wish-48669">many light rail projects</a> planned for Australia come to fruition. After two years of roads-only infrastructure policy under Abbott, Turnbull has changed course and will invest in public transport too. Along with the appointment of cities minister Jamie Briggs, it’s a sign that the Canberra government might <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-policy-could-the-federal-government-finally-get-cities-47858">finally be starting to understand cities</a>, which after all is where most of us live.</p>
<h2>Power plays</h2>
<p>One car company whose star was definitely on the rise was Tesla, which branched out from electric sports cars to unveil an affordable power storage battery for use with home solar panels. It has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-tesla-battery-heralds-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-fossil-fuels-41197">hailed as a game-changer</a> in the bid to wean households off fossil-fuelled electricity, although it’s still early days in in figuring out how to <a href="https://theconversation.com/storage-can-replace-gas-in-our-electricity-networks-and-boost-renewables-48101">smooth out the intermittency issues</a> that still beset renewable energy.</p>
<p>The uncertainty over renewables and the growing urgency about getting away from fossil fuels are two reasons why nuclear is still getting attention, even in Australia where the prospect of nuclear power is politically unpalatable.</p>
<p>In March, South Australia launched a <a href="http://nuclearrc.sa.gov.au/#fndtn-external-commission-visits">Royal Commission</a> on nuclear power, uranium mining and nuclear waste, to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-already-had-the-nuclear-debate-why-do-it-again-37420">bafflement of those</a> who thought we’ve had all these debates already.</p>
<p>True, Australia does eventually need somewhere to store its current stockpile of low-level nuclear waste from sources such as medical scans – and to that end the government <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-a-nuclear-storage-site-but-its-a-long-way-away-50745">shortlisted six sites</a> ahead of a decision next year.</p>
<p>But as The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-of-nuclear-series">series on the future of nuclear</a> around the world showed, other regions are grappling with bigger issues, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/power-and-peace-how-nations-can-go-nuclear-without-weapons-41462">arms proliferation</a> to the clean but still technically remote prospect of <a href="https://theconversation.com/nuclear-fusion-the-clean-power-that-will-take-decades-to-master-41356">nuclear fusion power</a>.</p>
<h2>New year, new habits</h2>
<p>While the politicians grapple with energy policy and emissions targets, what can you do to tread more lightly on the planet in 2016?</p>
<p>You might not be ready to live in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/sick-to-death-of-consumerism-find-freedom-in-a-tiny-house-35672">tiny house</a>, go <a href="https://theconversation.com/dumpster-diving-for-dinner-do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-eat-freegan-food-37117">dumpster diving</a>, or move to an <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-defence-of-ecovillages-the-communities-that-can-teach-the-world-to-live-sustainably-44967">ecovillage</a>.</p>
<p>But every little helps, so you perhaps could <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-colour-coding-your-fridge-can-stop-your-greens-going-to-waste-45703">colour-code your fridge to waste less food</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cheapest-way-to-heat-your-home-with-renewable-energy-just-flick-a-switch-47087">heat your home more efficiently</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/meat-is-a-complex-health-issue-but-a-simple-climate-one-the-world-needs-to-eat-less-of-it-44006">eat less meat</a>, or
become a cyclist (or maybe even just <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-people-will-cycle-when-everyone-accepts-cyclists-right-to-be-on-the-road-48185">be nice to one</a>).</p>
<p>You might also spare a thought for Australia’s animals – and on that front there has been some encouraging news amid the usual environmental concerns.
While things look grim for many species, like <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-great-big-new-forest-park-wont-save-leadbeaters-possum-41237">Leadbeater’s possum</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-up-on-orange-bellied-parrots-yet-theres-still-hope-42880">orange-bellied parrots</a>, this year conservationists
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-comeback-its-time-to-declare-victory-for-australian-humpback-whale-conservation-44970">declared victory</a> for Australia’s humpback whale population – more evidence that environmentalism can still conjure up the odd moment of triumph.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52324/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Amid the usual doom and gloom, 2015 brought one big environmental triumph: the first truly global climate deal.
Michael Hopkin, Deputy Chief of Staff, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/51912
2015-12-20T19:54:38Z
2015-12-20T19:54:38Z
FactCheck Year in Review: sorting fact from fiction in 2015
<p>In 2015 we heard plenty of assertions that sounded a lot like facts – even when they really weren’t.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/factcheck">FactCheck</a> continued its unique model of double checking statements by politicians and other influential people. First, an academic expert tests the statement against the research evidence. Then, another expert reviews the article without knowing the first author’s identity.</p>
<p>The most read FactCheck of the year was by energy researcher Dylan McConnell from the University of Melbourne. His <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-coal-fired-power-cost-79-kwh-and-wind-power-1502-kwh-44956">FactCheck on broadcaster Alan Jones’ assertion that coal-fired power cost $79/kWh and wind power $1502/kWh</a> attracted close to 48,000 reads in less than six months and was highlighted by ABC TV’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s4281830.htm">Media Watch</a> program – favourably, of course. (As Jones’ readily acknowledged in an email to The Conversation, his figures on the cost of wind and coal powered energy were not correct.)</p>
<p>This year also marked the beginning of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-to-fact-check-panellists-on-qanda-45714">collaboration with ABC TV’s Q&A</a> program, broadcast Mondays at 9.35pm. In August, we began asking viewers to alert us to panellists’ statements worth checking via email, Twitter (using the hashtag #FactCheck) or Facebook. The resulting FactChecks are published on the Conversation and shared on Q&A’s social media accounts. </p>
<p>The response has been enormous, allowing The Conversation to bring FactCheck to a broader audience hungry for evidence and accountability. It became part of the regular #qanda experience for many people: they used #FactCheck to make jokes, they told other Twitter users to submit their grievances to us via the hashtag.</p>
<p>The second most read FactCheck article of 2015 tested <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-was-katy-faust-correct-on-same-sex-family-studies-and-kids-rights-46257">statements made on Q&A by traditional marriage advocate Katy Faust</a> about children of same sex marriages against the research evidence. Authored by the University of Melbourne’s Simon Crouch, this piece attracted over 36,000 readers since August. </p>
<p>Other popular FactCheck Q&A articles include<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-will-india-no-longer-buy-australian-coal-46256"> FactCheck Q&A: Will India no longer buy Australian coal?</a> by University of Queensland’s Craig Froome (19,387 reads) and <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-australia-the-most-unequal-it-has-been-in-75-years-47931">FactCheck Q&A: is Australia the most unequal it has been in 75 years?</a> by Flinders University’s Genevieve Knight (18,145 reads).</p>
<p>Mary Anne Kenny, a refugee expert from Murdoch University penned <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-anne-kenny-8392/articles">five asylum seeker-themed FactChecks</a> this year, helping separate fact from fiction on one of the most topical policy areas in Australia. Her <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-does-australia-take-more-refugees-per-capita-through-the-unhcr-than-any-other-country-47151">FactCheck: Does Australia take more refugees per capita through the UNHCR than any other country?</a> attracted 29,707 readers and was the third most read FactCheck of 2015.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-would-labors-renewable-energy-plan-cost-consumers-60-billion-45288">FactCheck: Would Labor’s renewable energy plan cost consumers $60 billion?</a>, ANU energy expert Ken Baldwin tested then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s statement against available economic modelling. He found the statement to be misleading. </p>
<p>Facts can be true but used in a way that makes things sound worse or better than they really are. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australia-spending-over-100m-a-day-more-than-collected-in-revenue-37172">FactCheck: is Australia spending over $100m a day more than collected in revenue?</a> ANU tax expert Miranda Stewart factchecked a figure frequently used to support the government’s position that spending cuts are needed to reduce the deficit. The headline figure of $100m was true but she also showed that, in fact, Australia compares favourably to other countries on deficit and debt.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-will-the-arts-minister-need-to-publicly-disclose-who-he-funds-45760">FactCheck: will the Arts Minister need to publicly disclose who he funds?</a>, arts policy expert Ben Eltham showed that a statement by Greens senator Scott Ludlam was part-truth, part-speculation.</p>
<p>And Helen Hodgson, a tax expert from Curtin University showed in <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-has-the-government-introduced-17-new-taxes-46875">FactCheck: Has the government introduced 17 new taxes?</a> that Tanya Plibersek and other ALP figures were being a little loose with their definition of a tax.</p>
<p>The Conversation doesn’t just FactCheck the easy ones. Sometimes, examination of the research evidence reveals that “facts” are scarce (not that this ever seems to deter politicians on all sides from dressing up speculation as certainties). Many times – particularly on historical, economic and social science issues – the best an expert can do is review the scholarly literature and tell readers what it broadly says.</p>
<p>Take, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-might-there-have-been-people-in-australia-prior-to-aboriginal-people-43911">FactCheck: might there have been people in Australia prior to Aboriginal people?</a> University of New England Australian archaeology expert Iain Davidson found that Senator David Leyonhjelm was technically right to say that, historically, some have doubted whether Aboriginal people were the first Australians – but points out that these doubters are outliers who do not represent the broad research findings on this question.</p>
<p>And in <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-do-we-only-have-space-for-about-150-people-in-our-lives-50195">FactCheck Q&A: do we only have space for about 150 people in our lives?</a>, human evolution expert Darren Curnoe revealed that a theory that has become pop science folklore – Dunbar’s number – is actually deeply controversial.</p>
<p>FactCheck is an important part of our broader mission at The Conversation to inject evidence and honesty back into the public debate.</p>
<p>It would not be possible without you, the readers, acting as our eyes and ears and tipping us off whenever a “fact” needs checking. So please do continue to send in your FactCheck ideas via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/conversationEDU">Twitter</a> using hashtags #FactCheck and #QandA, on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/conversationEDU">Facebook</a> or by <a href="mailto:checkit@theconversation.edu.au">email</a>.</p>
<p>I wish I could say our work is done but I suspect there will be plenty more “facts” to check in 2016. We’ll see you there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In 2015 we heard plenty of assertions that sounded a lot like facts – even when they really weren’t.
Sunanda Creagh, Senior Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.