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Science Ethics Should We Protect Our Genetic Information? By Grace Law What is a top story that has been brewing in our news in recent months? This column provides an introduction to the topic and why we should care about it. For this issue, our focus is on the security of our genetic and biometric data. Edited by Juulke Castelijn & Khoa-Anh Tran Issue 1: September 24, 2021 Illustration by Aisyah Mohammad Sulhanuddin Our genetic and biometric data, like DNA and fingerprints, make each of us unique and identifiable. This information is invaluable in allowing us to verify our identity, predict personal characteristics, identify medical conditions, and trace our ancestry. But there are consequences we should be aware of when we are sharing this data. It is often not known exactly what our information is used for. We must make a more informed decision about the services we obtain in exchange for our biometric and genetic information. The unknown consequences of medical tests Most of us would not hesitate to get a blood or genetic test. These tests have been instrumental in allowing us to identify genetic abnormalities, monitor our health, and provide peace of mind in pregnancies. However, some companies and 3rd parties have exploited the trust patients placed in them to analyse these data beyond the original medical intentions. Reuters reported in July 2021 of a Chinese gene company, BGI, using leftover genetic data from their prenatal test to research population traits (1). The test is sold in at least 52 countries to detect abnormalities like Down’s syndrome in the fetus but it also captures genetic and personal information about the mother. The company confirmed that leftover blood samples are used for population research, and the test’s privacy policy states that data collected can be shared when “directly relevant to national security or national defence security” in China (2). This is not the only instance of genetic data being exploited by a state for mass examination and surveillance purposes. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published a research paper identifying the Chinese Government Ministry of Public Security’s mass DNA collection campaigns on millions of men and boys (3). It aims to ‘comprehensively improve public security organs’ ability to solve cases, and manage and control society’ (4). Certainly such databases are useful to forensic investigations, but the mass collection of genetic data raises serious human rights concerns regarding ownership, privacy and consent. Furthermore, it opens the possibility of surveillance by the government (5). Everyone should be giving fully informed consent for the usage of their genetic information in accordance with international human rights law (6). ‘At-home’ genetic kits are not guaranteed to be secure Although there is no evidence of such scales of surveillance in Australia, we are not immune to exploitation and questionable practices. Direct-to-consumer (DIC) genetic tests are widely available, often through online purchases. These tests advertise as being able to indicate predisposition to various diseases, including diabetes, breast cancer and heart disease (7). However, as these processes don’t always involve the advice and interpretation of a doctor, there are concerns that data may be analysed beyond current medical understanding. Misinformation, such as misdiagnosis or exaggeration of the certainty of the user’s health conditions, can cause unnecessary anxiety. The discovery of medical predispositions can have ongoing consequences, including refusal of coverage from insurance companies and discrimination by society (8). Under the US Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, employees cannot discriminate against employers on the basis of genetic information. Australia currently relies on existing Commonwealth, state and territory anti-discrimination laws to protect against discrimination in public domains (9). Companies are also not regulated by the law in what they do with the information collected. Many have been found to use the information beyond providing results to consumers, such as for internal research and development, or providing it to third parties without additional consent (10). Ancestry tests are another type of DIC test facing similar scrutiny. As we all share genetic information with our relatives, these tests allow us to identify distant relatives, and even help solve mysteries and capture a serial killer (11). Testing companies therefore have portions of genetic information from relatives without needing to obtain their consent, as well as being able to identify familial lineages. These examples highlight the difficulty of protecting consumer privacy and maintaining ownership of our genetic information. The daily convenience of biometric data and its unintended side-effects Most of us do not encounter the aforementioned tests daily, but we often use our biometric data in many aspects of our lives. As technology advances, fingerprint readers, facial scanners, and even retina/iris scanners are available on our phones to replace traditional PINs. These have been widely adopted due to their convenience. However, our security is being compromised in the process. Not only is your device easier to hack compared to passwords, but the collection of biometric data can also be illegally obtained from improper storage (12, 13). We cannot change our biometric data like a password. Once it is compromised, it is beyond our control. Meanwhile, technology is advancing to include new types of biometric data like voice recognition, hand geometry and behaviour characteristics. As our lives become more public through social media, others may be using this opportunity to collect more information. TikTok’s update on its privacy policy recently included permission to gather physical and behavioural characteristics, but it is unclear what it is being used for (14). These examples highlight why we should be aware of the consequences and compromisation we make in using biometric data for daily convenience. Looking to the future There is certainly no shortage of interest in our genetic information and biometric data. Unfortunately, current legislation is fairly general and therefore not equipped to deal with the variety of issues that emerge with specific technologies. Exacerbating this effect are the continual advances made in this technology, with the law simply not keeping up. But that does not mean we are helpless. A landmark case found that an Australian worker being fired for refusing to use a fingerprint scanner at work was unjust (15). This shows our rights over our genetic information are still in our own hands. While we should be vigilant at all times, it should not deter us from accessing the necessary medical tests or saving us a few seconds each time we access our phones. It is more important to protect ourselves: be aware of our rights, the policies we are consenting to, and the possible implications of a service. Whilst appropriate legislation still needs to be developed, we can hold companies accountable for their policies. We should also be critical in whether we publicise all of our information, and be cognizant of the way our data is stored. This is an instance where we really should read the terms and conditions before accepting. References: 1 . Needham, Kirsty and Clare Baldwin. “Special report: China’s gene giant harvests data from millions of women.” Reuters, July 8, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/chinas-gene-giant-harvests-data-millions-women-2021-07-07/ . 2. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “China’s BGI group using prenatal test developed with Chinese military to harvest gene data.” July 8, 2021. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-08/prenatal-test-bgi-group-china-genetic-data-harvesting/100276700 . 3. Dirks, Emile and James Leibold. Genomic surveillance: Inside China’s DNA dragnet. Barton, ACT: Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 17 June, 2020. https://www.aspi.org.au/report/genomic-surveillance . 4. Renmin Net. “Hubei Yunxi police helped to solve a 20-year-old man’s duplicated household registration issue.” 18 November, 2021. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-08/prenatal-test-bgi-group-china-genetic-data-harvesting/100276700 . 5. Wee, Sui-Lee. “China is Collecting NDA From Tens of Millions of Men and Boys, Using U.S. Equipment.” 17 July, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/world/asia/China-DNA-surveillance.html . 6. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights. Paris, France: United Nations, 11 November, 1997. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/humangenomeandhumanrights.aspx . 7. Norrgard, Karen. “DTC genetic testing for diabetes, breast cancer, heart disease and paternity,” Nature Education 1, 1(2008): 86. https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/dtc-genetic-testing-for-diabetes-breast-cancer-698/. 8, 10. Consumer Reports. “The privacy risks of at-home DNA tests.” Washington Post, September 14, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/dna-tests-privacy-risks/2020/09/11/6a783a34-d73b-11ea-9c3b-dfc394c03988_story.html . 9. National Health and Medical Research Council. Genetic Discrimination. Canberra, Australia: November, 2013. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/genetic-discrimination. 11. Jeong, Raehoon. “How direct-to-consumer genetic testing services led to the capture of the golden state killer.” Science in the News, 2 September, 2018. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/direct-consumer-genetic-testing-services-led-capture-golden-state-killer/ . 12. Lee, Alex. “Why you should never use pattern passwords on your phone.” Wired UK, 3 July, 2020. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/phone-lock-screen-password . 13. Johansen, Alison Grace. “Biometrics and biometric data: What is it and is it secure?” NortonLifeLock, 8 February, 2019. https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-iot-biometrics-how-do-they-work-are-they-safe.html . 14. McCluskey, M. “TikTok Has Started Collecting Your ‘Faceprints’ and ‘Voiceprints.’ Here’s What It Could Do With Them.” Time, 14 June, 2021. https://time.com/6071773/tiktok-faceprints-voiceprints-privacy/ . 15. Perper, Rosie. “An Australian worker won a landmark privacy case against his employer after he was fired for refusing to use a fingerprint scanner.” Business Insider Australia, 22 May, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australian-worker-wins-privacy-case-against-employer-biometric-data-2019-5?r=US&IR=T.

Issue 1: Science is Everywhere Foreword from Dr Jen Marti n From the Editors-in-Chief Hear from the founder and leader of the UniMelb Science Communication Teaching Program! A few words from our four Editors-in-Chief on the inaugural issue of OmniSci Magazine! 2 minute read 2 minute read Columns The body, et cetera Conversations in science Chatter Wiggling Ears By Rachel Ko Let’s take a trip down evolution lane to uncover the story behind everyone’s favourite useless party trick: ear wiggling. 3 minute read Behind the Scenes of COVID-19 with Dr Julian Druce By Zachary Holloway In conversatio n with Dr Julian Druc e. 6 minute read Silent Conversations: How Trees Talk to One Another By Lily McCann What do trees talk about? 5 minute read Science Ethics Cinema to Reality Humans of UniMelb Should We Protect Our Genetic Information? By Grace Law How much is our genetic and biometric data worth? And why are others so keen to get their hands on it? Can We Build the Iron Man Suit? By Manthila Ranatunga Ever wondered what it takes to build the Iron Man suit? Research - Is it For Me? By Renee Papaluca Hear from current research students about their experiences studying science at UniMelb. 4 minute read 4 minute read 4 minute read The Greenhouse Unpacking the Latest IPCC Report — What Climate Science is Telling Us By Sonia Truong Unpacking the latest UN IPCC report on the science behind climate change. 5 minute read Features Our Microbial Frenemies By Wei Han Chong Diseases and pandemics have always been the source of great disasters throughout history, so why don't we do away with them? 7 minute read Where The Wild Things Were B y Ashleigh Hallinan Biodiversity loss is perhaps just as catastrophic as climate change, so let's consider the role of ecosystem restoration in battling this ecological emergency. 6 minute read Understanding the Mysterious Science of Sleep By Evelyn Kiantoro Sleep, our favourite way to wind down and relax. But why do we sleep? Moreover, what are dreams? 6 minute read The Rise of The Planet of AI By A shley Mamuko When does tech become fully integrated into our lives? 7 minute read The Intellectual’s False Dilemma: Art vs Science By Natalie Cierpisz The age-old debate once again resurfaces. Art and science. Two worlds collide 6 minute read Climate Change, Vaccines & Lockdowns: How and Why Science Has Become a Polarising Political Debate By Mia Horsfall How should scientific research and political legislation interact, and what role should they play in public discourse? 6 minute read Sick of Lockdown? Let Science Explain Why. By T anya Kovacevic The mechanisms behind lockdown fatigue - and how to treat it. 6 minute read Let's Torque Competition Winner Bionics: Seeing into the Future By J oshua Nicholls Let's explore the ground-breaking technology that could help Australians suffering from visual impairment. Let's Torque is the premier science communication organisation taking STEM to Victorian schools and undergrad students. They host a science communication competition annually. 5 minute read Let's Torque website

'Science is everywhere' Competition Submissions Scroll to view the submissions we received for National Science Week 2021! Lily Robinson, 20 Science is everywhere in our lives. As soon as you take a walk outside, you are immersed in it. This picture is of a dam at my family home at the end of a drought. The water was crystal clear and there were these amazing deep cracks in the mud. I decided to rotate the image upside down to symbolise the impact of the drought upending our lives and the bush around us. Rebecca André, 23 I captured this photograph on my Olympus OM-2 film camera while out on a lunchtime walk. At first I took no notice of this indistinct bunch of leaves but as I moved around them the sun caught my attention and I noticed the illuminated veins. This photgraph reminds me that the beauty of the natural world is all around us all the time, if only we are mindful to observe it. Through science and observation, the beauty of unseen worlds and intricate truths are revealed to us. Sajitha Biju, 36 Vivipary in papaya fruit: Viviparous germination is a type of seed germination seen in plants, where the seeds/embryo begin to develop before they detach from the parent plant. Viviparous germination is also seen in the mangrove Avicennia. Stephanie Tsang, 25 A photograph of a jellyfish pulsing through the cold waters of Port Philip Bay, Victoria. It has no brain nor heart. Science is spectacular and can be found submersed underwater. Cnidarians have been around for millions of years and later and are the common ancestors of many other creatures. The oldest fossils found date back to around 500 million years old. They are found all over the world following the ocean currents. Stephanie Tsang, 25 A photograph of a jellyfish pulsing through the cold waters of Port Philip Bay, Victoria. It has no brain nor heart. Science is spectacular and can be found submersed underwater. Cnidarians have been around for millions of years and later and are the common ancestors of many other creatures. The oldest fossils found date back to around 500 million years old. They are found all over the world following the ocean currents. Betty La, 24 I like to practise on this contraption of wood, metal and vibrating air almost every morning. My motor pattern for the music is set into motion, followed by eighty-eight felt-covered hammers acting as oddly-shaped springs, dancing along steel strings wound with copper. They are spurred on by levers of black and white. The sound is amplified from a wooden soundboard, which expands and contracts imperceptibly with the temperature of the room. Ella Banic, 19 I wish I could explain why I think science is everywhere, but it is too ubiquitous for me to comprehend. In my artwork I have been interested in the relationship between humans and nature, particularly in the liminality of experience. While I can’t really describe what science is or where to find it, in this piece I see science as a life force; which gives us direction and allows us to see above the surface. Sarah Wehbe, 18 This photo of a strawberry was taken with a magnifying glass to show the individual hairs and textured skin of the strawberry that you wouldn't normally notice. These fibrous hairs protect the fruit from insect damage and each of these yellow seeds contain the DNA to produce a whole new strawberry plant. Biological sciences are all around us in the foods that we eat. Junsheng He, 18 This photo of the Moon was taken on the 26th of May this year, the day when the total lunar eclipse took place. When we think of the Moon, it is always an image of a shining silverish sphere. Nevertheless, in this particular night, red light shines to the Moon when it is passing through the shadow of the Earth, turning it to the "Blood" Moon. It insinuates that even the seemingly ordered patterns, the forever rotating heavenly bodies, can change their property driven by the power of science. Minchi Gong, 20 Furry Buddy and Pumpkin: I’ve got a pumpkin from the market, and left it on my desk for a couple of weeks because I was too busy to cook it. One day I surprisingly found that there’re a bunch of furry moulds growing on its body, which successfully caught my eyes. Wow I never thought the mould can be so AESTHETIC! Seems like these little furry microorganisms are so keen to show their sense of presence and to express their interpretation of arts. Louie Minoza, 30 Here we witness the first moments of a new born calf. As it witnesses the warm glow of the setting sun for the first time, unconcerned on where the bright light is going. Taking in the textures and scents of the grass under its body. The feeling of fullness as it suckles on it’s mothers teat after instincts urges it to go against gravity. This new found freedom shall be utilized to embark and explore this world it was born in. Caitlin Kane, 20 Have you ever wondered how a clear sky becomes an electrically charged thunderstorm? Electric currents, like those that flow in our powerlines, are made by the movement of tiny charged particles called electrons. When operating safely within a house, electricity can light a bulb, keep a fridge chilly or charge a car. In the big woolly clouds above our heads, the movement of dust, ice and water can create a static electric charge, like when hair is rubbed with a balloon. Sachinthani Karunarathne, 28 years In the fall, you see trees having photogenic colours. Trees do this not for the beauty what we see but to conserve energy during winter. Because due to changes in the length of daylight and temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process (photosynthesis). So, chlorophyll pigment breaks down, the green colour disappears, and the yellow to orange colours become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendour. Caelan Mitchell, 23 Copper is one of my favourite metals. It has a significant history, and it looks stunning. It looks even more stunning when you catch an everyday object stained by a rich patina — a complex of copper oxides formed by heat and air. I've never seen anything like this. Joanna Stubbs An Australian native Eucalypt growing for years next to an urban creek and bike path in inner city Melbourne. Scientific research is required in how anthropogenic climate change will affect specific tree species, and inform measures on how best to ensure their survival in a warming climate. Sachinthani Karunarathne, 28 Blood oranges may have a sinister-sounding name, but they’re just a natural mutation of standard oranges. This mutation led to the production of anthocyanins, which make not just blood oranges bright red but also blueberries blue. The flesh develops its characteristic maroon colour when the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night. The anthocyanin pigments continue accumulating in cold storage after harvest. Longer the fridge time redder they become! Sachini Pathirana, 28 A microscopic image of a cell? Nah it’s simple kitchen science. When you wash oily dishes, you will see oil droplets forming thin layers like this on water. This is because adhesive force between oil and water molecules is greater than cohesive force between oil molecules. So, the oil molecules do not mix with water molecules. As a result, oil spreads on the water surface forming a thin layer. Sachini Pathirana, 28 Kernel colour was used to unravel an odd phenomenon in non-Mendelian inheritance: transposons. Transposons are stretches of DNA that jump from place to place in the genome, and landing in the middle of a pigment gene would alter the colour of that cell. Barbara McClintock won a Nobel Prize for her discovery of these transposons. Even the regular white/yellow corn you find in supermarkets has made big genetic leaps. Yitao Gan, 21 The beauty of nature from the preys, harvesters and predators. Christian Theodosiou, 19 My entry shows a sapling in the foreground and a waterfall in the background, captured at midday in the Springbrook mountains of Queensland this year. I aimed to photograph the scene so that perspective gives the appearance that the young plant is being watered by the waterfall and I think that the forms of the leaf and the white foamy water are quite complementary. Even though this waterfall does not directly feed this plant, the fact of their shared environment draws a life-giving relationship between them anyway. Science is everywhere because we, like all complex or simple organisms, are situated within and sustained by infinite webs of interdependence. Whether biological or more molecular, all science everywhere is defined by both obvious relationships, and those that take more time, devotion and study to identify. Teck-Phui Chua, 22 A sapling is growing where an older tree once grew. However, upon closer inspection, the older tree never fully died; part of it was still alive which has allowed a sapling to sprout from its trunk. In a similar vein, science is everywhere and has always been, but what has changed is how much we understand as one generation passes their knowledge onto the next so new discoveries can be made. Additionally, the tree may have seemed dead, but there was still life in it. Whether we choose to act on strong scientific evidence or ignore it, the science will still be there. Sarah Wehbe, 18 Interactions between living organisms are everywhere and are the essence of life itself. This image illustrates the commensal relationship between algae and turtles. The turtle’s shell provides an ideal surface for the algae’s growth, and the turtle is completely unaffected by its presence. In fact, it may help turtles camouflage and hide from prey. This simple interaction between living organisms highlights the existence of science in every aspect of life. Grace Li, 22 Science is often overlooked as a form of art due to its ubiquity. However, a simple photograph can be the reminder needed that science is not only everywhere, but it is beautiful. For example, a photograph is the result of photons travelling from the sun, bouncing off objects, and landing on a camera's sensor. Similarly, these incredible macro-photographic patterns of a lamp is captured by photons travelling through optic fiber. Christina Evans, 43 The bee retrieves pollen from the prickly thistles & how it's all stored on its hind legs like saddlebags. Xuezhi Yang It is fascinating how science is present everywhere, oftentimes interacting with itself creating intricate and mesmerizing works of art. In my artwork, I attempted to capture the anatomy and essence of the Antelope Jackrabbit's ears as light rays penetrate through them. Without light, the delicate and daedal arteries and veins would have been otherwise invisible, tucked away in fur and cartilage. If we truly pay attention, art is found everywhere in science.

By Ashleigh Hallinan < Back to Issue 3 Space exploration in Antartica By Ashleigh Hallinan 10 September 2022 Edited by Tanya Kovacevic and Breana Galea Illustrated by Aisyah Mohammad Sulhanuddin Next The isolated southern expanse of the Earth is an alien realm, with vast expanses of white ice and blue sky that appear to stretch on infinitely. Despite its barren landscape, the Antarctic continent holds secrets to the origins of our Earth and the solar system in the form of meteorites. Meteorites are solid pieces of debris that originate in outer space, survive the journey through our atmosphere, and fall to the Earth’s surface.(1) Their unique components and pungent smells contain fascinating stories of cosmic clouds, condensing stardust and the fiery collisions of entire planets. These ‘space rocks’ can land anywhere on Earth, but the vast majority of meteorites are found in the cold deserts of Antarctica.(2) So, why Antarctica? Across the globe, meteorite abundance is dependent on two factors: the meteorites must be easy to spot, and their preservation must be guaranteed over long time periods.(3) It is the conditions of the Antarctic landscape that make all the difference when it comes to meteorite discovery. The cold, dry nature of Antarctica helps to preserve these extraterrestrial rocks, allowing for more pristine samples to be collected. In this way, we may think of Antarctica as a ‘natural freezer’. In fact, meteorites can be buried and preserved in the Antarctic ice for up to millions of years, allowing for a deep dive into the origins of the solar system upon analysis. Furthermore, meteorites are easier to find in Antarctica due to the stark contrast between the dark colours of meteorites and the white ice. And since so few rocks naturally form on ice sheets, you can be fairly certain the majority of rocks found in Antarctica are extraterrestrial. However, an expedition to Antarctica for meteorite hunting is no small feat. Thankfully, landscape processes occurring on the Antarctic continent create concentrated pockets of meteorites, making the hunt for meteorites less like trying to find a needle in a haystack. These meteorite hotspots are largely a result of the local geology and movement of ice across the Antarctic landscape.(4) As meteorites strike glaciers, they are buried and encased in the ice. These glaciers move across the landscape, acting as ‘conveyor belts’ that carry the meteorites until they reach a large barrier, such as the Transantarctic Mountains. The ice flow is blocked and builds up at the base of the mountain. Here, dry Antarctic winds slowly erode the ice, revealing a bounty of imprisoned meteorites. Traditionally, meteorites have been divided into three broad categories: stony, stony-iron, and iron.(5) While stony meteorites are made up of silicate minerals, iron meteorites are almost completely made of metal. Unsurprisingly, stony-iron meteorites are composed of nearly equal amounts of metal and silicate crystals. Alarmingly, warmer temperatures and melting ice associated with global warming may hinder our search for meteorites. This is particularly the case for iron meteorites, which conduct heat more efficiently than other meteorite types due to their higher metal content.(6) Consequently, meteorites can sink into the ice and out of sight. Despite Antarctica’s otherworldliness, it is not free of the impacts brought about by human activity occurring on landmasses separated by vast seas. However, with the help of artificial intelligence and machine-learning, the quest for meteorite discovery continues. Scientists recently estimated there are as many as 300,000 more meteorites to be discovered in Antarctica, their stories waiting to be uncovered in a never-ending game of hide-and-seek.(7) Using machine learning to combine satellite measurements of temperature, surface slope, speed of ice flow, and reflection of radar signals by ice, scientists have developed a ‘treasure map’ containing the predicted locations of concentrated meteorite zones.(7) The ’treasure map’ is accessible online,(8) so anyone can search the Antarctic continent for rocky remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. When we think of space exploration, we conjure up images of astronauts and spaceships. But Antarctica provides us with the opportunity to peer into the cosmos without ever leaving Earth, given we are brave enough to face the inhospitable conditions and pervasive alienness of the Earth’s southernmost continent. References 1. Sephton M, Bland P, Pillinger C, Gilmour I. The preservation state of organic matter in meteorites from Antarctica. Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 2004;39(5):747-54. 2. Corrigan C. Antarctica: The Best Place on Earth to Collect Meteorites. CosmoELEMENTS; 2011. p. 296. 3. Schlüter J, Schultz L, Thiedig F, Al‐Mahdi B, Aghreb AA. The Dar al Gani meteorite field (Libyan Sahara): Geological setting, pairing of meteorites, and recovery density. Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 2002;37(8):1079-93. 4. Steigerwald B. NASA Scientist Collects Bits of the Solar System from an Antarctic Glacier Greenbelt: NASA; 2018 [Available from: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/antarctic-meteorites. 5. Lotzof K. Types of meteorites [Internet]. Natural History Museum; [Available from: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/types-of-meteorites.html. 6. Evatt G, Coughlan M, Joy K, Smedley A, Connolly P, Abrahams I. A potential hidden layer of meteorites below the ice surface of Antarctica. Nature communications. 2016;7(1):1-8. 7. Tollenaar V, Zekollari H, Lhermitte S, Tax DM, Debaille V, Goderis S, et al. Unexplored Antarctic meteorite collection sites revealed through machine learning. Science Advances. 2022;8(4). 8. Tollenaar V, Zekollari H, Lhermitte S, Tax DM, Debaille V, S G. Antarctic Meteorite Stranding Zones [Internet]. [Available from: https://wheretocatchafallingstar.science/. Previous article Next article alien back to

Ever wondered what it's like to contribute to OmniSci? We spoke to Tanya Kovacevic about her experience, from starting writing during lockdown to what's in the words for Issue 4: Mirage! Tanya is currently in her third year of the Bachelor of Biomedicine and studying a concurrent diploma in Italian. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is contributing to four articles as an editor. Mee t OmniSci Editor Tany a Kovacevic Tanya is an editor at OmniSci, currently in her third year of the Bachelor of Biomedicine and studying a concurrent diploma in Italian. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is contributing to four articles as an editor. interviewed by Caitlin Kane What are you studying? I am studying a Bachelor of Biomedicine, currently in third year, and a Diploma in Italian. I’m majoring in human structure and function, which looks at how the body works: the muscles, the bones, the visceral organs, everything. I’m hoping to get a research subject placement at the Florey Institute because I have a very big passion for neurology. I feel like it will be fun to get exposure to both what’s happening behind the scenes through research and be able to apply it in the future as well. I want to hopefully go into medicine and become a GP with a focus on neurology. What first got you interested in science? My primary school wanted to start introducing science subjects and I was chosen as one of the students to give it a shot. I found that I really enjoyed it. Especially when the skeleton was brought out of the closet–all dusty and stuff–and we finally started to use it. Then compulsory science subjects at high school, I continued to find that interesting. I thought, I guess I’ll stick with this. What is your role at OmniSci? I started off writing a piece during lockdown and I wrote my first piece about lockdown fatigue. I remember speaking to my psychologist about it because I was experiencing it. When I heard of it, I thought this actually explains a lot so I wanted to share that with other people. I applied for the editing role as well, so that’s what I’ve been doing these last three years. I quite enjoy helping people flesh out their ideas. I find that I’m quite an analytical and meticulous person, so I will always look for the little things that could go wrong and always like to correct them. I thought it was a pretty good fit! What would you say to someone else who was thinking about getting involved at OmniSci? It’s really open with what you can do. You can communicate with so many different people. Getting involved is a good way of exploring your own interests and putting your skills to the test. It’s nice having something on the side that takes your mind off study but is also related to things that you enjoy. It's a good pastime but also something that gives you professional experience. Kills two birds with one stone. What is your favourite thing about contributing at OmniSci so far? I like seeing when it gets printed and everything has been put together, because you really see the contribution of everyone, and it all falls into place. While you're doing it, it’s sort of “I’ve got to focus on this aspect,” but then it’s nice seeing how your feedback has been included and how people have really improved in their writing and been able to use the skills of others. It’s a very collaborative thing that comes together. It’s a good product, especially with all the cool illustrations. I love looking at art–not very good at it, but I love looking at it. It’s exciting to see something that I was interested in while writing or editing come to life in a physical representation, an artistic interpretation. Can you give us a sneak peek or pitch of what you're working on this issue? With Mirage it’s very open ended. Placebo effect is something that everyone talks about, but there are hidden aspects that we don’t quite think about. It’s interesting looking at a bit of the biology behind it, particularly between the different sexes. That’s one thing to look out for! What do you like doing in your spare time (when you're not contributing at OmniSci)? Reading all sorts of stuff, watching TV shows and movies–I’m a bit of a film fanatic as well. Going outside and playing tennis or walking my dog. I love spending time with my dog. My dog is my life so he takes up a bit of my time. Do you have any media recommendations? One of my favourite international films is called ‘I cento passi’ or ‘One Hundred Steps’. It’s an Italian movie about the mafia and the man it’s based on is very courageous. I think it’s something we all need to see to remind us that we do have a voice even in such horrible, dark moments. I think that’s definitely something that people can look into! It’s on Youtube with subtitles [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhc9S8txE9c]. Which chemical element would you name your firstborn child (or pet) after? That’s a very um… specific question! Curium is one, so Marie Curie. Fantastic woman, pioneering woman, who was definitely ahead of her time. Or Thorium, because Thor! Read Tanya's articles Sick of lockdown? Let science explain why. Law and Order: Medically Supervised Injecting Centres Space exploration in Antarctica Believing in aliens... A science? Behind the Mask From Fusion to Submarines: A Nuclear Year

< Back to Issue 2 Postdoc Possibilities Thinking about postgraduate research? This column has some advice for you, courtesy of a recent PhD graduate. by Renee Papaluca 10 December 2021 Edited by Ruby Dempsey and Breana Galea Illustrated by Casey Boswell The idea of (dis)order is apparent in many scientific fields. One example of this is artificial light at night, which can disrupt our ecosystems. I caught up with Marty Lockett, a recent PhD graduate in this field, to learn more about the research pathway and their experience studying science at the University of Melbourne. Marty Lockett. Image included with permission. Marty recently completed his PhD in the Urban Light Lab, School of Biosciences. In his spare time, Marty enjoys birdwatching, Lego and science fiction. What was the ‘light-bulb moment’ that prompted you to study science? “I have always enjoyed the outdoors. For example, bushwalking, snorkelling, birdwatching — all that sort of stuff. I am more of a latecomer to science. About 10 years ago, I took long-service leave from my job. I used to be a lawyer. I ended up spending a lot of time doing volunteer work for conservation and restoration organisations… and I was exposed for the first time to the world of science and ecology. The work involved things like cleaning up rubbish, tree planting, weed removal, and banding and recapturing birds with researchers. It was really eye-opening! I realised I could do this for a job… I had never studied science, apart from chemistry at school. I had never been exposed to ecology or really considered it as a potential career option. Having that opportunity to immerse myself in nature in a more constructive and helpful way, rather than being a passive observer, really got me thinking.” Why did you choose to complete a research pathway? “So, I came into this not having an undergraduate degree in science. I completed a Masters of Environment to begin with. My thinking there was to try and get into environmental management, conservation or restoration management. As part of that masters, I completed a couple of third-year animal behaviour subjects. I found this really interesting as I hadn’t studied much about the behaviour of wildlife. Off the back of that, I decided to focus on this area for my research capstone subject. I met Dr Therésa Jones [current supervisor] and … did a mini research project on artificial light at night which is her area of specialization. From there, I got hooked on research… I wanted to find out more and, from there, decided to complete a PhD… There’s so much to learn about the world. Being in the position where the world now knows something that it once didn’t because of your work is really powerful.” What was the focus of your PhD research? Why did you choose this area? “My main project was looking at the effects of artificial light at night on an important food chain in Eucalyptus woodlands.” “There's a lot of research on the effects of artificial light at night on individual organisms… There's less but increasing research on interactions between species. As you spread out wider, there's [even] less research on more complex communities and on the wider cascading ecological effects of artificial light at night. I wanted to look into the effects of artificial light on a system that was underexplored and really important here in Australia.” “I chose a specific Eucalyptus woodland food chain consisting of river red gum trees, lerp psyllids, and birds that eat them. Lerps are the white bumps you sometimes see on Eucalyptus leaves. These are made by the nymphs [juveniles] of insects called lerp psyllids. Psyllids feed on leaf sap. Since eucalyptus sap is very rich in carbohydrates, they secrete the excess carbohydrates and use it to build little white domes over themselves. This takes a resource which is completely indigestible by most animals [Eucalyptus sap] and it turns it into something that is highly digestible by a whole range of animals… like birds, other insects, possums [and] bats. So lerps are a really key food resource in Eucalyptus woodlands. At the next level of the food chain, I chose a bird that was particularly dependent on lerps known as bell miners. I wanted to see the effect of artificial light at night at each level of this food chain. This is because all three organisms were vulnerable to… [the] effects of artificial light at night in different ways, and impacts at one level of the food chain might have cascading effects on other levels.” What did your day-to-day life as a PhD researcher look like? “It's really varied. In my case, I broke it down into three main work categories. So first up, you've got reading and writing. In the early days, before you start doing any experiments, you've got to learn a lot about your area, find out what's known, what's unknown, form hypotheses and figure out ways of testing them…” “In the middle, there is much more time spent on fieldwork and lab work. The extent of this will vary depending on the project… In my case, it was probably 50/50… An amazing amount of research involves what we refer to as ‘art and crafts’ where, after you design an experiment, you've got to then figure out a way to test that experiment on a tight budget. For example, building insect traps; you have to think about how you will make it work logistically. You need something that can be easily broken down and transported, but is rigid enough to stand up in a street, doesn't blow over in the wind and all those kinds of things. Fieldwork involved rigging up electric lights in a paddock, finding ways to stop parrots eating sound recorders; all kinds of weird stuff I never thought I'd be doing. Then there’s the actual fieldwork itself — catching bugs, measuring trees — whatever it is you need to do to gather data.” “The third main activity is statistical analysis and coding, which often go hand in hand. Most of [my] analysis was done in R [programming language], which was another thing that I hadn't done before… I hadn't really appreciated, as an outsider, just how much time scientists spend on statistics and coding. Coding governs a whole lot of things [in research], not just statistics. So you'll use coding to measure the number and diversity of vocalisations in birdsong recordings. You also may use it for physical mapping of study sites. In stats, there is obviously coding involved in statistical analysis, but also for creating the plots for your papers. It's all coding!” “At the end, you come back to reading and writing. You've gathered all your data, you've written up your results and then you've got to put them in context for your reader.” What advice would you give to students considering this research pathway? “There's two aspects to a PhD. On one hand, you are researching something that is of interest to you. This might be a particular organism, process or scientific question… That's a really important element of the PhD. But the other element is about you upskilling. Basically, a PhD is like a research apprenticeship and it's mostly self-driven… Your supervisor is there to guide you but you've got to come up with all the questions yourself, and figure out how to test them. I feel like it's really important to make the most of both these aspects; you want to do a great research project and find out something interesting that the world didn't know before. But you also want to make sure you're making the most of this time to meet people, take on skills, try things out and get outside your comfort zone. This is really important in making yourself as attractive as possible to future employers and a well-rounded researcher.” What are your future plans following your PhD? “I would like to take these skills and apply them in an in-house ecologist or research position. I’d like to do work where there's a chance to both conduct research and apply what we know to achieve better outcomes for wildlife. So, for example, working on the practical application of artificial light, working with people who make decisions about installing artificial light fixtures and helping them to find better ways to balance the needs of humans and the needs of wildlife.” Previous article back to DISORDER Next article

Thinking of joining the OmniSci committee? We spoke to Aisyah, who incorporates her love for design into illustrations, events and social media at OmniSci, and shares her advice for those interested in getting involved (just do it!). Aisyah is a designer and Events Officer at OmniSci in her final year of a Bachelor of Science in geography. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is contributing to social media and as an illustrator. Meet OmniSci Designer & Committee Member Aisyah Mohammad Sulhanuddin Aisyah is a designer and Events Officer at OmniSci in her final year of a Bachelor of Science in geography. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is contributing to social media and as an illustrator interviewed by Caitlin Kane What are you studying? I am studying the Bachelor of Science in geography, now in my final year. Do you have any advice for younger students? It’s alright to not know what you’re doing. But on the flipside, if you do feel you know what you’re doing, be very aware that could change in the next few years. Always be open to new options. What first got you interested in science? When I was a kid, my parents encouraged me to ask questions about the world. I also had my own little book of inventions… if there was a problem somewhere, even if it was with the most outlandish invention, I would seek a way to solve that problem. That idea of being able to figure out how the world works is very fascinating to me. How did you get involved with OmniSci? During lockdown, I saw on the bulletin an expression of interest for a new magazine. I’d just entered uni, wanted to try everything and thought why not, it seems like such a great opportunity. And it is! What is your role at OmniSci? I’ve done a lot of graphic design and I’m going to return for this issue in that role. I’ve basically collaborated with writers to make art that looks good, goes with my style and can convey what they want to say in their article. I’m also in the committee for OmniSci, and have been since last year. Within that, I’ve put multiple hats on: I’ve enjoyed organising multiple events for the club, and helping out with social media. Social events have had a great turnout this year, which is awesome. A new year is always a new opportunity for more people to learn about the magazine. What is your favourite thing about contributing at OmniSci so far? I’ve really enjoyed the graphics side of things. I love creating and it’s really awesome to be able to put art to something text-based. It’s interpretation… You’re bound by what the article says and what the science says, but there is freedom within to express something. I definitely enjoy being able to put my creativity into promotion [as a committee member]. Doing it in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing—it matters to me when things look nice! Do you have any advice for people thinking of getting involved, especially more on the committee side? Yes—do it! Come and join… If you’re interested, feel free to come along because no role should be too daunting for you, and there is always opportunity to make the role fit how you want, it’s quite flexible. Can you give us a sneak peak of what you're working on this issue? If there’s a lot to come, maybe you can just tell us where you’re up to in the process. I’ll be working on the design and looking forward to collaborating with the writer as to how to convey their article properly. In the future, I’m looking forward to being able to create more content for OmniSci—really looking forward to that. What do you like doing in your spare time (when you're not contributing at OmniSci)? A range of things—I like to read, edit photos, do graphic design of random illustrations. I also crochet, do a bit of arts and crafts on the side, and take a whole lot of photos. Which chemical element would you name your firstborn child (or pet) after? Wait, let me pull up the periodic table! Let’s see… Neon. Feels like a great name for a child or an animal. Like calling your kid Jaz or Jet. It’s very snazzy! Do you have anything else you’d like to share with the OmniSci community? Stay looking on our Facebook page! Keep in touch and always keep on communicating, consuming and learning more about science, because that’s how the world progresses honestly. See Aisyah's designs Should We Protect Our Genetic Information? The Rise of The Planet of AI Maxing the Vax: why some countries are losing the COVID vaccination race What’s the forecast for smallholder farmers of Arabica coffee? The Ethics of Space Travel Space exploration in Antarctica The Mirage of Camouflage FINAL Big Bang to Black Holes: Illusionary Nature of Time

< Back to Issue 5 Griefbots: A New Way to Grieve (or Not) Akanksha Agarwal 24 October 2023 Edited by Celina Kumala Illustrated by Louise Cen Trigger warning: This article mentions themes of death or dying. If at any point the content is distressing, please reach out for support via Griefline or refer to the services listed at the end of this article. Rumi once wrote, ‘Anything you lose comes round in another form.’ (Goodreads, n.d., p. 1). There are many ritualistic ways to memorialise the death of a loved one, but what if they had never “died”? Over the past decade, the intersection of technology and mental health has given rise to innovative solutions for various psychological conditions. From virtual reality therapy for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Kothgassner et al., 2019) to prescription video games aimed at helping children manage Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Tiitto & Lodder, 2017), the mental health technology industry has expanded significantly. Enter, a recent addition to this landscape - the grief bot. In 2015, Roman Mazurenko, an entrepreneur and prominent figure in Moscow’s night-life scene, suddenly passed away from a fatal car accident (Newton, 2016). His close friend, Eugenia Kuyda, proceeded to create a “digital monument” in his memory (Newton, 2016). While grieving, she found herself re-reading all his old messages, feeling nostalgic at Roman’s unique word choices, and spelling. Kuyda had previously founded a startup involving artificially intelligent chat bots. After the incident, she fed her bot with Roman’s text exchanges. The bot then adopted Roman’s speech pattern, enabling her to chat with a version of him. This marked the birth of the griefbots, or chat bots programmed using digital remains (emails, text messages, social media posts) of a deceased individual to support their grieving loved ones. In other words, using natural language processing, these bots are able to mimic conversational patterns using the data of the deceased. Are these conversational patterns accurate? How then, does this impact the way we grieve? Should we even be using griefbots? To answer these, we could attempt to understand grief. Grief is a complex emotion. You could be grieving the loss of a loved one, a relationship, an object, or even an abstract idea (e.g. familiarity). Grief can also manifest at different times for each individual. According to the Australian Psychological Society ‘grief is the natural response to loss and can influence the physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and spiritual aspects of our lives.’ (APS, n.d, p. 1). In their book, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessel (2014) coined ‘The Five Stages of Grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Essentially, the model suggests an initial reaction of symbolic denial or shock. Following this is typically a phase of emotional support through vocalising the experience or making meaning. The final stage being acceptance, or moving forward. “Are they really gone?” Denial is viewed as a protective mechanism to meet the psyche where it is. “Why me?” Anger is interestingly framed as an anchor to connect you to someone you’ve lost. “What if they suddenly return?” Bargaining shifts from the past to the future, until the truth sinks in. “What’s the point?” Depression is protecting the nervous system from overload, and is arguably natural to grief, when not clinical. “I lost them, but I am going to be okay.” Acceptance as you start to move forward, with some stability. Now, each of these questions might manifest in different ways, and require different coping mechanisms. However, they do give us an indication of generic phases across unique manifestations of grief. In other words, these are not linear, clear-cut stages, rather, there is an element of individuality in the way we experience each stage. We might experience one stage before another, or circle back, or take a completely new route. In any case, this is one way to make sense of grief. Other theories around grief include Bowlby’s attachment theory (1980) which suggests that our response to losing someone is coded in the way our attachments develop. Silverman and Klass (1996) put forth the idea of continuing bonds, where the meaning of loss changes with the deceased living on in memory. On the other hand, Strobe and Schut (1999) posit a dual process with individuals constantly switching from avoidance or confrontation of loss. Regardless of your theoretical inclinations, chances are that one might seek closure, a sense of reconciliation or even self-fulfilment after experiencing loss. What, then, would be the wellbeing impacts of artificial chat bots, that are designed to adopt the language patterns of those we have lost, on the grieving process? Grief can result in cognitive changes, such as confusion, identity disturbances, dysphoria, and yearning among others (Bonnano & Kaltman, 2001). Norlock (2016) proposes that imaginal relationships with the deceased can reflect relational value, ethical behaviour (such as forgiveness), and relationship maintenance. Furthermore, it is argued that continued internal representations of people who have passed away might also add value to future relationships. In contrast, some may argue that interacting with an artificial grief bot might engender para-social relationships where the user is investing time into a relationship (Vost & Kamp, 2022); however, the receipt is unaware (similar to celebrities and their fans). Furthermore, anthropomorphising a non-living chatbot, and conflating this for a person might distort reality, take wrongful advice, delay grief, or fabricate new false memories (Vost & Kamp, 2022). It leads one to wonder, just what are the potential ethical issues surrounding griefbots? Data is impermanent, with the ability to be wiped (Grandinetti et al., 2020). Data is deeply contextual, contingent, and unstable (Grandinetti et al., 2020). In order to understand how the bot is responding, ensuring no advice is given, and also preserving the griever’s best interest, is a complex task. Moreover, viewing griefbots as permanent or true representations of the dead is another issue. There are also ethical questions around consent and whether the deceased are capable of giving consent to the usage of their data, along with users. Whether companies can be transparent about how the data is being handled, and the algorithms generated, remains unclear. Would knowing how the responses were generated changed the way people viewed grief bots, and would that defeat the purpose? Yet, there are broader challenges. If users disclose private information to profit-driven companies based on the trust with the person they have lost, the data could be misused. The role of protection plans in the event of deep fakers or hackers, becomes paramount. The large amount of data used also raises questions about the sustainability of such bots. Additionally, the high cost of sophisticated bots might create greater disparities in access to support. While autonomy may improve with access to immediate technology, the addictive interaction patterns could lead to dependence, overuse, and potentially social withdrawal. Furthermore, gender, age, sensitive content, changing political landscapes, might potentially bias the bot inherently. Griefbots remain a hotly contested topic, with widespread caution surrounding potential impacts. There have been attempts to design similar bots with ethical features in mind, and even suggestions to medically regulate or test such devices. However, this use for AI bots opens up a multitude of questions. By 2025, Vorst and Kamp (2022) speculate that holographic avatars could be generated through photographs, physical and digital remnants, even voice recordings. Ultimately, the impact of griefbots on our perception of mortality and memory challenges us to reconsider the boundaries of life, death, and the enduring essence of human connection in a digital age. Support resources If you are experiencing prolonged symptoms of grief or depression, please seek support via the following resources with different options for support: Grief Australia: counselling services, support groups, app https://www.grief.org.au/ga/ga/Get-Support.aspx?hkey=2876868e-8666-4ed2-a6a5-3d0ee6e86c30 Griefline: free telephone support, community forum and support groups https://griefline.org.au/ Better Health Channel: coping strategies, list of support services, education on grief https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/servicesandsupport/grief Beyond Blue: understanding grief, resources, support, counselling https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/grief-and-loss Lifeline: real stories, techniques & strategies, apps & tools, support guides, interactive https://toolkit.lifeline.org.au/topics/grief-loss/what-is-grief?gclid=CjwKCAjw-KipBhBtEiwAWjgwrE1pJaaBabh3pT_UR0PlVBZTFMEA26NVJe2ue8sqCF0BLg2rMI4i2xoCp5IQAvD_BwE Reach Out Australia: coping strategies https://au.reachout.com/articles/working-through-grief?gclid=CjwKCAjw-KipBhBtEiwAWjgwrKXLb9w-wXXVLIbhZDkPumIF6ebe-0Pk77Hv7-cK4dLDrHJxCRkyRBoC2B4QAvD_BwE Find a Helpline: for international/country-specific helplines https://findahelpline.com/ This list is not exhaustive, please refer to your area’s specific services for additional support. References Albert, S., & Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Sadness and depression . Journal of Marriage and the Family , 44(1), 248. https://doi.org/10.2307/351282 APS. (n.d.). Grief | APS . Australian Psychological Society | APS. https://psychology.org.au/for-the-public/psychology-topics/grief Basom, J. (2021, May 19). The ethical, social, and political implications of “Griefbots”. Medium . https://jonathanb108.medium.com/the-ethical-social-and-political-implications-of-griefbots-48780fd1d1c2 Bonanno, G. A., & Kaltman, S. (2001). The varieties of grief experience . Clinical Psychology Review , 21(5), 705-734. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0272-7358(00)00062-3 Craytor, J. K., & Kubler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. The American Journal of Nursing , 69(12), 2710. https://doi.org/10.2307/3421124 Elder, A. (2019). Conversation from beyond the grave? A Neo‐confucian ethics of chatbots of the dead. Journal of Applied Philosophy , 37(1), 73-88. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12369 Goodreads. (n.d.). A quote by Rumi . Goodreads | Meet your next favorite book. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/32062-don-t-grieve-anything-you-lose-comes-round-in-another-form Grandinetti, J., DeAtley, T., & Bruinsma, J. (2020). The dead speak: Big data and digitally mediated death . AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research . https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11122 Jiménez-Alonso, B., & De Luna, I. B. (2022). Correction to: Griefbots. A new way of communicating with the dead? Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-022-09687-3 Klass, D. (2021). The sociology of continuing bonds. Culture, Consolation, and Continuing Bonds in Bereavement, 113-128. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003243564-11 Kothgassner, O. D., Goreis, A., Kafka, J. X., Van Eickels, R. L., Plener, P. L., & Felnhofer, A. (2019). Virtual reality exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A meta-analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1654782 Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2014). On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. Simon & Schuster. https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0TltiT8Y9CYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=grief+&ots=S1j1XyF91N&sig=pDnxX-bJQIJIFeX074oGrHRD0Ms&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=grief&f=false Lindemann, N. F. (2022). The ethics of ‘Deathbots’ . Science and Engineering Ethics , 28(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-022-00417-x Newton, C. (2016, October 6). When her best friend died, she used artificial intelligence to keep talking to him . TheVerge.com . https://www.theverge.com/a/luka-artificial-intelligence-memorial-roman-mazurenko-bot Norlock, K. J. (2016). Real (and) imaginal relationships with the dead. The Journal of Value Inquiry , 51(2), 341-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-016-9573-6 Santa Clara University. (n.d.). AI, death, and mourning . https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/internet-ethics/resources/ai-death-and-mourning/ Schut, M. S. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies , 23(3), 197-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811899201046 Shardlow, J. (2022). Temporal perspectives and the phenomenology of grief. Review of Philosophy and Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-022-00659-5 Tiitto, M. V., & Lodder, R. A. (2017). Therapeutic Video Games for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) . WebmedCentral , 8(11). https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.355990 Van der Vorst, R., & Kamp, J. M. (2022). 12. Designing a griefbot-for-good . Moral design and technology, 215-241. https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-922-0_12 Wicked back to

< Back to Issue 2 Mastering Chaos with Pen and Paper The mathematical laws which govern our chaotic and complex universe have found special use in describing the rapidly changing global climate. The work of three research scientists, with backgrounds in physics and meteorology, offered crucial insight into models describing the chaotic processes of climate change, granting them the 2021 Physics Nobel Prize. by Xen Papailiadis 10 December 2021 Edited by Mia Horsfall & Katherine Tweedie Illustrated by Jess Nguyen The world in which we live is densely packed with randomness and disorder. From the stampede of pedestrians navigating a major intersection and meshing together at the zebra crossing, to a flock of blackbirds hovering above like a shapeless dark cloud. All seems random and without any sense of pattern. However, at a very fundamental level, all of these processes can be described by logic and equations; as once remarked by Galileo, “the order of the natural world is written in the language of mathematics”. Through the tireless efforts of natural scientists from across the world, over millennia we have developed a remarkable understanding of the nature of the physical world. At the atomic scale of quantum physics right up to the largest astronomical objects in our universe, physics can both describe the present and decisively predict the future and past of a system. This is all with a pinch of salt, of course, as we run into some serious issues where probability and uncertainty takes over at the quantum level (best saved for another feature article), however, by and large we are capable of determining how a rocket will launch into space and where it will land on dry land, thanks to this deterministic tool. This may seem like the end of the story, however, Mother Nature will not dispel all her secrets at once. In the past century, scientists studying random behaviour, such as how clouds move and disperse or how the small fluctuations in the stock market can be tracked, have been at a loss applying deterministic methods (i.e. methods where we can determine or predict the outcome from a few fixed starting conditions) to these systems. There seemed to be no way to accurately predict the evolution of the system through time. This began with the likes of Poincare fruitlessly predicting the future movement of the planets in our solar system at the request of a monarch, and later Lorenz with his breakthrough and accidental discovery of the mathematical field of chaos itself. “Chaos Theory” is the study of complex nonlinear dynamic systems. In other words, a reckoning with systems that display persistent randomness and a perceived lack of total predictability. There is a nuance to this, however, as a system can simultaneously appear ordered, yet harbour chaotic behaviour within (as Lorenz discovered). Alternatively the systems may seem entirely chaotic however it obeys certain patterns when looked at closely (such as the aforementioned flocking birds). Among all the far reaching applications of Chaos Theory in describing the natural and human-made world, the most recent development has also been deemed worthy of the Nobel Prize. On Tuesday 5th October of this year, three leading scientists in their respective fields were awarded the title of the Nobel Prize, including a share in a $1.53 AUD million reward, by the Royal Swedish Academy of the Sciences. The Nobel recipients are Syukuro Manabe of Princeton University, Klaus Hasselmann of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and Giorgio Parisi of Sapienza University of Rome. The prize itself was awarded “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems”, including “the physical modelling of Earth’s climate… and reliably predicting global warming”. This is the first occasion a Nobel Prize in Physics has been attributed to the field of environmental science and studying the future of the world’s changing climate, and initiates an interesting chapter in the interplay between research in physics, mathematics, and the global climate in decades to come. Receiving one half of the total prize money, Professor Parisi was awarded for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales. Having been at the cutting edge of complex systems research since the 1980’s, Parisi observed hidden patterns in disordered complex materials. His discoveries in understanding and describing the behaviour of these seemingly random materials and phenomena has far reaching contributions into biology, neuroscience and machine learning. Parisi’s work provides a mathematical framework for studying the evolution of the global climate as an example of a complex system. The Earth’s climate is a complex system of vital importance to humankind. Professors Manabe and Hasselmann, two senior climate scientists, shared in the other half of the prize for their contributions in modelling the Earth’s climate system to reliably predict global warming and climate change. In the 1960’s, Professor Manabe led the development of physical modelling of the Earth’s climate, uniting previously separate models of the ocean and atmosphere to demonstrate how increased levels of carbon dioxide impact on temperature on the Earth’s surface. This has effectively laid the foundations of modern climate models used today. Professor Hasselmann followed this up with research of his own a decade later, finding a link between local weather and climate. Hasselmann and his colleagues produced a model which described why climate models can be reliable despite weather being changeable and chaotic, and his work has been used to prove that the increased temperature in the atmosphere is due to human emissions of carbon dioxide. The decades-long work of all three Nobel Laureates fundamentally shaped our understanding and ability to predict how the chaotic and interwoven behavior of the atmosphere, oceans and land will change over time, and strengthen our understanding of the changing climate on our planet. As put by the Nobel Committee for Physics, their discoveries demonstrate that our knowledge about the climate rests on a “solid scientific foundation”, one which can only grow with future generations of climate scientists, physicists and inquirers of the world under a scientific lens. The world in which we live is a random and chaotic one. Despite this sea of unpredictability, a deeper understanding of its mathematical nature can reveal patterns which have far reaching ramifications to our society and even our existence on planet Earth. The Nobel Prize in Physics is one significant step toward greater understanding of real-world complex systems which impact us, and a deeper recognition of the impact we have upon the Earth’s climate. Our ability to understand complex systems is one of a myriad of stepping stones into the great unknowns of science. To those turning away from studies in mathematics and physics for their seemingly abstract and complex nature, the future of our society is written in these laws and it is up to us to master them with pen and paper. References: Bradley, Larry. “Strange Attractors.” Chaos & Fractals, 2010. https://www.stsci.edu/~lbradley/seminar/attractors.html Gardini, L., Grebogi, C. & Lenci, S. “Chaos theory and applications: a retrospective on lessons learned and missed or new opportunities.” Nonlinear Dyn 102, 643–644 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-020-05903-0 Irfan, Umair. “Earth’s climate is chaotic. The winners of the 2021 Nobel Prize in physics found patterns in the noise.” Vox, October 5, 2021. https://www.vox.com/22710418/2021-physics-nobel-prize-climate-change-chaos-model Oestreicher, Christian. “A history of chaos theory.” Dialogues in clinical neuroscience vol. 9,3 (2007): 279-89. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2007.9.3/coestreicher Plus Magazine. “Maths in a minute: Poincaré and the beginnings of chaos.” Universtiy of Cambridge, February 28, 2017. https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-beginnings-chaos Press release: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Thu. 25 Nov 2021. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2021/press-release/ Randall, David. “Winners of 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics built mathematics of climate modeling, making predictions of global warming and modern weather forecasting possible.” The Conversation, October 6, 2021. https://theconversation.com/winners-of-2021-nobel-prize-in-physics-built-mathematics-of-climate-modeling-making-predictions-of-global-warming-and-modern-weather-forecasting-possible-169329 Previous article back to DISORDER Next article

< Back to Issue 7 Timeless Titans: Billionaires defying death by Holly McNaughton 22 October 2024 edited by Arwen Nguyen-Ngo illustrated by Esme MacGillivray Humans are destined to face an unavoidable end, but what if we weren't? What if humans could push the boundaries of death and become "un-ageable"? What would be the consequences if the world's top apex predators became immortal? The concept of anti-ageing and the quest for eternal life is not new. Cleopatra supposedly bathed in donkeys’ milk to reduce wrinkles. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.), tried to achieve immortality by taking pills. Unfortunately for him, the key ingredient was the highly toxic substance—mercury. In 16th century France, members of the nobility would drink gold to preserve youthful looks. Much like in the past, today’s leading figures in the anti-ageing field are those with power and wealth. Today, the same obsessive quest for youth persists, but now it is backed by cutting-edge science and more importantly, staggering wealth. This article delves into the latest anti-ageing trends—pills, specialised diets, and more—championed by modern-day billionaires. We’ll explore the innovations they fund, and more provocatively, what it means for humanity when death is no longer inevitable. Anti-ageing pills The first “key” to anti-ageing is metformin, which dates to the1920s and was first discovered in the medicinal herb Galega officinalis . It lowers blood sugar levels and is taken as a popular treatment for type 2 diabetes (Bailey, 2017). Metformin works by tricking your body into thinking there is not enough energy, lowering blood glucose levels, and helping the insulin your body makes to work better. In a 2014 clinical study, patients with type 2 diabetes initiated with metformin had longer survivals than non-diabetics who did not receive the drug (Bannister et al. 2014). Although this is a correlation, not causation, some studies state Metformin has increased lifespan in mice (Martin-Montalvo et al., 2013). While we are anticipating the results of a trial on the effects on humans, and particularly the effects on non-diabetic lifespan, some are already convinced by the results from preliminary studies, such as Byran Johnson. Johnson is a self-proclaimed Professional Rejuvenation Athlete and founder of Project Blueprint. The Blueprint protocol is an extensive regimen of exercise, health tests, supplements, and a strict diet, to reverse biological age. Bryan has been following the protocol since 2021 and has successfully slowed down his rate of ageing to 0.76, meaning that for every year, Bryan is only ageing 277 days. Luckily, it only costs him 2 million a year. As part of the protocol, Bryan takes several prescription drugs daily, including metformin twice a day and rapamycin. Rapamycin is another promising “key” anti-ageing drug that works as a mTOR inhibitor. mTOR is a key component in cell growth, proliferation and survival. By inhibiting mTOR, cell growth and protein synthesis processes are slowed, thus reducing the chance of pathology (disease and/or injury) of cells and tissues. It has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice, yeast, worms and fruit flies (Harrison et al., 2009) and in 2018, elderly humans given rapamycin showed promising results with improvement in immune function and decreased infection rates (Mannick et al., 2018), which could ultimately lead to longer lifespans. Young blood transfusion Throughout history, blood has been a popular anti-ageing remedy. In the 15th century, Pope Innocent VIII drank the blood of three young boys, to heal his ailments (Scott & DeFrancesco, 2015). It did not work. The term “Young Blood transfusion” is now used to refer to the practice of transfusing blood from a young person into an older one to tackle age-related diseases. The rationale comes from parabiosis experiments. Parabiosis is the anatomical and physiological union of two organisms, and in the 1950s it was performed on two mice, surgically stitched together. A month after the procedure, the older mice showed rejuvenation (Conboy et al., 2005). In 2017, a new startup called Ambrosia emerged offering transfusion from young people at $8,000 a session. According to the U.S Food and Drug Administration, there were no clinical benefits of this treatment, and it was shortly shut down. PayPal founder Peter Thiel believes he will live to be 120 years old; a fan of young blood transfusions, he also credits his future success to taking human growth hormones daily and following a strict paleo diet. The science of which diet is best for anti-ageing is constantly changing. The paleo diet cuts out sugar, carbohydrates and highly processed food and is praised by celebs, but is not currently supported by science for having anti-aging benefits. Other diets such as intermittent fasting, keto and veganism are all praised for their anti-aging properties, but again the claims are under-researched. However, there is a growing body of evidence that a whole-food, plant-based diet can aid in the prevention, and in some cases reversal, of chronic diseases (Solway et al., 2020). For example, in Loma Linda, California, one of the world's five original blue zones (areas of the world with the healthiest, longest-living populations), the life expectancy is 10 years longer than the average American, which has been linked to the high number of Adventist vegetarians in the community. The key link between all five blue zones is a mostly whole-food, plant-based diet. Ethical and social implications – consequences of immortal humans The cure to ageing is still a while away but there is already a growing body of evidence of how we can extend our lifespans, but is that a good idea? The first argument against extending human lifespans is the risk of furthering the gaps in inequality. There is already a 30–40-year life expectancy gap between first-world and third-world countries. As highlighted in this article, it is primarily the wealthy benefiting from advancements in anti-ageing. Although, it is the responsibility of politicians and governments to remove the disparities worldwide. Thus, the question arises – should our focus and resources be directed towards addressing the health crises in developing countries instead? The second argument is overpopulation. An interesting study that looked at a 100-year projection of population size if no one aged after 60 showed that total population size only increased by 22% or 9 million to 11 million (Gavrilov & Gavrilova, 2010). They also pointed out that many members of society may choose to reject new anti-ageing technologies due to religious reasons, fear of side effects and/or costs. I would also like to point out that the world’s declining birth rates due to increased fertility issues may also mean overpopulation won’t be a near-future issue. An increasing population size does however mean increased demand for finite resources like water. Increases in water demand could cause an increase in civil and international conflicts over existing water supplies. In Australia, water scarcity is already a persistent issue, given the relatively dry and variable climate and an increased population size will see demand rise above our limits. To conclude, science has not found a cure for mortality, but with the development in age reversal or anti-ageing science, we may see the longevity of life increasing as well as quality of life. There are several ethical and social implications of an “un-ageable” race, but most importantly, developments in the anti-ageing community may allow loved ones to be healthier for longer. References AIHW, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Deaths in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life-expectancy-deaths/deaths-in-australia Bannister, C. A., Holden, S. E., Jenkins-Jones, S., Morgan, C. L., Halcox, J. P., Schernthaner, G.,Mukherjee, J., & Currie, C. J. (2014). Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls. Diabetes Obes Metab , 16 (11), 1165-1173. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.12354 Bailey, C. J. (2017). Metformin: historical overview. Diabetologia , 60 (9), 1566-1576. Conboy, I. M., Conboy, M. J., Wagers, A. J., Girma, E. R., Weissman, I. L., & Rando, T. A. (2005). Rejuvenation of aged progenitor cells by exposure to a young systemic environment. Nature , 433 (7027), 760-764. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03260 Gavrilov, L. A., & Gavrilova, N. S. (2010). Demographic consequences of defeating aging. Rejuvenation Res , 13 (2-3), 329-334. https://doi.org/10.1089/rej.2009.0977 doi.org Metformin: historical overview - Diabetologia Metformin (dimethylbiguanide) has become the preferred first-line oral blood glucose-lowering agent to manage type 2 diabetes. Its history is linked to Galega officinalis (also known as goat’s rue), a traditional herbal medicine in Europe, found to be rich in guanidine, which, in 1918, was shown to lower blood glucose. Guanidine derivatives, including metformin, were synthesised and some (not metformin) were used to treat diabetes in the 1920s and 1930s but were discontinued due to toxicity and the increased availability of insulin. Metformin was rediscovered in the search for antimalarial agents in the 1940s and, during clinical tests, proved useful to treat influenza when it sometimes lowered blood glucose. This property was pursued by the French physician Jean Sterne, who first reported the use of metformin to treat diabetes in 1957. However, metformin received limited attention as it was less potent than other glucose-lowering biguanides (phenformin and buformin), which were generally discontinued in the late 1970s due to high risk of lactic acidosis. Metformin’s future was precarious, its reputation tarnished by association with other biguanides despite evident differences. The ability of metformin to counter insulin resistance and address adult-onset hyperglycaemia without weight gain or increased risk of hypoglycaemia gradually gathered credence in Europe, and after intensive scrutiny metformin was introduced into the USA in 1995. Long-term cardiovascular benefits of metformin were identified by the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) in 1998, providing a new rationale to adopt metformin as initial therapy to manage hyperglycaemia in type 2 diabetes. Sixty years after its introduction in diabetes treatment, metformin has become the most prescribed glucose-lowering medicine worldwide with the potential for further therapeutic applications. Harrison, D. E., Strong, R., Sharp, Z. D., Nelson, J. F., Astle, C. M., Flurkey, K., Nadon, N. L., Wilkinson, J. E., Frenkel, K., Carter, C. S., Pahor, M., Javors, M. A., Fernandez, E., & Miller, R. A. (2009). Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice. Nature , 460 (7253), 392-395. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08221 Martin-Montalvo, A., Mercken, E. M., Mitchell, S. J., Palacios, H. H., Mote, P. L., Scheibye-Knudsen, M., Gomes, A. P., Ward, T. M., Minor, R. K., Blouin, M. J., Schwab, M., Pollak, M., Zhang, Y., Yu, Y., Becker, K. G., Bohr, V. A., Ingram, D. K., Sinclair, D. A., Wolf, N. S., . . . de Cabo, R. (2013). Metformin improves healthspan and lifespan in mice. Nat Commun , 4 , 2192. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3192 Mannick, J. B., Morris, M., Hockey, H.-U. P., Roma, G., Beibel, M., Kulmatycki, K., Watkins, M., Shavlakadze, T., Zhou, W., Quinn, D., Glass, D. J., & Klickstein, L. B. (2018). TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly. Science Translational Medicine , 10 (449), eaaq1564. https://doi.org/doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaq1564 Scott, C., & DeFrancesco, L. (2015). Selling Long Life. Nature Biotechnology , 33 , 28-37. Solway, J., McBride, M., Haq, F., Abdul, W., & Miller, R. (2020). Diet and Dermatology: The Role of a Whole-food, doi.org Selling long life - Nature Biotechnology A new generation of commercial entities is beginning to explore opportunities for new types of interventions and services in a graying world. Plant-based Diet in Preventing and Reversing Skin Aging-A Review. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol , 13 (5), 38-43. Poganik, J. R., Zhang, B., Baht, G. S., Tyshkovskiy, A., Deik, A., Kerepesi, C., Yim, S. H., Lu, A. T.,Haghani, A., Gong, T., Hedman, A. M., Andolf, E., Pershagen, G., Almqvist, C., Clish, C. B., Horvath, S., White, J. P., & Gladyshev, V. N. (2023). Biological age is increased by stress and restored upon recovery. Cell Metab , 35 (5), 807-820.e805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2023.03.015 Previous article Next article apex back to

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By Andrew Lim < Back to Issue 3 Hope, Humanity and the Starry Night Sky By Andrew Lim 10 September 2022 Edited by Manfred Cain and Yvette Marris Illustrated by Ravon Chew Next Image 1: The Arecibo Observatory looms large over the forests of Puerto Rico The eerie signal reverberates out over the Caribbean skies, amplified by the telescope below. It oscillates between two odd resonating tones for little more than a couple of minutes, then shuts off. Eminent scholars, government administrators and elected representatives watch in wonderment, their eyes glued open. The forest birds and critters chirp and sing. It is November 16, 1974 – from a little spot in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Earth is about to pop its head out the door to say ‘hello’. Those sing-song tunes, beamed out into space on modulated radio waves, are a binary message designed for some alien civilisation– a snapshot of humanity in 1679 bits. It sounds like the beginning of a bad sci-fi flick: the kind that ends with little green men coming down in UFOs for a cheap-CGI first contact. But it isn’t, and it doesn’t. Instead, the legacy of those telescope-amplified sounds – that ‘Arecibo Message’ – has a place in history as a symbol of human cooperation, here on Earth rather than in the stars. The message’s unifying vision imbued the famous ‘pale blue dot’ monologue of its co-creator Carl Sagan; and led to the launch of a multi-year international programme designing its successor message 45 years on, presenting extra-terrestrial communication as a mirror of our earth-bound relations. A unified message symbolizing a unified humanity. The previous feature in this series (Discovery, Blue Skies…and Partisan Bickering?) ended with a declaration of nuance: that science in politics matters solely because it transcends partisan bounds with clear analysis. Yet, looking at stories like Arecibo’s, so imbued with human optimism, maybe this cold, logical formulation isn’t enough. Perhaps for all its focus on appropriations bills, initiative funding and flawed infrastructure, that perspective lends insufficient weight to science’s ability to inspire, to cut through the fog of day-to-day policy battles with a beacon of what could yet be. But is this talk of hope just ideological posturing – a triumphant humanism gone mad? Or could there be some merit to its romantic vision of humanity speaking with one voice to the stars? Might it possibly be that science really is the key to bridging our divisions? COOPERATION AMIDST CHAOS Well, why not begin in the times of Arecibo? After all, the interstellar message came at a key moment in the Cold War. Just a few months before, US President Richard Nixon had made his way to Moscow to meet with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the USSR. The signing of a new arms treaty, a decade-long economic agreement and a friendly state dinner at the Kremlin all seemed to indicate a world inching away from the edge of nuclear apocalypse. Such pacifist optimism is found readily in the message’s surrounding documents, with its research proposal speaking glowingly of future messages designed and informed by “international scientific consultations…[similar to] the first Soviet-American conference on communication with extraterrestrial [sic] intelligence.” Indeed, it seems the spirit of the age. Soon after the Arecibo message’s transmission, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project would see an American Apollo spacecraft docking with a Soviet Soyuz module. Mission commanders Thomas Stafford and Alexei Leonov conducted experiments, exchanged gifts, and even engaged in the world’s first international space handshake – a symbol of shared peace and prosperity for both superpowers. Image 2: Thomas Stafford and Alexei Leonov shake hands on the Apollo-Soyuz mission Apollo-Soyuz marked an effective end to the US-USSR ‘Space Race’ (discussed in Part I of this series), and would lead to successor programmes, including a series of missions where American space shuttles would send astronauts to the Russian space station Mir, and eventually the building of the 21st-century International Space Station (ISS). Science seemed capable of forging cooperation amidst the greatest of disagreements, transcending our human borders and divides. Frank Drake, the designer of the Arecibo Message, was filled with optimism, hoping that his message might herald the beginning of a new age, marked by united scientific discovery and unparalleled human growth. He triumphantly declared to the Cornell Chronicle on the day of its transmission that “the sense that something in the universe is much more clever than we are has preceded almost every important advance in applied technology. SCIENTIFIC SPHERES OF INTEREST Yet this rose-tinted vision of science as the great mediator perhaps has a few more cracks in it than its advocates like to admit. Even at the height of Nixon’s Cold War détente, science was not pure intellectual collaboration. Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State, pioneered ‘triangular diplomacy’, the art of playing adversaries off against one another with alternating threats and incentives. In later years, he would declare that “it was always better for [the US] to be closer to either Moscow or Peking than either was to the other”. And as he opened channels of communication with China, it was science that would pave the way for a stronger relationship. In the Shanghai Communique negotiated on Nixon’s 1972 trip to China, both sides “discussed specific areas in such fields as science [and] technology…in which people-to-people contacts and exchanges would be mutually beneficial [and] undert[ook] to facilitate the further development of [them].” Scientific collaboration (often manipulated by spy agencies from the CIA to the KGB) was the carrot beside the military stick – a central part of building alliances in a world of realpolitik. To Kissinger and his colleagues, the world was to be divided into Image 3: US President Richard Nixon shakes hands with CCP Chairman Mao Zedong in China in 1972 spheres of influence, even in times of peace – and science was best used as a way of strengthening and shoring up your own prosperity. It is a realist view of science diplomacy that continues to this day, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noting in Image 4: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with his Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn in September 2021, pledging additional aid and vaccine doses. 2014 that “educational exchanges, cultural tours and scientific collaboration…may garner few headlines, but… [can] influence the next generation of U.S. and [foreign] leaders in a way no other initiative can match”. To both Clinton and Kissinger, science is an instrument of foreign policy, whether deployed overtly in winning over current governments or more subtly in shaping the views of future ones. For them, amidst competing interests and simmering tensions, we ignore science’s soft power at our own peril. Just look at China’s distribution over Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines in the pandemic. In October 2020, January 2021 and September 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi went on tours of Southeast Asia, promising vaccine aid while pushing closer connections between China and the rest of Asia. Last year, it was estimated that China had promised a total of over 255 million vaccine doses – a key step in building stronger economic and military ties in an increasingly tense region. Indeed, in mid-2021, just as concerns about Chinese vaccine efficacy grew, US President Joe Biden announced “half [a] billion doses with no strings attached…[no] pressure for favours, or potential concessions” from the sidelines of a G7 Summit. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin travelled across Southeast Asia. In the the Philippines he renewed a military deal just as a new shipment of vaccines was announced – a clear indicator of the linkage between medical and military diplomacy, something reinforced when Vice President Kamala Harris landed in Singapore later that year to declare the US “an arsenal of safe and effective vaccines for our entire world.” Australia is key to vaccine diplomacy too. On his visit here earlier this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a point of visiting the University of Melbourne’s Biomedical Precinct to talk about COVID-19, declaring on Australian television that our nation was central to “looking Image 5: United States Secretary of State Lloyd J Austin III meets with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2021 for negotiations on renewing the Visiting Forces Agreement at the problems that afflict our people as well as the opportunities…dealing with COVID…[in] new coalitions [and] new partnerships.” These views are backed up locally too. Sitting down for an exclusive interview with OmniSci Magazine last year, Dr Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist of Victoria, was keen to characterise her work in terms of these developments, reminding us that Victoria had been key to “improving the understanding of the immunology and epidemiology of the virus, developing vaccines and treatments and leading research into the social impact of the pandemic”, and emphasising Australia’s national interest, declaring that “global policymakers understand that a high performing science and research system benefits the broader economy…science and research contribute to jobs and prosperity for all rather than just the few.” Science, it seems, whether in vaccines, trade or exchanges, just like fifty years ago, is again to be a key tool for grand strategy and national interests. Image 6: Dr Amanda Caples, Lead Scientist of Victoria ARGUMENTS AND ARMS But perhaps even this might be too optimistic an outlook – for that simmering balance of power occasionally boils over. We need only to look at what happened when the détente of Nixon and Brezhnev was dashed to pieces with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The policy was roundly condemned as sheer naïveté in the face of wily adversaries, with President Ronald Reagan later describing détente in a radio address as “what a farmer has with his turkey – until Thanksgiving Day”. Science was the first target for diplomatic attacks. After the invasion, Senator Robert Dole (R-KS) launched legislation barring the National Science Foundation from funding trips to the USSR. And the push seemed bipartisan, with Representative George Brown Jr. (D-CA-36) proposing a House Joint Resolution enacting an immediate “halt [to] official travel related to scientific and technical cooperation with the Soviet Union”. Image 7: Russia’s cosmonauts board the ISS on 18th March 2022, shortly before Russia ends its participation in the program Now, as we face war on the European continent, even the ISS – the descendant of Apollo-Soyuz’s seemingly-apolitical scientific endeavours – seems to be falling apart spectacularly. On April 2 this year, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, announced that it would be ending its participation in the ISS program, demanding a “full and unconditional removal of…sanctions” imposed over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier in the year, Roscosmos’ Director General Dmitry Rogozin openly suggested on Twitter that the ISS being without Russian involvement would lead to “an uncontrolled deorbit and fall [of the station] into the United States or Europe”, alluding to “the option of dropping a 500-ton structure [on] India and China.” Rogozin’s threats became even more pronounced as the war continued, with Roscosmos producing a video depicting Russia’s two astronauts on the station not bringing NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei back to Earth with them (American astronauts primarily go to and return from space via Russian Soyuz capsules). Shared by Russian state news, its chilling final scenes show the Russian segment of the ISS detaching too, with Vande Hei presumably left to die in space aboard the station. Such attacks need not remain rhetorical, either. Scientific advancements have long been tied to weaponry and defence systems, with mathematicians and physicists from John Littlewood to Richard Feynman involved in making bombs and ballistics in times of war. Even Arecibo, that bastion of a united humanity, began life as a Department of Defence initiative detecting Soviet ballistic missiles. Today, the AUKUS defence partnership – one of the most significant Indo-Pacific defence developments in recent memory – centres on sharing nuclear submarine science and technology, promising scientific cooperation regarding “cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities”. Even if induced by factors beyond our control, such weapons-based science is a far cry from the pacifist ideals of the Arecibo message. Thus, perhaps this messy reality is more central to our science than we like to admit. From the ISS to Australia’s waters, science still is intertwined with conflict and frequently co-opted by geopolitical actors in times of renewed aggression. Science at its worst is mere weaponry. But at its best, it speaks to something greater. HOPE IN THE DARKNESS In June 1977, the world was far from diplomatically stagnant. From the rumblings of Middle Eastern peace (what became the Camp David Accords) to new hopes of nuclear arms reduction, US President Jimmy Carter had quite the array of diplomatic dilemmas to consider. But amidst all that cold politics, he penned a letter to be sent on board the spacecraft Voyager, now the furthest manmade object from our solar system, declaring “We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours…This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.” And if this magazine has purported to speak to the ‘alien’ – far removed from our human lives - then perhaps we have discovered quite the opposite: that looking out up there is so much about looking in down here. Science presents a way we can look out at the alien and see ourselves – “survive our time…into yours”, finding a path ahead reflected in the inky blackness above. We are often constrained by time and circumstance, forced in the face of nefarious actors to compromise our idealism and use science as a mere weapon or tool. Discovery for discovery’s sake is frequently the first casualty when battle lines are drawn and aggression begun, and too often the political pessimism of the scientist can seem overpowering. But if the stories of broken détentes, diplomatic realpolitik and weaponised technology have made it all feel inevitable, then perhaps it is worth considering the story we began with, looking up into the night sky and remembering that somewhere amidst the stars is a tiny warble in the electromagnetic spectrum. Long after the funds and papers that forged it have faded away, after the people who wrote it have perished, it will continue. In its odd combination of ones and zeroes, it will represent humanity: our contradictions and our fears, our constant foibles and infighting, but also our occasional glimpses of a future beyond them. A signal…a reminder that when the times, the people Image 8: President Jimmy Carter’s message, sent aboard Voyager, the furthest man-made probe from Earth and the ideas line up just right, science can be the torchbearer for something greater. Something so rare that amidst all the ills of the world, it often seems non-existent, and so powerful that over two millennia ago, Aeschylus himself deemed it the very thing given to humanity by Prometheus to save us from destruction – the ideal that transformed us from mortals fixated on ourselves and our deaths to a civilisation capable of great things. “τυφλὰς…ἐλπίδας”, he called it: blind hope. A handshake in a capsule. A life-saving jab on board a ship. A binary message in a bottle, out among the stars. Fleeting images – not of what we are, but of what we can be: visions of blind hope, that sheer belief that we can grow past our worst violent impulses and reach out into the great beyond. Maybe it’s foolish. Maybe it’s naïve. But, on a brisk fall evening, looking out at a sky full of stars, each one more twinkling than the last, it’s easy to stop and imagine…maybe it’s the only thing that matters. Andrew Lim is an Editor and Feature Writer with OmniSci Magazine and led the team behind the Australian Finalist Submission to the New Arecibo Message Challenge. Image Credits (in order): National Atmospheric and Ionosphere Centre; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Archives Nixon White House Photo Office Collection; Kith Serey/Pool via Reuters; Malacanang Presidential Photo via Reuters; The Office of the Lead Scientist of Victoria; AP; National Aeronautics and Space Administration Previous article Next article alien back to