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The alarmingly accurate predictions made 100 years ago

A university researcher has uncovered predictions made in 1924 about what the world would look like 100 years in the future, with some of the predictions proving to be scarily accurate. The Canadian professor Paul Fairie shared a selection of headlines and articles made by newspapers in the 1920s on his X account, showing in what ways the world has changed and how it has remained the same. While some predictions made in 1924 hit the nail on the head, others couldn't be further from reality. Accurate predictions Car speedways One newspaper clipping claimed that in the future, cars would be travelling on super "speedways" that allowed them to travel faster. While cars first hit the roads in the 1880s, it wasn't until the 1920s that vehicles became more common, with cities quickly trying to build safe roads to accommodate the growth in motor vehicles. “In the city of 2024, this authority predicts there will be three-deck roads; speedways through the heart of town,” the newspaper article predicted. The article also envisaged monorail express services to the suburbs replacing cars and buses and moving sidewalks (similar to airport travelators) that moved people in all directions, “serving all railroad stations and business districts”. Women getting tattooed and dyeing their hair In the 1920s, tattoos were exclusively reserved for sailors, criminals and gangland figures until they became more commonplace. But one 1924 article predicted, incredibly accurately, that by 2024 women would be getting tattoos and dyeing their hair “all the colours of the rainbow”. “Debutantes of 1924 are shingle-haired, sleek-looking maidens with delicately rouged cheeks and provocative red lips,” the article stated. “The 1924 debutante successfully conceals her personality under paint and power." “The debutante of 100 years hence may revert to type and frankly copy her ancestors, who dyed their skins with woad; only, with the modern instinct for progress." “She may go still further and dye her complexion and hair all the colours of the rainbow.” Women becoming stronger The newspapers of 1924 also predicted that women of the future would be “physically strong, vital and alert.” One article predicted that women would spend more time in the outdoors, participate in sports, and would be “engaging by choice” in activities that were historically restricted to men. Intellectually, women would be “quick at wit and keen of judgment,” while spiritually, she would “radiate love and good will”. Remote viewing One of the most accurate predictions from 1924 was the invention of technology that would allow people to view entertainment "remotely". “Many inconveniences which the touring artist now has to suffer will no doubt be eliminated,” one prediction read. “It will not be necessary to travel great distances. The strain of the concert tour will be dispensed with. Artists may not even have to leave their homes (to perform).” Not so accurate predictions Horses becoming extinct One prediction from a 1924 newspaper believed that as cars took over as the main form of transportation, there would be no more use for horses and they would soon becoming extinct. “If a house would decrease in the same ratio as in the last ten or twenty years, it might be easy to tell when the last horse would give up his stall to an automobile,” the prediction read. Self-launching beds Another not-so accurate prediction claimed that beds would soon come with a feature that would override the use for an alarm clock, but would come with a mechanism to launch you out of bed in the morning. Describing this futuristic scenario, the reporter wrote: “My bed turns over automatically and I am deposited on the floor”. “Eight o’clock and the switch operating above the fiendish substitute for an alarm clock is operated from school, so at the moment, I am in the same predicament as the rest of the 450 scholars.” Image credits: Shutterstock

Technology

Worried about getting a blood test? 5 tips to make them easier (and still accurate)

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sapha-shibeeb-1481231">Sapha Shibeeb</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Blood tests are a common medical procedure, offering valuable insights into a person’s health. Whether you’re getting a routine check-up, diagnosing a medical condition or monitoring treatment progress, understanding the process can make the experience more comfortable and effective. For the majority of patients, blood collections are a minor inconvenience. Others may feel <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0887618506000041">uneasy and anxious</a>. Preparation strategies can help get you through the procedure. <h2>How blood is collected</h2> During venipuncture (blood draw), the phlebotomist (blood collector) inserts a needle through the skin into a vein and a small amount of blood is collected and transferred into a test tube. Tubes are sent to a laboratory, where the blood is analysed. A laboratory technician may count or examine cells and measure the levels of minerals/salts, enzymes, proteins or other substances in the sample. For some tests, blood plasma is separated out by spinning (centrifuging) the sample. Others pass a light beam through the sample to determine the amount of a chemical present. For collection, the phlebotomist usually selects a vein in the crook of your elbow, where veins are readily accessible. Blood can also be drawn from veins in the wrists, fingers or heels. A tourniquet may be applied to restrict blood flow and make the chosen vein puff out. <h2>Different tests require different preparation</h2> Before a blood test, the GP or health-care provider will give you specific instructions. These may include fasting for up to 12 hours or temporarily discontinuing certain medications. It is crucial to follow these guidelines meticulously as they can significantly impact the accuracy of your test results. For example, fasting is required before glucose (blood sugar) and lipids (blood fats) testing because blood sugar and cholesterol levels typically increase after a meal. If the blood test requires fasting, you will be asked not to eat or drink (no tea, coffee, juice or alcohol) for about eight to 12 hours. Water is allowed but smoking should be avoided because it can increase <a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/19/2/112/19825/Acute-Effect-of-Cigarette-Smoking-on-Glucose">blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels</a>. Generally, you will be asked to fast overnight and have the blood collection done in the morning. Fasting for longer than 15 hours could impact your results, too, by causing dehydration or the release of certain chemicals in the blood. If you have diabetes, you must consult your doctor prior to fasting because it can increase the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in people with type 1 diabetes. Most type 2 diabetics can safely fast before a blood test but there are some exceptions, such as people who are taking certain medications including insulin. <h2>5 tips for a better blood test</h2> To improve your blood collection experience, consider these tips: 1. Hydrate Drink plenty of water right up to 30 minutes before your appointment. Adequate hydration improves blood flow, making your veins more accessible. Avoid <a href="https://academic.oup.com/labmed/article/34/10/736/2657269">strenuous exercise</a> before your blood test, which can increase some blood parameters (such as liver function) while decreasing others (such as sodium). 2. Loose clothing Wear clothing that allows easy access to your arms to ensure a less stressful procedure. 3. Manage anxiety If the sight of blood or the procedure makes you anxious, look away while the needle is inserted and try to keep breathing normally. Distraction can help – virtual reality has been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31889358/">trialled</a> to reduce needle anxiety in children. You could try bringing something to read or music to listen to. 4. Know your risk of fainting If you’re prone to fainting, make sure to inform the phlebotomist when you arrive. You can have your blood drawn while lying down to minimise the risk of passing out and injury. Hydration helps maintain blood pressure and can also <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.CIR.0000101966.24899.CB">reduce the risk</a> of fainting. 5. Discuss difficult veins Some people have smaller or scarred veins, often due to repeated punctures, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989034/">chemotherapy</a> or blood thinner use. In such cases, venipuncture may require multiple attempts. It is important to talk to the phlebotomist if you feel discomfort or significant pain. A finger prick can be performed as an alternative for some tests, such as blood glucose levels. But other comprehensive tests require larger blood volume. <h2>Blood draws after lymph node removal</h2> Historically, there were concerns about drawing blood from an arm that had undergone lymph node removal. This was due to the risk of <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/side-effects/lymphedema/lymphedema-pdq#:%7E:text=Lymphedema%20is%20the%20build%2Dup,the%20way%20that%20it%20should.">lymphedema</a>, a condition marked by fluid build-up in the affected arm. Lymph nodes may have been removed (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564397/#:%7E:text=Lymph%20node%20dissection%2C%20also%20known,surgical%20management%20of%20malignant%20tumors.">lymphadenectomy</a>) for cancer diagnosis or treatment. However, a <a href="https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2015.61.5948">2016 study</a> showed people who’ve had lymph nodes removed are not at a higher risk of developing lymphedema following blood draws, even when drawing blood from the affected arm. <h2>After your blood test</h2> The whole blood test procedure usually lasts no more than a few minutes. Afterwards, you may be asked to apply gentle pressure over a clean dressing to aid clotting and reduce swelling. If you do experience swelling, bruising or pain after a test, follow general first aid procedures to alleviate discomfort. These include applying ice to the site, resting the affected arm and, if needed, taking a pain killer. It is usually recommended you do not do heavy lifting for a few hours after a blood draw. This is to prevent surges in blood flow that could prevent clotting where the blood was taken.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216073/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sapha-shibeeb-1481231">Sapha Shibeeb</a>, Senior lecturer in Laboratory Medicine , <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/worried-about-getting-a-blood-test-5-tips-to-make-them-easier-and-still-accurate-216073">original article</a>.

Body

Calories and kilojoules: how do we know the energy content of food, and how accurate are the labels?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Everything we consume contains energy our bodies use to move, grow and maintain health. To work out how much energy is in different foods and drinks, we need to first look at a few core concepts. Firstly, you’ve probably heard of the units of measurement for energy – calories – as well as the metric equivalent, which is joules. One calorie is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1℃. In human nutrition, the amounts of energy needed to maintain health, and to fuel a body, are much larger than the tiny singular calories used to heat up a gram of water. So, the term “calorie” in nutrition commonly refers to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622085546">kilocalorie</a> (or kcal), which is 1,000 calories. When you see the word “calories” on a nutrition label, it’s likely referring to kcals. The energy stored in food and drinks is released when the body breaks down one or more of the four macronutrients inside the food (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, alcohol). The body then uses that energy for activities such as keeping our heart beating, our lungs breathing and our muscles moving. When energy in food is estimated, it is the amount of energy food and drinks provide for these bodily processes. The four macronutrients provide <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522039454">different amounts of energy</a>: <ol> <li>1 gram of carbohydrate provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of fat provides about 9 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of protein provides about 4 kcal of energy</li> <li>1 gram of alcohol provides about 7 kcal of energy.</li> </ol> <h2>How are calories estimated?</h2> There are two ways to estimate the amount of energy in food and drinks. The first is called “bomb calorimetry”. This gold-standard method involves placing a small sample of food or drink inside a device known as a bomb calorimeter. The food is burned in the presence of oxygen, releasing heat. The amount of heat released is directly related to the amount of energy in the food, allowing a calculation to be made. This method is most commonly used for foods rich in fats and is considered the most reliable (but expensive) method. The second method, the Atwater system, is a much less expensive method for estimating energy content. It is more commonly used when calculating energy of most food and drinks sold in supermarkets. Named after legendary food researcher <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622065336">Wilbur Atwater</a>, this system uses a standard conversion factor for each macronutrient found in food and drinks. By estimating the amount of each of the four macronutrients, an approximate calculation of the total energy can be made. However, this method requires detailed knowledge of the ingredients within composite foods (such as muesli bars or hamburgers) – which may reduce accuracy. There is also a margin of error to expect with the Atwater system, because it assumes each ingredient is always the same in composition. For example, a cup of oats grown in one part of the country won’t necessarily have the exact same nutritional content as another cup of oats grown elsewhere, due to climate and soil differences. So, this system is an estimation based on an average. Importantly, both methods estimate the amount of energy in food and drinks. But the actual energy our bodies extract from these foods and drinks can vary due to factors such as individual differences in digestion and absorption, as well as food processing and cooking methods. <h2>Why do foods have calories written on them?</h2> In Australia, it’s a <a href="https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/labelling/panels/Pages/default.aspx">legal requirement</a> for packaged food items to have a nutrition information panel that displays the number of kcal it contains. However, homemade food items sold at places like a fresh market may not be required to provide a nutrition information panel. This will depend on the type of food being sold and the scale of the business operation. Fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables and meat also don’t require a nutrition information panel. To find out the number of kcal in them, you can either run an experiment with a bomb calorimeter or look up an estimated value in an online nutrition database. Food composition databases such as <a href="https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/">CalorieKing</a> compile information about the energy and nutrient content of various foods. Dietitians and other health professionals often use these databases to estimate the energy content of foods to inform dietary recommendations. <h2>Different international standards</h2> Both kJ and kcal refer to energy – they are just two different units of measurements (such as how inches and centimetres are two different units for measuring length). Kilojoules (kJ) is part of the International System of Units (SI). Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Europe use kJ. The United States and the United Kingdom use kcal. To convert between calories and kilojoules you use the conversion factors: <ul> <li>1 kcal = 4.184 kJ</li> <li>1 kJ = 0.24 kcal (about ¼).</li> </ul> For example, if you have a packet of chips with an energy content of 200 kcal, you can convert it to kJ as follows: 200 kcal × 4.184 = 836.8 kJ. As for how many calories are acceptable to eat, the Australian Guidelines for Healthy Eating estimate the average adult requires about 7,000kJ or 1,670Kcal every day. However, differences in age, gender, size, health and physical activity will influence how much energy a person needs. To estimate your personal energy requirements, you can use this <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients-dietary-energy-calculator#results-energy">nutrients and dietary energy calculator</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211613/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Dietitian, Researcher & Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-barnes-1238606">Katelyn Barnes</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/calories-and-kilojoules-how-do-we-know-the-energy-content-of-food-and-how-accurate-are-the-labels-211613">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

Ken’s rights? Our research shows Barbie is surprisingly accurate on how ‘men’s rights activists’ are radicalised

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lucy-nicholas-145660">Lucy Nicholas</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a> In the Barbie movie, we open with a picture of a perfect Barbieland where (almost) everyone is happy, diversity and sisterhood are embraced, and Barbies hold all positions of power. The Kens however, reflecting the popularity of the dolls in the real world, play a mainly decorative role. Spoilers for Barbie follow. In the film, we see a disgruntled Ken (played hilariously by Ryan Gosling) follow “Stereotypical” Barbie (Margot Robbie) to the real world where she has to find her human owner. This is all to fix an error that is allowing the real world to seep into Barbie land, with symptoms such as Barbie having an existential crisis. In the real world, Ken discovers the concept of the patriarchy. This sees him take a journey that is clearly influenced by, and pokes fun at, many aspects of contemporary anti-feminist men’s rights culture. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pBk4NYhWNMM?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Barbieland and the matriarchy</h2> It has been proposed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-greta-gerwigs-barbie-land-the-matriarchy-can-be-just-as-bad-as-the-patriarchy-209317">Barbieland is a matriarchy</a>, but I would argue that their attitude to Kens is instead indifference. Ken was aggrieved that Barbie didn’t notice him and reciprocate his affections. This is not dissimilar to the grievances of some real-life men under contemporary feminism. Why don’t women’s lives revolve around them? And what can they do to address this perceived injustice? The movie cleverly parallels the emotions, narratives and logics that lead men to extreme antifeminist and misogynistic thinking, and in doing so exposes the flimsiness of their foundations. Having undertaken <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-12/apo-nid307612.pdf">research</a> on online antifeminist discourses, Ken’s journey from aggrievement to masculine “enlightenment” parallels themes we found in Men’s Rights Activist spaces. Radicalisation into this world is often motivated by a feeling among boys and men of being left behind by a feminist world or system that doesn’t value them. This then leads them to long for an imagined natural order of patriarchy where women are back in their place and men regain their entitlements. These logics underpin <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-incel-community-has-a-sexism-problem-but-we-can-do-something-about-it-207206">incel</a> culture, a movement that is increasingly understood as a terror threat, and has been associated with various acts of terror, such as the 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/closest-to-an-incel-attack-nz-has-had-experts-concern-after-attempted-murder-of-auckland-schoolgirls/HYPEVZ6F4BFT3CV2O4SXS5FR7U/">Epsom crash case</a>. <h2>The manosphere and MRAS</h2> The “<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-68360-7_2">manosphere</a>” can be understood as a loose coalition of antifeminist online subcultures. This includes MRAs (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X15574338">Men’s Rights Activists</a>) who claim reverse discrimination and that feminism has gone too far, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1097184X18816118">Redpillers</a> who claim to have swallowed the “red pill” to see the truth about feminism’s dominance. PUAs (<a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/entities/publication/d8971ded-1ec3-4939-8c0a-ab248dad62ba">Pick up Artists</a>) teach men how to manipulate the women they feel they are entitled to, to give them sex; and MGTOWs (<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1751867">Men Going Their Own Way</a>), who are antifeminist separatists (from women). Some of the most well known members of the manosphere are incels (involuntary celibates) a misogynistic community of self identified “beta-males” who want an end to women’s rights which prevent them from getting sex. <h2>Ken’s grievances</h2> Like many MRAs, Ken struggles with a sense of entitlement romantically (rather than sexually in genital-free Barbieland), and in attitudes to power and respect. Ken was being “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friend%20zone">friend-zoned</a>” by Barbie, who despite being “boyfriend and girlfriend” wouldn’t let him stay over at the Dream House, because “every night is girl’s night”. This is coupled with a feeling of not being special, as Ken is essentially interchangeable with any other Ken. He is also “alpha’d” by other Kens: in the language of the manosphere, Barbie is a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/incels-inside-their-terrifying-online-world/9700932">“Stacy” and the other Ken is an alpha “Chad”</a> preventing him from getting what he wants. In <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-12/apo-nid307612.pdf">our data</a> we found women are often described as “overlords”, man-haters, misandrists and “feminazis”. Among other concerns, men perceive economic loss due to women’s participation in the workplace, and crucially a lack of men’s sexual access to women brought about by the gains of feminism such as the awareness raised around consent by the #metoo movement. These men all share a starting point of grievance at women and their perceived indifference towards them. When Ken goes to the real world, he discovers patriarchy and he LOVES it. He has been “redpilled”. Patriarchy explains his aggrievement, and affirms his feelings. He takes patriarchy back to Barbieland and transforms it to Kendom, where the men change it to a society oriented around men and their power (and horses…). <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1IgAEejvqM?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Redpilled ken</h2> This redpilled Ken is a hilarious parody of the “neomasculinity” of the pick up artist (PUA) movement, that seeks to restore a masculine-centred world. Neomasculinity is about a belief in biological difference, traditional masculinity and heteronormative gender roles. The amusing depiction of the Kens trying to perform traditional <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/hypermasculinity">hypermasculinity</a> and needing their egos stroked – such as in a hilarious scene where the Kens are serenading the Barbies on the beach with an acoustic rendition of Matchbox Twenty’s <a href="https://youtu.be/HAkHqYlqops">Push</a> (“I wanna push you around … I wanna take you for granted”) – brilliantly shows the extent to which toxic masculinity is learned. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HAkHqYlqops?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Additionally, the competition among the Kens (that the Barbies ultimately stoke to overturn the Kentriarchy) is the perfect illustration of the damage toxic models of masculinity does to men. As Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell has long argued, almost no men can live up to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27640853">masculine ideals</a>, resulting in negative outcomes not just for women but also for men themselves. <h2>Finding the real Ken</h2> The movie ends with Barbie, her human (America Ferrera), “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon) and Allan (Michael Cera) deprogramming the brainwashed Barbies and turning the Kens against each other. But what of Just Beach Ken? And what can we learn from this for preventing or managing radicalisation of this feeling of aggrievement in real men or boys? Well, Barbie and Ken reach a middle ground. Barbie encourages Ken to work out who he is outside of his relation to Barbie, and to learn being Just Ken is enough. This isn’t dissimilar to the methods of men’s behaviour change programs and counselling for men who use violence, which use <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10926771.2023.2189043">trauma-informed motivational interviewing</a>, reflect on challenging gender norms and breaking down rigid thought processes, and developing emotional literacy and communication strategies. But it also illustrates that men and boys need alternative narratives to make sense of themselves in the world, and alternative communities for affirmation, before it gets to this stage. In <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-12/apo-nid307612.pdf">our report</a>, we recommended: "Providing alternative narratives and considering how far-right [or MRA] groups provide men with emotional support networks, with a view to providing better alternatives." Feminism has consistently been about separating attributes from their gendered associations, breaking down the Barbie/Ken binary. So if there is one thing we can take away from the Barbie movie, it is that hierarchy and rigid gender benefits nobody, and power and social roles have nothing to do with the genitals you are born with.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210273/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lucy-nicholas-145660">Lucy Nicholas</a>, Associate professor Sexualities and Genders / Sociology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a> Image credits: Warner Bros. This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kens-rights-our-research-shows-barbie-is-surprisingly-accurate-on-how-mens-rights-activists-are-radicalised-210273">original article</a>.

Caring

We can pretty accurately tell when a human or dog is happy, but not so much with aggression

Humans are terrible at understanding aggressive characteristics in dogs — and unfortunately, in other humans. Being able to correctly interpret social interactions is an important skill that allows humans to react appropriately in different situations. But, research from the Dog Studies Research group at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Germany shows while we’re generally clued in to distinguishing the nature of social interactions between children, dogs, and monkeys, we suck at identifying negative behaviour in dogs and humans. Researchers presented 96 adults with short video clips of aggressive, neutral, and playful interactions between two individuals in three different species: human children, dogs, and macaques. The clips included clues, such as body postures and facial expressions, but ended before the interaction took place. Half the study participants were asked to categorise the interaction as aggressive, neutral, or playful, while the other half were asked to predict the outcome from three sentences prepared by the experimenters describing the three possible outcomes. The researchers found that people performed better than chance for both tasks, even without prior experiences with the non-human species. They selected the correct choice of the three outcomes in 50–80% of interactions and were most accurate in categorising playful interactions, which they correctly identified 70% of the time. This wasn’t the case for predicting aggressive outcomes in humans and in pooches in particular. Participants rated aggressive contexts among dogs at chance level, and predicted outcomes below chance level. “It is possible that we are biased to assume good intentions from other humans and from ‘man’s best friend’,” says first author Dr Theresa Epperlein the DogStudies Research group in the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Germany. “Perhaps this bias prevents us from recognising aggressive situations in these species.” “Our results underscore the fact that social interactions can often be ambiguous and suggest that accurately predicting outcomes may be more advantageous than categorising emotional contexts,” adds senior author Dr Juliane Bräuer, DogStudies Research Group Leader. The research has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277783" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the journal PLOS ONE.  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=227826&title=We+can+pretty+accurately+tell+when+a+human+or+dog+is+happy%2C+but+not+so+much+with+aggression" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" />  <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/human-dogs-aggressive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on Cosmos Magazine and was written by Imma Perfetto. Image: Getty Images </div>

Family & Pets

"Super-recognisers" accurately pick out a face in a crowd – but can this skill be taught?

Yenny is 26 years old, lives in Melbourne, and has a very specific talent. One day, she was driving her car when she recognised a man who had been several years below her at high school and whom she hadn’t seen for more than ten years. What makes this particularly impressive is that she recognised him from the briefest glimpse in her rear-view mirror while he was driving the car behind hers. Yenny recounts many such amazing feats of recognition and is one of a very small proportion of the population known as “super-recognisers”. She was the top performer on a <a href="https://facetest.psy.unsw.edu.au/">national test of face recognition abilities</a> in Australia, coming first out of 20,000 participants. Could you learn to spot a face as well as Yenny? Well … maybe. Our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211037">new research</a> shows that many training courses offered in this field of expertise are ineffective in improving people’s accuracy in face identification. But other ways of learning how to identify faces may work; we’re just not yet sure exactly how. In-demand expertise <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3904192/">Super-recognisers</a> are used by police and security agencies to spot targets in crowded train stations, monitor surveillance footage, and track people of interest. During the 2011 London riots, for example, super-recognisers from the Metropolitan Police <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150611-the-superpower-police-now-use-to-tackle-crime">identified more than 600 people</a> from very poor-quality surveillance footage – a task that not even the best facial recognition software can perform reliably. So can anyone become a super-recogniser? Can you make up for a lack of superpowers through training? In our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211037">paper</a> we assessed the effectiveness of training courses given to practitioners who make facial identification decisions for a living. We reviewed 11 training courses that comply with international training standards from Australia, UK, US and Finland. We found that training courses typically teach facial anatomy – focusing on the muscles, bones and shape of the face – and instruct trainees to inspect faces feature by feature. Novices and genuine trainees completed one of four training courses and we tracked their identification accuracy from before to after training. Surprisingly, we found the training courses had almost no effect on people’s accuracy. This was especially surprising to the people who took the training – an astonishing 93% of trainees thought the training had improved their ability to identify faces. Our research shows that even the world’s best available training – used to train police, border control agents, forensic scientists and other security personnel – does not compensate for talent in face recognition. This is consistent with recent research suggesting that our face identification abilities are largely predetermined by <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/107/11/5238.long">genetics</a>. Forensic facial examiners This may come as disappointing news to people who hope to become a super-recogniser. But all is not lost. Scientists have recently discovered that some specialist groups of practitioners show very high levels of accuracy. Forensic facial examiners routinely compare images of faces to turn CCTV images into informative face identification evidence in criminal trials. Recent work shows that they too outperform novices in very <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/24/6171">challenging tests</a>. Forensic facial examiners present a paradox for scientists. They perform face identification tasks with a high degree of accuracy, and this ability appears to be acquired through professional experience and training. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211037">Our study</a> suggests there is no benefit of face identification training courses when tested immediately before and after. In addition, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103510">previous work</a> has suggested that merely performing face-matching tasks in daily work is not sufficient to improve accuracy. Some passport officers have been working for 20 years and perform no better than others who have been working for just a few months. This paradox suggests there is something particular about the type of training and professional experience that forensic facial examiners receive that enables them to develop visual expertise in identifying faces, and which isn’t provided by standard training courses. How do they do it? In our current research we are working closely with government agencies to uncover the basis of forensic facial examiners’ expertise. For example, we now know that part of their expertise comes from using a very particular <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28045276">comparison strategy</a>, where they break the face down into individual facial features and then slowly and systematically assess the similarity of each feature in turn. Interestingly, the nature of this expertise appears to be qualitatively different to that of super-recognisers – Yenny recognised her old classmate using a quick, intuitive process as she glanced in the rear-view mirror. However, these snap judgements made by super-recognisers may not be suitable for the type of identification evidence that forensic facial examiners give in court, where a careful analysis of facial images is necessary to support identification decisions. Importantly, forensic facial examiners provide detailed reports of the observations used to support their decisions, which can then be cross-examined in court. Trainable vs hardwired Super-recognisers and forensic facial examiners use distinct routes to high performance in face identification. Effective training appears to target the slower, deliberate and analytical visual processing that characterises forensic facial examiners. The faster and more intuitive skill that enabled Yenny to recognise faces of relative strangers in her rear-view mirror is likely to be untrainable, and hard-wired. This raises the question of how to balance these different sources of expertise. It may be that super-recognisers are best suited to surveillance-type roles, such as monitoring CCTV or searching for targets in large crowds. Forensic facial examiners may be better suited to providing identification evidence to the court, which requires thorough explanations of how and why the expert came to their decision. Alternatively, it may be possible to train super-recognisers in the expert skills characterising forensic facial examination, or to form teams that include both types of expert. The aim of our work is to integrate these sources of human expertise with the latest face recognition software to improve the accuracy of face identification evidence. Such a system can make society safer, but also fairer, by reducing the likelihood of wrongful convictions. Can you beat Yenny’s high score of 88% on the super-recogniser test? Find out <a href="https://facetest.psy.unsw.edu.au/">here</a>. Written by Alice Towler and David White. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-recognisers-accurately-pick-out-a-face-in-a-crowd-but-can-this-skill-be-taught-112003">The Conversation.</a>

Technology

This 18-year-old newspaper clipping is scarily accurate today

To say a lot has changed since 1999 would be an understatement. No one would be caught dead using a mobile phone with an antenna, nor would they be seen driving along to the sound of the Backstreet Boys. But while many things have (thankfully) changed in the last 18 years, a resurfaced newspaper clipping from that year has us wondering, maybe today isn’t so much different after all. A Reddit user has shared a clipping from the November 1, 1999 edition of the Wisconsin newspaper The Oshkosh Northwestern, and it’s so eerily accurate in today’s climate that it could almost have been written yesterday. <img width="600" height="746" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/43690/gitjgazuws6micvwkqcaqgzbarv6kgxh_x1qxd-bhz8_600x746.jpg" alt="Gitjg Azuw S6Mi CVwkq CAq GZb ARV6k GXh _X1QXd -bh Z8" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/> The clipping, which the Reddit user captioned, “It’s amazing how nothing has changed in the last 18 years,” speaks of a Trump presidency, Korean nuclear weapons, dodgy Clinton donations and even Al Gore makes an appearance. Under the headline, “Trump would be U.S. trade rep,” it reads, “Donald Trump said Sunday that as president, he personally would handle US trade talks and would restore respect from countries doing business with America.” He also reportedly “took aim at North Korea and China for ignoring U.S. overtures and building nuclear weapons”. Spooky! What do you think of this eerily accurate newspaper clipping from 18 years ago? Tell us in the comments below. Image credit: PresidentJohnMiller/Reddit.

News

Man accurately predicted the future 20 years ago in this eerie letter

Tradesmen have discovered a letter hidden inside a bathroom wall in a Rozelle home in NSW containing predictions of the future made more than 20 years ago. The letter was written by Greg Wilkinson, now 61, who included a photo of him and his wife Roslyn Green on their wedding day. “Hello whoever you are,” the letter starts. “This letter was put into this stud wall on Easter Saturday, 15th April, 1995. It is pissing down and so a good day to be renovating.” “Ros reckons you will be reading this in the year 2020. I built the wall, and I reckon closer to 2060,” he wrote. <img width="499" height="665" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39610/letter-1_499x665.jpg" alt="Letter 1"/> Greg details in his letter that he and his wife purchased their house in 1987 for $170,000, describing it as “uninhabitable” and undergoing renovations. Greg also revealed how his wife Roslyn was expecting a child and “because she is an inquisitive type” knew the baby was going to be a boy. Greg was sailing in Croatia when the letter was uncovered by the tradesmen. He told Fairfax his wife tragically died from breast cancer two years after the letter was written. “I feel quite emotional having seen it. All that water under the bridge for me and the world. My beautiful Ros looking back at me from the past,” he said. <img width="499" height="665" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39611/letter-2_499x665.jpg" alt="Letter 2"/> In his letter, Greg made predictions about the future including how Islam would be the “next ideological problem” facing the world, plunging parts of the world into a “holy war”. He also predicted China would be the next big economic superpower, warning Australia could be a target if it decided it needed more space. Greg also described life in 1995, explaining how the price of a loaf of bread was $2.25 and “surfing” the internet was a new craze. “Hope I haven’t made the future look too bleak, but if one focuses on the problems of today, they would probably seem bleaker. We’re however, having a ball,” he said. “We hope you enjoy living here as we did”. The letter was posted to Facebook and has attracted attention due to Greg’s accurate insights. Greg has thanked users for their encouragement commenting on the photo, “What a hoot. You have all been so kind and complimentary.”

Books

Are fitness trackers as accurate as you think?

There are few things more satisfying than dropping on the couch after a run and seeing how many calories you've destroyed. But there's a chance your activity tracker is pandering to your desires. "Even the best trackers overestimate calories burned by 30 per cent or more," Otago University PhD candidate Leon Mabire said. So outraged are some fitness bunnies that they've filed law suits in the United States against activity tracker giant Fitbit, claiming the device is "highly inaccurate". As part of the US lawsuit, the plaintiffs' lawyers commissioned a study that tested Fitbits against ECG heart rate monitor the Zephyr. The study found devices can be off by up to 20 beats a minute during intensive workouts, and the margin of error increased with intensity. Fitbit, a company worth US$8 billion, has hit back at the study, saying it was biased, baseless and lacked scientific rigour. The company's website does not list a percentage of accuracy for its products, but does state: "Like all heart-rate monitoring technologies, accuracy is affected by physiology, location of device, and different movements." "There isn't a gold standard device that can be accurately compared to Fitbit," the Daily Mail reported. That is where Mabire comes in. He says he has developed an algorithm that can predict calories burned with an accuracy of 94 per cent. It took into account body weight, height, body mass index, and a couple of secret, commercially sensitive things, he said. When he tested the Fitbit Charge HR ($259.95) and the clip-on Fitbit Zip ($99.95) as part of his research, he found their accuracy was between 60 and 75 per cent. In his sample size of 62, the Charge read 120 per cent of actual calories burned while the Zip served up 135 per cent. Mabire tested subjects in a range of shapes and sizes, ranging from athletes with a BMI of 19 to the morbidly obese. "Everyone is different. You don't have a standard Aspirin dose, you have it according to your body weight," he said. "Why don't we do that for exercise? Exercise is medicine too." A Berkeley science review found "Fitbit is good for counting steps, might need some help when it comes to measuring distance, and is not particularly reliable for counting calories burned". A Fitbit spokesman said the company's research team rigorously researched and developed the technology for the Charge HR three years prior to introducing it to market and conducts ongoing internal studies on its products. "Consumer Reports independently tested the heart rate accuracy of the Charge HR and Surge after the initial lawsuit was filed in January and gave both products an 'excellent' rating," he said. "We stand behind our heart-rate monitoring technology and all our products, and continue to believe the plaintiffs' allegations do not have any merit." Several posts on Fitbit's Facebook page question its accuracy. In a post from Mangatainoka, a woman complained her Fitbit recorded 16,509 steps and 2332 calories burned in a day when she did only 8000 steps, and that it recorded activity while she was sleeping in another room, with her tracker resting on a table. Fitbit suggested she decrease her tracker's step-counting sensitivity. Mabire said he did not want to compete with Fitbit. He wanted to create a medical-grade device. "We'd like to have a prototype by the end of 2016, then we can start testing it, then possibly look at a product in some form next year." Aside from going for a $5000 AMP Scholarship on June 1, he hopes he can make use of some of the record $2.2b injection into healthcare, announced as part of the Budget on Thursday. "There was talk on increasing funding in the medical technology area, and something like this would be right up their street." Do you use a fitness tracker like a fit bit? Do you think after reading this article you’ll be more cautious when analysing the results? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Written by Rachel Thomas. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>. Related links: <a href="/health/caring/2016/07/how-wearable-devices-could-save-your-life/">How wearable devices could save your life</a> <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/07/apps-to-help-forgetful-people-to-remember-things/">Apps to help forgetful people to remember things</a> <a href="/entertainment/technology/2016/06/how-a-mobile-phone-can-save-your-life/">How a mobile phone can save your life</a>

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We can pretty accurately tell when a human or dog is happy, but not so much with aggression

"Super-recognisers" accurately pick out a face in a crowd – but can this skill be taught?

This 18-year-old newspaper clipping is scarily accurate today

Man accurately predicted the future 20 years ago in this eerie letter

Are fitness trackers as accurate as you think?

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