Articles from "The Conversation" 2013

[KichigaiNeko]

8 April 2013, 2.33pm AEST
Wikiworld: the future of investigative journalism

If you are a crooked corporate mogul, property tycoon or prominent politician, chances are you are sweating a little bit this week. Sure, your millions of secret tax-evading dollars are – for the moment – safe in offshore accounts. But now, a lot more people know exactly where your money is and just how much you’ve been hiding.

In the days and weeks to come, offshore banking schemes worth billions of dollars will be reported on by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism (ICIJ), a network of over 38 media organisation and 86 journalists across 46 countries.

Senators in Canada, sons of dictators in Indonesia, and even the deputy Prime Minister of Russia are some of those caught in the spotlight. Major media will dutifully report on the duplicity and, in some cases, the illegality of keeping elite wealth hidden away from government tax departments.

However, the real insight to be had is not about the tax havens, but about the type of journalism which generated these headlines. It shows us the future of investigative journalism at a time when the survival of journalism is being questioned.

Muckraking headlines from collaborative investigations that span the globe and are based on massive data leaks represent a new chapter of investigative journalism. After WikiLeaks, this is becoming the new normal and mainstream media and the public should come to embrace it.

http://theconversation.com/wikiworld-the...lism-13284

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8 April 2013, 2.30pm AEST
Chemical looping: a carbon capture technology for the future

A new technology

Chemical looping involves an innovative approach to deliver only oxygen to the coal combustion process, excluding other gases, such as nitrogen found in air. This enables an almost pure CO2 gas to be produced, which can then be relatively easily stored without any further major processing.

The delivery of oxygen to the combustion zone is achieved through a metal or metal oxide reaction. Small particles of metal, such as manganese or iron, are exposed to air and react with the oxygen present to form a metal oxide; this is known as oxidation. This is exactly the same process as iron rusting, however it is done at a higher temperature and inside specially designed reactors to speed up the process.

The metal oxide (or rusted metal) is then transported to the coal combustion furnace where no nitrogen is present. In chemistry the resulting reaction between the fossil fuel and metal oxide is known as a reduction reaction, where the carbon in the fuel reacts with the oxygen in the metal oxide to produce CO2 and convert the metal oxide back to the pure metal. Given that there are no other gases present, a pure CO2 flue gas is produced which is ready for sequestration storage.

Importantly, the metal particles are then recycled back to undergo oxidation in air to produce the metal oxide and the process begins again. This recycling of the metal or metal-oxide is the looping part of the technology.

http://theconversation.com/chemical-loop...ture-12435

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8 April 2013, 1.54pm AEST
Light among the shadows: the upsides to a financial crisis in China

The scale of China’s off-balance sheet lending may seem extensive, but it’s not the scary beast that many commentators have made it out to be.
In recent months, talk of an emerging crisis in China’s financial sector has been getting louder. A few weeks ago such chatter reached a crescendo, at least in terms of a narrative, when two Nomura economists argued that China was looking increasingly like the US on the eve of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. And we all know how that ended.

China’s financial crisis, the Nomura economists contended, is rooted in the massive amount of credit that is extended off the balance sheets of banks. This credit takes two forms. Firstly, banks can move funds off their balance sheets by contracting with less regulated financial vehicles, such as trust companies. Secondly, informal credit markets, such as when a property developer raises funds through networks of friends and acquaintances promising a generous return in the future.

To the extent that off-balance sheet lending is opaque, nervousness on the part of investors and other interested onlookers is easily understood. If, as the story goes, a significant proportion of such lending is simply fuelling speculative activities, such as in the real estate sector for example, then a downturn in general economic conditions could quickly see the Ponzi scheme come crashing down.

To date, much commentary has been devoted to assessing the extent to which China’s banks are exposed to such potentially risky activities, or the ability of China’s central government to recapitalise them in the face of such an event.

A perspective that has been missing, however, is the basic point that off-balance sheet activity is not necessarily a bad thing. In a country such as China, in net terms it can be a distinct positive.

There is a very good reason why financial activity off the balance sheets of banks is more extensive in China than it is in Australia: the banking system in China performs its core tasks poorly.

Consider the predicament for savers. Interest rates in China are set by the State Council and the one year time deposit rate currently sits at 3.25%. Meanwhile, inflation is officially at 3.2%, and it is widely regarded that China’s CPI underestimates price increases for many items, particularly big-ticket items such as housing.

http://theconversation.com/light-among-t...hina-13206

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5 April 2013, 6.33am AEST
Can we resolve the ‘peak everything’ problem?

AUTHORS


Jason Alexandra
Honorary Fellow at Charles Darwin University

Andrew Campbell
Director, Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Jason Alexandra was a non-executive director of Land and Water Australia between 1996 and 2002. He has received research funds from the Rural Research and Development Corporation and has consulted to a wide range of organisations but there are none with relevant conflicts of interest.

Andrew Campbell is the Director of the Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods at Charles Darwin University, which receives funding from a wide range of research funding bodies. He was Executive Director of Land & Water Australia from 2000-2006. He also owns, and manages from a distance, a family farm in western Victoria.


Provides funding as a Member of The Conversation.


We have plenty of resources that could stop us falling off the edge. Chris Philavanh
With world population exceeding seven billion, there is renewed interest in the limits to growth concept first articulated by the Club of Rome in the 1970s. How can a growing population with growing affluence sustain itself on a finite planet without wreaking havoc on nature and civilisation?

The potential for major economic and political shocks from the world’s energy, food, and water systems, with their vulnerability to climate change, is concentrating attention on food, water and energy security and their interdependence.

Is it reasonable to assume that the human population is on an inevitable and catastrophic collision course with the planet? Or will human ingenuity and innovation inspire successful adaptations that achieve an historic decoupling between economic growth and the depletion and degradation of natural resources?

Rather than rehashing a polarised debate between Malthusian determinists and technological optimists, we’d rather focus on what’s not “peak” and how we can make better use of resources that are abundant. These abundant resources include human creativity and capacity, global genetic resources, design solutions at all scales, and technological, policy and institutional innovations.

Human creativity and capacity

Problems created by humans are, by definition, amenable to human solutions.

People, their creativity and intellectual capacity, are among the most abundant resources on the planet. In the latter part of the 20th century, high population countries, including China and India, succeeded in bringing many of their people out of grinding poverty. Much of this population is young and increasingly well educated, with huge potential to contribute to global solutions. Unleashing this potential and using it to work out how to live within planetary means will be a major challenge of this century.

An ambitious, cooperative global innovation program focused on addressing the converging insecurities of food, energy and water could mobilise this potential. The world needs a 21st century “greener green revolution” that mobilises international global cooperation in developing integrated solutions to human energy, water and urban systems.

http://theconversation.com/can-we-resolv...blem-13070

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8 April 2013, 2.38pm AEST
Monday’s medical myth: yoghurt cures thrush

Vaginal thrush, or “vulvovaginal candidiasis” is a common condition, with around three-quarters of women experiencing an episode in their lifetime.

Many readers may be familiar with the unpleasant symptoms of vaginal thrush – vaginal itching and burning, “cottage cheese” discharge with a yeasty smell, inflammation of the vagina and vulva, and pain while passing urine or having sex.

Most cases of thrush are uncomplicated and are due to an overgrowth of a yeast called Candida albicans. It is normal for Candida to be present in small numbers in the bowel, mouth, skin and vagina.

Reasons why there may be an overgrowth of Candida include:

hormonal changes, such as pregnancy or starting on the oral contraceptive pill
diabetes
suppression of the immune system, such as HIV infection or chemotherapy for cancer
antibiotic treatment
In a survey of Australian women in general practice waiting rooms, a third reported experiencing thrush after antibiotics at some stage. Conceptually, antibiotics can kill bacteria that normally live in the vagina while Candida, a fungus not a bacteria, tends to be unaffected. With less competition, the Candida can overgrow, leading to the symptoms of thrush.

This leads us to yoghurt. A quick Google search reveals links to websites giving interesting and varied health advice. But the basic rationale is consistent: yoghurt is effective because it contains “good bacteria”, Lactobacillus. The idea is that in using yoghurt (by eating it, and/or by applying it directly to the vagina and vulva) the “good” bacteria will help fight off the “bad” Candida.

There is some biologic plausibility in this idea, though there is more than a smattering of sympathetic magic with how it is portrayed. However, the medical establishment shouldn’t be too smug – medical treatments for “vaginitis” a century ago was positively barbaric!

A number of highly unpleasant astringent chemicals were recommended (though curiously, boric acid has stood the test of time and is still used for types of complicated or recurrent vaginal thrush).

As many as 40% of the women in the aforementioned survey who had experienced vaginal thrush tried using yoghurt to cure or prevent thrush.

http://theconversation.com/mondays-medic...rush-12500

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8 April 2013, 2.06pm AEST
See change: is Google Glass all it’s cracked up to be?

It was labelled one of 2012’s most important inventions and “the next big thing”.

So it was, with great fanfare, that Google sent its first batch of Google Glasses out into the geekdom in March – and was met with a resounding “meh”.

Critics claim the sleek new device brands the wearer as an irredeemable nerd, will make it too easy to invade people’s privacy, and will be a danger when driving, to mention just a few problems.

But are the critics right, or are they simply reacting with knee-jerk aversion to an emerging paradigm of computing?

A culture of fear (of change)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It shows us that new technological paradigms have a strongly polarising effect on public opinion – people either love them or hate them, with little common ground.


Sarah G…
But extreme views cannot last for ever.

When the telephone first came into widespread use, people were sure it would be an invasion of their privacy.

When television arrived, conventional wisdom held it would rot people’s brains – indeed some people are still saying it.

http://theconversation.com/see-change-is...o-be-13268