University | Jotup

‘It could be the death of the museum’: why research cuts at a South Australian institution have scientists up in arms

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Friday, April 19, 2024

“It could be the death of the museum,” says renowned mammalogist Tim Flannery, a former director of the museum.

Key Points:

“It could be the death of the museum,” says renowned mammalogist Tim Flannery, a former director of the museum.
“To say research isn’t important to what a museum does – it’s sending shock waves across the world,” she says.

What’s the plan?

According to the museum’s website, this skeleton crew will focus on “converting new discoveries and research into the visitor experience”.
Others have tackled global questions such as the evolution of birds from dinosaurs, how eyes evolved in Cambrian fossils, and Antarctic biodiversity.

What’s so special about a museum?

Their remits are different, says University of Adelaide botanist Andy Lowe, who was the museum’s acting director in 2013 and 2014.
Unlike universities, he says, the museum was “established by government, to carry out science for the development of the state”.

“They’re crucial for what goes on above; you need experts not second-hand translators,” says University of Adelaide geologist Alan Collins.
He wonders what will happen the next time a youngster comes into the museum asking to identify a rock.
The museum’s Phillip Jones now uses this collection in his research, delivering more than 30 exhibitions, books and academic papers.

Continuity and community

Without attentive curation and the life blood of research, the collections are doomed to “wither and die”, says Flannery.
That raises the issue of continuity.
In Flannery’s words, the job of a museum curator:
is like being a high priest in a temple.

Over Jones’ four decades at the museum, his relationships with Indigenous elders have also been critical to returning sacred objects to their traditional owners.
Besides the priestly “chain of care”, there’s something else at risk in the museum netherworld: a uniquely productive ecosystem feeding on the collections.
Here you’ll find PhD students mingling with retired academics; curators mingling with scientists; museum folk with university folk.
In the year ending 2023 for instance, joint museum and university grants amounted to A$3.7 million.

DNA and biodiversity

The museum has also declared it will no longer support a DNA sequencing lab it funds jointly with the University of Adelaide.
“No other institute in South Australia does this type of biodiversity research,” says Andrew Austin, chair of Taxonomy Australia and emeritus professor at the University of Adelaide.
“It’s the job of the museum.” The cuts come while the SA government plans new laws to protect biodiversity.

Elizabeth Finkel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The UK is poorer without Erasmus – it’s time to rejoin the European exchange programme

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Friday, April 19, 2024

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The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Erasmus+ scheme – a reciprocal exchange process that let UK students study at European universities, and European students come to the UK – is again under the spotlight.

Key Points:

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the Erasmus+ scheme – a reciprocal exchange process that let UK students study at European universities, and European students come to the UK – is again under the spotlight.
The scope of the Turing scheme is more narrow, as it focuses on outbound mobility from the UK rather than reciprocal exchanges.
Participating in international exchange programmes offers a plethora of benefits, ranging from personal growth to academic enrichment and professional development.
I can attest to its profound role in shaping well-rounded individuals equipped with the skills to thrive in today’s interconnected world.

Benefits on both sides

There are many benefits enjoyed by students participating in international exchange programmes.
But welcoming international exchange students to UK campuses also offers huge advantages to universities and broader society.
International exchange students bring with them unique perspectives, skills and experiences that enrich the learning environment for everyone.
Language learning and international mobility go hand in hand in fostering essential qualities such as curiosity, empathy and effective communication.

Halting decline

The ongoing decline in language learning in the UK is concerning.
Academics and teachers are trying to address this and have been creating initiatives to re-think how we approach language teaching.
To truly ensure equitable access to language learning, further investment is needed, coupled with a renewed commitment to international mobility.

Sascha Stollhans is affiliated with the Linguistics in Modern Foreign Languages project. The related research mentioned in the article was funded by Language Acts and Worldmaking, part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Open World Research Initiative, an Impact Accelerator Grant from the University of Bristol and a Research Start-up Grant from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Newcastle University.

From sumptuous engravings to stick-figure sketches, Passover Haggadahs − and their art − have been evolving for centuries

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Friday, April 19, 2024

The Jewish festival of Passover recalls the biblical story of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt and their miraculous escape.

Key Points:

The Jewish festival of Passover recalls the biblical story of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt and their miraculous escape.
Every year, a written guide known as a “Haggadah” is read at the Seder table.
The core text comprises a description of ritual foods, the story of the Exodus, blessings, commentaries, hymns and songs.

An illustrated classic

One of the greatest examples our library has of this blending of cultures was printed in Amsterdam in 1695.

The Amsterdam Haggadah was illustrated by Abraham Bar Yaakov, a German pastor who converted to Judaism.
In addition, he incorporated a pull-out map of the route of the Exodus and an imaginative rendering of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The text, traditionally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, included instructions in Yiddish and Ladino, the everyday languages for Jews in Europe.
The Amsterdam Haggadah proved to be incredibly influential on later versions, with its illustrations copied into the modern era.

A Haggadah for everyone

Modern Haggadah illustrations also reflected developments in the art world.
In 1920s Berlin, a Jewish art teacher, Otto Geismar, reinterpreted the story of the Exodus using plain, black-and-white, modernist “stick figures” – another Haggadah in our collection.

Geismar even injected elements of humor: A child is shown asleep at the table, and in another scene a family of stick figures is engaged in animated conversation and debate.
In his depictions of ancient Israelite slaves, stick figures appear especially burdened with heavy loads on their backs.

Wine – and coffee

Meanwhile, some suppliers sensed an opportunity to adapt it for their own needs.
Owner Sam Schapiro savvily linked his products to the Seder, during which participants drink four small cups of sacramental wine.
Wine, seen at this point as a luxury item, also symbolized freedom.

Schapiro’s Haggadah fulfilled the commandment to relate the story of the Exodus for a new generation – but the opening pages also provide a tribute in Yiddish to Sam Schapiro’s 40-year-old company.
Here Schapiro’s is praised for being the place where religious men and intellectuals alike could get together over a good glass of wine.

Rebecca J.W. Jefferson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Peter Higgs’ famous particle discovery is now at the heart of strategies to unlock the secrets of the universe

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Friday, April 19, 2024

His unparalleled legacy, epitomised by the discovery of the Higgs boson, continues to profoundly shape the future of particle physics like no other discovery before it.

Key Points:

His unparalleled legacy, epitomised by the discovery of the Higgs boson, continues to profoundly shape the future of particle physics like no other discovery before it.
When Higgs was born in 1929, our understanding of matter was completely different.
Physicists had developed a simple model of matter with three fundamental, or elementary, particles (those that can’t be broken down into smaller particles).
At the time Higgs began working on his ideas in the 1960s, the question of how elementary particles acquired mass was a central issue in physics.

However, for a theory that should explain mass, a viable solution couldn’t depend on a specific medium or material.
Later, Higgs and other theorists developed a model that overcame this difficulty.
On July 4 2012, images of Higgs, moved to tears by the announcement, went around the world.

In the decade since its discovery, many of these interactions have been observed at the LHC.
If current measurements of that particle are correct, the universe isn’t stable in its current state.
To answer these questions, Europe, the US and China have proposed plans for building new particle colliders focused on studying the Higgs boson.
It would be entirely fitting if Peter Higgs’ legacy, which transformed our understanding of particle physics, also transformed our approach to research.

Martin Bauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Stonehenge may have aligned with the Moon as well as the Sun

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Friday, April 19, 2024

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Six months later a smaller crowd congregates around the Heel stone to witness the midwinter Sun setting within the stone circle.

Key Points:

Six months later a smaller crowd congregates around the Heel stone to witness the midwinter Sun setting within the stone circle.
But a hypothesis has been around for 60 years that part of Stonehenge also aligns with moonrise and moonset at what is called a major lunar standstill.
There is now an abundance of archaeological evidence that indicates the solar alignment was part of the architectural design of Stonehenge.

Lunar standstill

It is these longer sides that are thought to align with the major lunar standstill.
These southern and northern limits of moonrise (or set) change on a cycle of 18.6 years between a minimum and a maximum range – the so-called minor and major lunar standstills, respectively.
The major lunar standstill is a period of about one and a half to two years when the northernmost and southernmost moonrises (or sets) are furthest apart.

The strongest evidence we have for people marking the major lunar standstill comes from the US southwest.
Of six cutting dates, four correspond to major lunar standstill years between the years AD1018 and AD1093, indicating that the site was renewed, maintained or expanded on consecutive major standstills.
Returning to southern England, archaeologists think there is a connection between the major lunar standstill and the earliest construction phase of Stonehenge (3000-2500 BC), before the sarsen stones were brought in.
The major lunar standstill hypothesis, however, raises more questions than it answers.

A search for answers

It’s unclear whether the Moon would have been strong enough to cast shadows and how they would have interacted with the other stones.
This collaboration will result in events showcasing and debating the lunar alignments at both Stonehenge and at Chimney Rock.

Erica Ellingson receives funding from the US Department of Agriculture. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. Amanda Chadburn and Fabio Silva do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Rhapsody in Blue: celebrating 100 years of Gershwin’s groundbreaking classical-jazz masterpiece

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Friday, April 19, 2024

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George Gershwin’s 1924 composition Rhapsody in Blue is so timeless that it seems scarcely possible that he composed it 100 years ago.

Key Points:

George Gershwin’s 1924 composition Rhapsody in Blue is so timeless that it seems scarcely possible that he composed it 100 years ago.
Its centenary offers us a special opportunity to celebrate this iconic work that defies time and place.

Setting the stage

He had a highly original melodic gift, and his many songs and other compositions brought joy and optimism to his audiences.
Gershwin’s musical education started with exposure to classical and popular compositions he heard at school in New York.
Three years later, entertainer Al Jolson performed the Gershwin song Swanee in the musical Sinbad, which became an enormous success.
Ira’s witty lyrics, often punctuated with wordplay and puns, received almost as much acclaim as George’s compositions and were fundamental to their success.

Melding classical music with jazz

Throughout his career, Gershwin also focused on orchestral compositions, often melding musical styles in ways that brought special freshness and enduring grace to his works.
His larger works involving orchestra include the opera Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, a Piano Concerto, Cuban Overture and Second Rhapsody.
He and Gershwin shared the notion of integrating elements of jazz and classical styles, and in late 1923, Whiteman asked Gershwin to compose a work for a concert he was planning called An Experiment in Modern Music, which was to take place at New York’s Aeolian Concert Hall, a classical venue.

Gershwin incorporated into the Rhapsody hallmarks of jazz including expressive blue notes (flatted, or lowered, notes) long passages of syncopated rhythms, and onomatopoeic musical effects.
He subsequently reflected:
There had been so much chatter about the limitations of jazz, not to speak of the manifest misunderstandings of its function.
There had been so much chatter about the limitations of jazz, not to speak of the manifest misunderstandings of its function.
I believe it is tighter, edgier, more incisive and yet more intimate, embodying Gershwin’s idea of combining classical and jazz musical elements.

Robert Taub does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Don’t blame Dubai’s freak rain on cloud seeding – the storm was far too big to be human-made

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Friday, April 19, 2024

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Thousands of meters below, a smaller plane would be threading through the storm downdrafts measuring the rain.

Key Points:

Thousands of meters below, a smaller plane would be threading through the storm downdrafts measuring the rain.
The project I was part of, neatly named Rain (Rain Augmentation in Nelspruit), was a cloud seeding experiment several years in the making.
Cloud seeding involves adding tiny particles into a cloud in order to give moisture something to attach to and form droplets.
There is no identical cloud with which to compare the outcome of having seeded a particular cloud.

A perfect storm

Parts of the Arabian Peninsula received 18 months of rainfall in 24 hours that Tuesday.
Being the weather-man in the chat group, I looked at the satellite and the forecast model data.
What I saw were the ingredients of a perfect storm.
Under these conditions, thunderstorms develop very readily and in this case a special kind of storm, a mesoscale convective system, built and sustained itself for many hours.

Cloud seeding not to blame

What surprised me, though, was not the majesty of nature, but an emerging set of reports blaming the ensuing rains on cloud seeding.
It turns out the UAE has been running a cloud seeding project, UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, for several years.
The idea, similar to the Rain project I once worked on, is to promote the growth of cloud droplets and thereby rainfall.

Richard Washington receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council to study climate processes.

Monetary asmmetries without (and with) price stickiness

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Friday, April 19, 2024

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Key Points:

South Africans tasted the fruits of freedom and then corruption snatched them away – podcast

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Mbeki would lead the country for the next nine years, a period of relatively high economic growth which enabled South Africans to begin to taste the fruits of freedom.

Key Points:

Mbeki would lead the country for the next nine years, a period of relatively high economic growth which enabled South Africans to begin to taste the fruits of freedom.
To mark 30 years since South Africa’s post-apartheid transition began, The Conversation Weekly podcast is running a special three-part podcast series, What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa?
When Mandela took over as president of South Africa in 1994, the country’s economy was emerging from a long recession.
It’s a no-brainer that you’re going to have to find ways of transferring ownership of that capital.

The Zuma years

In 2008, Mbeki’s presidency came to an end when the ANC recalled him, paving the way for the ascension of his successor, Jacob Zuma, after the 2009 national and provincial elections.
Zuma’s years in office unleashed what many see as a significant turning point in South Africa’s democratic history.
Allegations of state capture and corruption dogged the Zuma presidency, particularly centred around his relationship with three businessmen called the Gupta brothers.

Disclosure statement

Mashupye Maserumule has received funding from the National Research Foundation. He is a member of the National Planning Commission and the South African Association of Public Administration and Management. Michael Sachs coordinates the Public Economy Project, which receives funding from the Gates Foundation. He was a member and employee of the ANC in the 1990s and 2000s, and later on a government official.

Credits

Special thanks for this series to Gary Oberholzer, Jabulani Sikhakhane, Caroline Southey and Moina Spooner at The Conversation Africa.
This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, with production assistance from Katie Flood.
Stephen Khan is our global executive editor, Alice Mason runs our social media and Soraya Nandy does our transcripts.

Grattan on Friday: Ethnic tensions will complicate the Albanese government’s multicultural policy reform

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Thursday, April 18, 2024

“In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed terrorism as Australia’s principal security concern,” he said.

Key Points:

“In 2024, threats to our way of life have surpassed terrorism as Australia’s principal security concern,” he said.
Tensions, especially in western Sydney, are much elevated because of the Middle East conflict.
And the Wakeley attack came just two days after the Bondi Junction shopping centre stabbings, which killed six people.
While that atrocity did not fall under the definition of “terrorism”, inevitably the two incidents were conflated by an alarmed public.
The challenge for political leaders is not just dealing with the immediate increasing threats to cohesion, but with longer term policy.
Andrew Jakubowicz, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Technology Sydney, highlights the three separate elements of multiculturalism.

“Settlement policy, which deals with arrival, survival and orientation, and the emergence of bonding within the group and finding employment, housing and education
"Multicultural policy, which ensures that institutions in society identify and respond to needs over the life course and in changing life circumstances, and
"Community Relations policy, which includes building skills in intercultural relations, engagement with the power hierarchies of society and the inclusion of diversity into the fabric of decision-making in society - from politics to education to health to the arts.”

The Albanese government last year commissioned an independent review of the present multicultural framework.
Although the review is not due for release until mid-year, the May budget is likely to see some initiatives.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.