It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Healthy diet can slow down chronic diseases in older people
A healthy diet can slow down the accumulation of chronic diseases in older adults, while inflammatory diets accelerate it. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Aging.
Researchers have investigated how four different diets affect the accumulation of chronic diseases in older adults. Three of the diets studied were healthy and focused on the intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, legumes, unsaturated fats and reduced intake of sweets, red meat, processed meat and butter/margarine. The fourth diet, however, was pro-inflammatory and focused on red and processed meat, refined grains and sweetened beverages, with lower intake of vegetables, tea and coffee
Just over 2,400 older adults in Sweden were followed for 15 years. The researchers discovered that those who followed the healthy diets had a slower development of chronic diseases. This applied to cardiovascular disease and dementia, but not to diseases related to muscles and bones. Those who followed the pro-inflammatory diet, on the other hand, increased their risk of chronic diseases.
”Our results show how important diet is in influencing the development of multimorbidity in ageing populations,” says co-first author Adrián Carballo-Casla, postdoctoral researcher at the Aging Research Centre, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.
The next step in their research is to identify the dietary recommendations that may have the greatest impact on longevity and the groups of older adults who may benefit most from them, based on their age, gender, psychosocial background and chronic diseases.
The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, FORTE, among others. The researchers state that there are no conflicts of interest.
Publication: ‘Dietary patterns and accelerated multimorbidity in older adults’, David Abbad-Gomez, Adrián Carballo-Casla, Giorgi Beridze, Esther Lopez-Garcia, Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo, Maria Sala, Mercè Comas, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Nature aging, online xx 2025, doi: 10.1038/s43587-025-00929-8
Facts about the diets: MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay): A diet designed for brain health and to reduce the risk of dementia.
AHEI (Alternative Healthy Eating Index): A diet that measures adherence to dietary guidelines that reduce the risk of chronic diseases in general.
AMED (Alternative Mediterranean Diet): A modified version of the Mediterranean diet adapted to Western eating habits.
EDII (Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index): An index that estimates the inflammatory risks of a diet.
(Left to right) NTU Research Fellow Dr Tran Ngoc Phuoc Thanh; Senior Research Fellow Dr Le Duc Long; Prof Hirotaka Sato; Research Engineers Jean Allen Academia and Mya Myet Thwe Chit; and Project Officers Greg Angelo Gonzales Nonato, Fan Zifu and Marcus Wong, with the automated cyborg insect factory prototype.
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have built the world’s first automated cyborg insect “factory line”.
Supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), this new prototype robotic system automates the attachment of miniature electronic backpacks on the back of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, turning them into insect-hybrid robots.
This new assembly method significantly reduces preparation time and human error, marking a big step towards large-scale deployment of insect-hybrid robots in complex environments for search and rescue efforts in disaster zones.
Led by Professor Hirotaka Sato from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NTU Singapore, the automated system can attach the electronic “backpacks” to Madagascar hissing cockroaches in just 1 minute and 8 seconds per insect.
This is about 60 times faster than the traditional manual process dependent on trained operators, which often takes more than an hour. When processing four insects, the system completed all assemblies in under 8 minutes, about 30 times quicker than manual methods.
“Our innovation makes the dream of deploying large numbers of cyborg insects in real-life scenarios far more practical,” said Prof Sato.
“Manual preparation is time-consuming and very dependent on skilled operators. By automating the process, we can produce insect-hybrid robots rapidly and consistently. It will allow us to prepare them in large numbers, which will be critical in time-sensitive operations such as post-disaster search and rescue.”
When the roaches are no longer deployed or during long periods of rests, the miniature electronic backpacks can be safely removed from their backs without any adverse effects.
How cyborg insects work
Unlike conventional robots, cyborg insects move normally using their limbs, guided by gentle electrical stimulations delivered through implanted electrodes connected to a lightweight circuit board on their backs.
The AI-enabled robotic assembly system uses computer vision and a proprietary algorithm to identify the optimal anatomical site on the cockroach’s back for electrode implantation, ensuring accurate placement.
The researchers also designed a new generation of backpack that stimulates the insects more efficiently, using 25 per cent less voltage than earlier versions while maintaining precise control of movement. This extra power efficiency will help to extend operational time and reduce the risk of overstimulation.
In laboratory tests, the hybrid insects demonstrated sharp turns of over 70 degrees and speed reduction of up to 68 per cent on command.
A swarm of four cyborg roaches covered over 80 per cent of an obstacle-filled test area in just 10.5 minutes, showcasing their ability to navigate through tight and cluttered spaces.
While the assembly line is still in the prototype stage, cyborg insects with the first-generation backpack mounted using the manual method have already seen real-world use.
Real-world applications
On 30 March 2025, a team of 10 cyborg insects was deployed to Myanmar together with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) as part of its Operation Lionheart contingent.
The humanitarian aid mission was in response to a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on March 28, which claimed more than 3,000 lives.
This marked the first time that cyborg insects were used in a humanitarian operation and the first-ever field deployment of insect-hybrid robots.
The field deployment demonstrated the potential of insect-based robotics for locating survivors in disaster-hit areas where conventional robots would have struggled with access and short operational times.
“With learning from our field deployment, it’s now essential to create infrastructure that supports mass production and deployment,” said Prof Sato. “Our assembly line is the first step towards that goal, and we believe it will pave the way for more reliable cyborg applications, such as inspecting large civil structures for defects.”
Prof Sato is internationally recognised for his pioneering work in cyborg insects. His groundbreaking research has been featured in TIME magazine’s “50 Best Inventions of the Year” and MIT Technology Review’s “10 Emerging Technologies”.
Looking ahead, his team aims to improve the assembly system and work with local partners to further validate its effectiveness and readiness for industrial use.
This research was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) under the Moonshot R&D Programme, Moonshot Goal 3: “Realisation of AI robots that autonomously learn, adapt to their environment, evolve in intelligence and act alongside human beings, by 2050.”
The work was carried out under the R&D Project titled “New World of Inspiration by Co-evolution of Humans, AI Robots, and Biological Cyborgs” (Grant Number: JPMJMS223A).
(Left) NTU Prof Hirotaka Sato working with NTU Project Officer Greg Angelo Gonzales Nonato on the automated cyborg insect factory prototype, which can install the miniature electronic backpacks on the back of Madagascar hissing cockroaches in just over a minute, 60 times faster than the manual method.
More than 11,000 additional women opted for the most effective form of birth control—long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)—within just 15 months of B.C. making prescription contraception free.
The numbers don’t lie
New research from the University of British Columbia and collaborators shows a 49-per-cent jump in LARC dispensations after the province introduced universal, no-cost coverage in April 2023. That’s a seismic shift in how reproductive-aged women are managing their reproductive choice, the researchers say. The study tracked nearly 860,000 women aged 15–49 and found that cost had been a major barrier to accessing the most effective methods like intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants, which can cost up to $450 out of pocket.
A quiet revolution in reproductive health
The policy was not promoted heavily through advertisements and such—just standard government announcements with a simple promise: You won’t pay a cent. And that was enough to tip the scales for thousands of women who had been priced out of the most effective options.
Why it matters
LARC methods are 10 times more effective than the birth control pill or condoms. By removing the cost barrier, B.C. has found a straightforward way to prevent unintended pregnancy and promote reproductive autonomy.
A national model in the making?
According to lead author Dr. Laura Schummers, assistant professor in UBC's faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, B.C.’s success offers a blueprint for other provinces and for national pharmacare. With clear evidence that cost-free access drives uptake of the most effective contraception, the case for scaling up is stronger than ever.
Effect of universal no-cost coverage on use of long-acting reversible contraception and all prescription contraception: population based, controlled, interrupted time series analysis
Article Publication Date
28-Jul-2025
COI Statement
WVN has consulted for the governments of British Columbia and Ontario, Canada, and provided expert testimony on contraception cost in relation to health equity and cost-effectiveness. AKD is employed by Hoffmann La-Roche (unrelated to this work). MRL has consulted for Health Canada and Canada’s Drug Agency and has provided expert witness testimony regarding drug benefits for several labour unions.
Ambivalent sexism predicts Israelis’ gendered preferences in the Gaza hostage crisis
Saving women first? What the Gaza hostage crisis tells us about gender and public opinion
The longstanding norm of "women and children first" has shaped rescue priorities in times of crisis. Does it still make sense in the 21st century?
BEER-SHEVA, Israel, July 28, 2025 – On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale terror attack on Israel, abducting 251 hostages – men, women, and children – into Gaza. In the weeks that followed, a temporary ceasefire in November 2023 led to the release of most women and children. A second deal in January 2025 reinforced the emerging pattern: adult women were consistently prioritized over adult men.
This order of release triggered intense public debate. For many, prioritizing those seen as more vulnerable (women over men) felt morally self-evident. Others, however, questioned the ethics of basing rescue decisions on group identity rather than individual risk or need. This dilemma was not merely a matter of formal policy; it opened a broader conversation about the values that guide our judgments in times of crisis.
It also raised a difficult question: What happens when care is distributed unequally – not necessarily because some suffer more, but because some are more easily seen as suffering? In this case, the suffering of men risks being overlooked, because it may not fit dominant narratives of vulnerability.
What Predicts Support for "Women First"?
As social psychologists, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Dr. Orly Bareket and her colleagues Dr. Michal Reifen-Tagar and Prof. Tamar Saguy of Reichman University set out to understand the beliefs behind public reactions to the hostage releases. The key question was not who was prioritized, but why the public supported or objected to that order. What moral assumptions, gender norms, or ideological frameworks shape how people assess whose lives should be saved first?
They surveyed a large, representative sample of Jewish Israeli adults shortly after the first hostage deal in November 2023. Overall, public support for prioritizing women was widespread: 77 percent favored releasing women before men. Importantly, attitudes followed a clear pattern, strongly tied to beliefs about gender.
People who endorsed benevolent sexism – the belief that women should be cherished and protected by men – were more likely to support releasing women before men. In contrast, those who held hostile sexist views – resenting women as manipulative or undeserving – were more likely to object to the prioritization of women's release.
These patterns held even after accounting for demographic factors such as age, religiosity, exposure to the war, and broader ideological views. In fact, sexist beliefs emerged as the most robust predictors of public opinion on this issue.
The Role of Respondents' Gender and the Power of Parenthood
Respondents' gender made only a modest difference. Men and women expressed largely similar views. Among men, however, benevolent sexism had a stronger effect. Men who saw men's role as protectors were especially likely to support prioritizing women.
They also examined whether public preferences were shaped more by hostages' gender or by ideals of motherhood. Support for releasing mothers before fathers was stronger than for releasing women over men in general, particularly among those high in benevolent sexism. This suggests that motherhood, as a cultural ideal, may weigh more heavily than gender alone in shaping public judgment.
However, as this part of the study was exploratory in nature, future research is needed to test additional mechanisms beyond motherhood itself. For example, do people believe women face heightened risks of sexual violence or pregnancy in captivity? These questions are key to unpacking how perceived vulnerability intersects with gendered cultural narratives.
Who Deserves Protection?
To many, protecting women feels like a moral axiom. Yet their findings show that even moral instincts can be gendered. Preferences that may appear universally true may, in fact, rest on cultural assumptions about who deserves protection – and who does not.
This is not to say that releasing women first was wrong. Rather, it calls for greater clarity about the moral frameworks behind such choices. Are women prioritized because they are more vulnerable, or because social narratives say they should be?
What may feel like moral clarity can, in practice, conceal moral complexity. Cultural norms shape our intuitive responses to suffering, which, though well-meaning, can reinforce systemic biases by amplifying some forms of vulnerability while rendering others invisible.
This includes the suffering of men. Gender bias does not only harm women by limiting their agency or subjecting them to paternalism. It also diminishes empathy for men, especially in militarized or conflict settings where men's pain may be normalized or dismissed. When protection is gendered, the extent of men's suffering may be overlooked – not because it is absent, but because it falls outside the cultural script of who is seen as needing care.
Dr. Bareket is a member of the Department of Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The catastrophic Durban floods of April 2022, which claimed 544 lives and displaced tens of thousands, were made significantly worse by climate change, a new study led by Wits University has confirmed.
The research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, is a formal scientific attribution of the event. It shows that rainfall during the storm of 11–12 April 2022 was between 40% and 107% heavier than it would have been in a cooler, pre-industrial climate.
Using cutting-edge climate modelling developed by Professor Francois Engelbrecht, Director of the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in collaboration with national and international partners, the study represents a major leap forward in the continent’s ability to analyse how global warming is driving extreme weather.
“Three years after President Cyril Ramaphosa said these floods were part of climate change, science can now confirm he was correct,” says Engelbrecht. “However, we need to be able to do these assessments in real time, so that our early warning and response systems can keep pace with the escalating risks,” says Engelbrecht. There are also clear links between attribution science and the increasingly prominent policy space of ‘Loss & Damage’, which explores how developing countries and be supported following the devastating impacts of extreme weather events.
The April 2022 floods remain the deadliest flood disaster in South Africa’s recorded history. More than 500 mm of rain fell in just two days in parts of KwaZulu-Natal as measured by weather stations of the Agricultural Research Council. The deluge destroyed homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods across the province.
The new study used a ‘kilometre-scale’ climate attribution model and was made possible by the high performance computers of the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) in Cape Town. It simulated the storm in both today’s warmed climate and a counterfactual world without human-induced global warming. The unprecedented level of detail in the model makes the findings particularly robust.
The research identified three key drivers behind the intensified rainfall:
A warmer atmosphere, fuelled by greenhouse gases, holds more moisture;
The Agulhas Current has warmed in recent decades, increasing ocean evaporation and feeding moisture into coastal storms;
Changes in wind patterns are funnelling more moist air into KwaZulu-Natal.
The team also modelled future scenarios, warning that storms in eastern South Africa will likely become even more intense as the planet continues to warm.
Building resilience in a warming world
The climate attribution model used in the study took nearly three years to develop after President Ramaphosa’s initial comments. “We need to move from academic modelling to near-operational capability — where we can confirm within days, not years, whether climate change intensified a disaster. With even faster next generation computers being installed at the CHPC and our newly established modelling system, this is absolutely achievable,” says Engelbrecht.
“In the short term, we need robust Disaster Risk Reduction plans that can evacuate people from high-risk areas with just a few days’ notice,” said Engelbrecht. “This demands advanced Early Warning Systems and, importantly, trust in those systems at community level. In the long term, we must help people to relocate to safer locations — above the flood line. But this is a difficult and costly process in cities that are growing rapidly and informally.”
Local leadership rising to the challenge
Mayor Cyril Xaba of eThekwini has welcomed the research findings. In eThekwini, local government is already taking action. Working with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the municipality has developed a Community-Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS) in Quarry Road West Informal Settlement. During the April 2022 floods, the system was activated, and no lives were lost, despite over 120 dwellings being washed away.
“We’ve seen time and again the value of working with communities to create very local flood warnings,” says Dr Sean O’Donoghue, Senior Manager: Climate Change Adaptation at eThekwini Municipality. “This climate attribution study marks a watershed moment — we now have definitive, scientific evidence of how climate change is impacting us, and more importantly, what we need to plan for”.
Through the INACCT Resilience project, funded by CLARE and in partnership with ICLEI Africa, the City is expanding localised warning systems across vulnerable areas. It is also growing the Transformative Riverine Management Programme, which employs local residents to clear debris from waterways — a key step in managing future floods.
At the provincial level, the Department of Water and Sanitation, uMngeni-Thukela Water, and research partnerships are collaborating through international programmes such as WaRisCo (under the WASA programme) and REPRESA (CLARE programme) to reduce both flood and drought risks.
“The silver lining to the dark storm clouds threatening South Africa’s east coast is that government at all levels is embracing climate science to protect lives. But efforts must now expand rapidly — especially into the Eastern Cape, where risks are rising,” says Engelbrecht.
Journal
Communications Earth & Environment
Article Title
Extreme event attribution using km-scalesimulations reveals the pronounced role ofclimate change in the Durbanfloods
