TSMC delays Arizona factory that will eventually build chips for iPhones and AI

The company is sending Taiwanese technicians to train US workers at the new Phoenix-based production plant.


By Jess Weatherbed, 

THE VERGE
Jul 20, 2023

TSMC is also predicting a 10 percent decline in revenue for 2023 amid falling demand for consumer electronics. Photo by VCG via Getty Images

The world’s biggest chipmaker is pushing back the start of 4nm chip production at its new facility in Phoenix, Arizona, to 2025, blaming labor shortages. Apple has said that it intends to eventually source chips for its iPhones and MacBook models from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plant in the US, while Nvidia and AMD have also committed to using its production capacity.

The chipmaker’s first Phoenix-based fab, which began construction in 2021, was originally projected to start producing 4nm chips next year. A second fab that will produce smaller, more complex 3nm chips is scheduled to open in 2026.

During the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday, TSMC chairman Mark Liu said that the company was “encountering certain challenges, as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with the specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility” in the US (seen via The Wall Street Journal).

TSMC is sending a task force of experienced technicians from Taiwan to the US to make up for lost time

Liu added that TSMC is planning to temporarily send technicians from Taiwan to train local workers at the new Arizona production plant. Nikkei Asia reported last month on a “task force” of more than 500 experienced workers on the way to help set up specialized equipment while also quoting analysts who said the slow progress is due to weaker market demand for TSMC’s chip production.

The chipmaker’s Q2 earnings report showed revenue (NT$480.8 billion or around $15.4 billion USD) down 10 percent and profits (NT$181.80 billion or $5.8 billion) down 23 percent from the same period last year, and its CEO Che Chia Wei projected a 10 percent revenue drop for the full year amid falling demand for consumer electronics. “Higher inflation and interest rates impact end demand in all market segments, in every region in the world,” said Wei. “While we have recently observed an increase in AI-related demand, it is not enough to offset the overall cyclicality of our business.

TSMC expects the capacity shortage caused by high demand for AI-capable chips will persist until next year

The explosive popularity of generative artificial intelligence models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT over the last year has resulted in increased demand for advanced chips required to run them. TSMC acknowledged that this has resulted in a capacity shortage as it struggles to fulfill orders, but Wei remains optimistic that this will improve toward the end of next year. “We are working with customers for the short term to help them to fulfill the demand,” said Wei, adding that the company aims to double its capacity “as quickly as possible.”

Liu said TSMC is working with the US government to maximize the subsidies and tax credits available in the CHIPS Act to cover the first five years of increased premiums from fabricating in the US.


TSMC notes that 66 percent of its total net revenue for 2023 so far came from customers based in North America, dwarfing competing markets like China (12 percent) and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa, with a combined 7 percent). It’s little wonder that the Biden administration is trying so hard to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, though the various issues delaying TSMC’s Arizona-based plant are a stark reminder that bringing that chip-making capacity in-house is easier said than done.

Cambodian leader’s son, a West Point grad, set to take reins of power - but will he bring change?

By David Rising The Associated Press
Friday, July 21, 2023

Heng Sinith / AP Photo
Hun Manet, right, a son of Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, greets his supporters before leading a procession to mark the end of an election campaign of Cambodian People's Party, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 21, 2023. Hun Sen says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, who heads the country’s army.

Heng Sinith / AP Photo
Supporters of the Cambodian People's Party participate in a procession to mark the end of its election campaign in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 21, 2023. The three-week official campaigning period ended Friday for the July 23 general election. Eighteen parties are contesting the polls, but Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party is virtually guaranteed a landslide victory.


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Hun Sen has been Cambodia’s autocratic prime minister for nearly four decades, during which the opposition has been stifled and the country has grown increasingly close to China.

With his Cambodian People’s Party virtually guaranteed another landslide victory in this Sunday’s election, it’s hard to imagine dramatic change on the horizon. But the 70-year-old former communist Khmer Rouge fighter and Asia’s longest-serving leader says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who heads the country's army.

Tens of thousands of supporters packed a central square in the capital before daybreak on Friday to hear the 45-year-old’s 7 a.m. kick-off to the CPP’s final day of campaigning before the vote.

With a warm smile and soft tone, a stark contrast to his father’s stern look and military-like cadence, Hun Manet said the CPP had brought peace, stability and progress to the Cambodian people.

“Voting for the CPP is voting for yourselves,” he told the cheering crowd, promising to return Cambodia’s national pride to a “greater level than the glorious Angkor era” of the Khmer Empire, centuries ago.

With the only credible challenge to the CPP barred from participating in the elections on a technicality, Cambodians are being offered little choice but to vote for the ruling party again. The arrests over the past week of several leading opposition figures have served to help stifle visible support for anyone but the CPP on the streets of Phnom Penh.

“Authorities in Cambodia have spent the past five years picking apart what’s left of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” Amnesty International’s Montse Ferrer said Friday. “Many people feel that they are being forced to participate in this election despite their party of choice not being on the ballot.”

There was, however, a palpable sense of excitement as Hun Manet walked through the crowd of some 60,000 shaking hands and taking selfies, before taking a position next to his wife in the back of a pickup truck for a long parade through the city.

Sixteen-year-old Sin Dina, one of many young people who turned out, jumped up and down and waved the Cambodian flag as Hun Manet drove slowly by, said it was the first time she had the opportunity to see him in person.

“He looks like a gentleman, down to earth, approachable, and he’s well-educated” she said, adding she only regretted she was too young to vote. “He’s an appropriate successor to his father.”

Many in the crowd spoke of Hun Manet’s education — his bachelor’s at West Point being followed by a master’s at New York University and a doctorate in economics from Britain’s Bristol University.

His background has given rise to hope from some in the West that he might bring political change, but it will still take work to regain influence in the Southeast Asian country of 16.5 million, given China’s strategic and economic importance, said John Bradford, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“A Cambodia led by Hun Manet might very well be a stronger U.S. ally, but the U.S.-Cambodia relationship can only thrive if it is built on strong fundamentals of common benefit and mutual respect,” Bradford said. “U.S. diplomats should focus on these things.”

At the top of Washington’s concerns is China’s involvement in construction at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, which could give Beijing a strategically important military outpost on the Gulf of Thailand.

Ground was broken last year on the Ream project, and satellite imagery of the ongoing construction from Planet Labs PBC taken about a month ago and analyzed by The Associated Press shows a jetty now large enough to accommodate a naval destroyer, if the water is deep enough.

Regionally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Cambodia chaired last year, has criticized Phnom Penh for undermining its unity in disputes with China over South China Sea territorial claims.

It is not clear when — or even if — Hun Sen will hand off to his son during the next five-year government term, though most seem to think it will happen early enough for Hun Manet to establish himself in the job before the next election.

Both men refused requests to be interviewed by The Associated Press.

Even when Hun Manet does take over, Bradford said it might not mean any change at all, noting that educational and personal background do not necessarily translate into leadership style or political stance.

“We have a dictator in North Korea who went to school in Switzerland,” he said. “His choices don’t exactly reflect Swiss values.”

Hun Manet has given few clues himself, posting frequently on Facebook and Telegram like his father but revealing little of his political leanings.

And few think Hun Sen will fade into the woodwork, instead choosing now as a good time to turn over power so that he can still maintain a large degree of control from the sidelines, said Gordon Conochie, a research fellow at Australia’s La Trobe University and author of “A Tiger Rules the Mountain: Cambodia’s Pursuit of Democracy,” which was published this month.

“It means that while his son is establishing his own authority as prime minister, he’s still got a relatively young, healthy — physically and mentally — father behind him,” Conochie said.

“The reality is that as long as Hun Sen is there, nobody’s going to move against them. And Hun Sen will be the man in charge, even if his son is the prime minister.”

Hun Sen joined the Khmer Rouge at age 18 as it fought to seize power, losing his left eye in the final battle for Phnom Penh in 1975.

When a series of purges within the genocidal communist regime, blamed for the deaths of some 1.7 million Cambodians, put his own life at risk, he fled to neighboring Vietnam, returning to help oust his former comrades in 1979 alongside an invading Vietnamese army.

By his late 20s he was installed as foreign minister by occupying Vietnamese forces, and in 1985 became prime minister, the world’s youngest at the time.

Ken Bizzigotti, File / AP Photo
Hun Manet, the first Cambodian to graduate from the United States Military Academy, holds his diploma on May 29, 1999, after he received it from the military academy at West Point, N.Y. Cambodia's Hun Sen says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, who heads the country’s army.

Heng Sinith / AP Photo
Supporters of the Cambodian People's Party participate in a procession to mark the end of its election campaign in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 21, 2023.

Over the decades he tightened his grip on power while ushering in a free-market economy and helping bring an end to three decades of civil war.

Ly Chanthy, who braved a steady downpour to watch Hun Manet’s parade through the city on Friday, said she remembered the Khmer Rouge days and would be forever grateful to Hun Sen, and was happy to back his son.

“I will vote for the Cambodian People’s Party until I die,” said the 58-year-old, a Cambodian flag on a makeshift pole over her shoulder.

“I will never forget that he rescued our lives from the Pol Pot regime.”

Under Hun Sen, Cambodia has seen an average annual economic growth of 7.7% between 1998 and 2019, It was elevated from a low-income country to lower middle-income status in 2015, and expects to attain middle-income status by 2030, according to the World Bank.

But at the same time the gap between the rich and poor has greatly widened, deforestation has spread at an alarming rate, and there has been widespread land grabbing by Hun Sen’s Cambodian allies and foreign investors.

As discontent strengthened opposition, the country’s compliant courts dissolved the main opposition party ahead of 2018 elections, and over the past five years the government has strongarmed any dissent while effectively pushing a message of peace and prosperity.

Heng Sinith / AP Photo
A supporter of the Cambodian People's Party participates in a procession to mark the end of its election campaign in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 21, 2023. The three-week official campaigning period ended Friday for the July 23 general election. Eighteen parties are contesting the polls, but Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling

Heng Sinith / AP Photo
Hun Manet, front right, a son of Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, delivers a speech before leading a procession to mark the end of an election campaign of Cambodian People's Party, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 21, 2023. Hun Sen says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, who heads the country’s

An element of “diehard opposition” remains, but even though a “silent majority” may want more options, most are comfortable enough in their jobs and lives that they’re not motivated to demand change, said Ou Virak, president of Phnom Penh’s Future Forum think tank.

With Hun Manet due to take over as prime minister, and an expected wholesale replacement of top ministers, the election will bring a “generational change” to Cambodia’s leadership, which could begin a “honeymoon period” for international diplomacy, he said.

But people will be disappointed if they expect a sharp pivot away from China, he added.

“China is still Cambodia’s main backer, Cambodia’s main superpower partner,” he said. “So I think any shift to the West will be limited, because you can’t alienate your main supporter.”
___


Associated Press journalists Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this story.

UK

Thumping defeats for Tories but Rishi Sunak is spared by-election whitewash

The Tories narrowly held on to Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, but were defeated in the two other by-elections

By Alan Young

THE SCOTSMAN
Published 21st Jul 2023

Rishi Sunak has suffered a double by-election defeat in safe Tory seats, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both overturning majorities of about 20,000.

Labour won Selby and Ainsty and the Lib Dems took Somerton and Frome on sizable swings which will leave many Tory MPs looking nervously at their own majorities.

But the Tory leader was spared the prospect of being the first prime minister since 1968 to lose three by-elections on the same day as Labour failed to secure victory in Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

Labour Party candidate Keir Mather celebrates winning with 16,456 votes the Selby and Ainsty by-election on July 21, 2023 in Selby (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)


Boris Johnson not a factor in Uxbridge as Ulez dominates

Tory Steve Tuckwell held on with a majority of just 495, down from the 7,210 Mr Johnson secured in 2019.

In Selby and Ainsty, 25-year-old Keir Mather will become the youngest MP in the Commons – the Baby of the House – after overturning a 20,137 majority.

He secured a 4,161 majority in the North Yorkshire seat with and Labour said it was the highest majority the party had ever overturned in a by-election.

Conservative MP Steve Tuckwell speaks to the media in Queensmead Sports Centre in South Ruislip, west London, after winning the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election,

The swing from Conservative to Labour of 23.7 percentage points is the second largest swing managed by Labour at a by-election since 1945.

A similar swing across the country would result in it winning more seats than in Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide, Labour claimed.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a historic result that shows that people are looking at Labour and seeing a changed party that is focused entirely on the priorities of working people with an ambitious, practical plan to deliver.

“Keir Mather will be a fantastic MP who will deliver the fresh start Selby and Ainsty deserves.

“It is clear just how powerful the demand for change is. Voters put their trust in us — many for the first time. After 13 years of Tory chaos, only Labour can give the country its hope, its optimism and its future back.”

For the Lib Dems, a 29.0 percentage point swing in Somerton and Frome saw a 19,213 Tory majority turned into a 11,008-vote cushion for new MP Sarah Dyke.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the Somerton and Frome result showed his party was once again winning votes in its former West Country heartland.

“The people of Somerton and Frome have spoken for the rest of the country who are fed up with Rishi Sunak’s out-of-touch Conservative government,” he said.

The victory means Sir Ed has become the first party leader since Paddy Ashdown in the 1990s to win four by-elections.

Unease in Uxbridge

Despite Labour’s success in North Yorkshire, the failure to secure victory in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London has led to a blame game among senior figures over the capital’s mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to expand the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to cover outer boroughs.

Labour candidate Danny Beales had distanced himself from the policy, saying it was “not the right time” to expand the £12.50 daily charge for cars which fail to meet emissions standards.

The defeat in the seat was dubbed “Uloss” by a party insider in a sign of the unease at Mr Khan’s plan.

In his victory speech, new MP Mr Tuckwell said Mr Khan had cost Labour the seat.

“It was his damaging and costly Ulez policy that lost them this election,” he said.

“This wasn’t the campaign Labour expected and Keir Starmer and his mayor Sadiq Khan need to sit up and listen to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip residents.”

Labour shadow cabinet minister Steve Reed acknowledged it had been a factor in the campaign and called for Mr Khan to change course.

The shadow justice secretary said: “I think those responsible for that policy will need to reflect on what the voters have said and whether there’s an opportunity to change.”

For Mr Sunak, the defeats happened as MPs drifted away from Westminster to begin their summer break, so he may be spared a clamour against his leadership.

The Prime Minister could attempt to reset his administration with a Cabinet reshuffle in the wake of the contests – Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has already signalled he will exit the Government, so there is a vacancy to be filled – although No 10 has publicly said there are no plans for a shake-up.

Mr Sunak may have decided the benefits of freshening up his team at this stage would be outweighed by the risk of it being perceived as a panicked response to an electoral setback.

By-elections offer slim hope for Rishi Sunak

Friday 21 July 2023

ITV 
Robert Peston
Peston's Politics

Rishi Sunak avoided a triple by-election defeat, but lost two safe Tory seats.


It would be wrong to say that it was anything but a terrible night for Rishi Sunak and the Tories, with the massive swings against it in Selby and in Somerton.

But the retention of Uxbridge and South Ruislip shows how much work Sir Keir Starmer still has to do to be confident of winning the general election, and why the prime minister will believe there remains a path to victory - or at least to avoid humiliation - for him.

The important background is that only a few days ago Labour thought Uxbridge was in the bag, while Selby was a less certain victory.

The party miscalculated, or rather put too little weight on how disillusionment with the Tories could be trumped by a specific issue of material, economic importance to voters.

To put it another way, cash-strapped Uxbridge voters decided it was more important to use the by-election to protest against the Labour London mayor’s extension of the ULEZ - the capital’s charging zone for vehicles - than to signal disillusionment with an unpopular government.In Uxbridge, a single economic issue - during a cost-of-living crunch - trumped the more general national mood that it is time to get the Tories out.The implications for the general election are significant.

Starmer seems still some way from creating the excitement about Labour that would trump local issues like the Ulez. He needs to do more to give voters a powerful reason to vote FOR Labour rather then just AGAINST the Tories.

Second, for Sunak, it reinforces his conviction that if only he could persuade voters they would be financially better off sticking with the Tories, the gap with Labour would narrow.

His obsession with helping to force inflation below pay rises is the correct political obsession, though it requires voters to see any modest recovery in living standards as sustainable under him and at risk under Labour.

Third, it was a terrible night for anyone who thinks tackling climate change is THE SINGLE PRIORITY.

Uxbridge voters said they cared more about the pounds in their pockets today than global warming.

Fourth, the Lib Dems are definitively and importantly back as the important third force in English politics, and are rampant in the West Country again.

Fifth, Boris Johnson may this morning be feeling a twinge of regret that he did not fight the Uxbridge by-election as a platform for his rehabilitation, rather than stomping off in a huff that MPs punished him for lying to them.

Uxbridge, it turns out, even with its slimmer Tory majority than Selby, was winnable. After a recount.

 

Early peanut introduction gaining traction among US parents, but more work needed

Only 13% of parents, caregivers reported being aware of guidelines introduced five years ago

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

• Peanut introduction is not well known among those with less access to health-care information
• Having a pediatrician recommend early peanut introduction was best way for parents/caregivers to be informed
• Fear of an allergic reaction is the main reason parents decline, but only 1% infants had a reaction, which was mild

CHICAGO --- In 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a dramatic reversal in its approach to peanut-allergy prevention, recommending parents expose their infants as young as four months old to peanuts to prevent peanut allergy. 

In the five years since, early introduction to peanuts has been gaining traction among U.S. parents and caregivers, but more work must be done to communicate the guidelines more broadly, especially to those with less access to health-related information, reports a new study from Northwestern University and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Among all surveyed parents and caregivers in the U.S., 13% of parents said they’re aware of the guidelines and 48% believed feeding peanuts early prevented peanut allergy, despite knowing about the guidelines or not.

“There was general awareness of ‘If I give these foods early, it will help,’ even if families didn’t know it came from the NIH guidelines,” said Dr. Waheeda Samady, associate professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicineand director of clinical research at Northwestern’s Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research. “There’s still a lot of room for growth in terms of educating families and clinicians about these guidelines.”

The study found that having a pediatrician who recommended early peanut introduction was the strongest factor in whether a parent or caregiver was aware of the guidelines.

“This study is taking a look at something still so new to health systems in the U.S.,” said senior author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, director for the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research, professor of pediatrics and a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital. “As a pediatrician, I’m sensitive to the fact that there is a lot to juggle during a four- or six-month appointment. We need to find ways to support pediatricians in their workflows to incorporate the prevention guidelines.”

The study is the first nationwide survey to examine the impact and implementation of the guidelines since their release five years ago. It will be published July 21 in Pediatrics.

The authors said the findings provide an understanding of where American parents land on peanut feeding and where the gaps are. This includes: 

• Access to care barriers and systemic racism, which makes this information less known to non-white, less-educated and lower-income parents 
• Supporting primary care providers to provide this information in a timely way 
• Public health messaging about reactions to peanuts, since this was the main fear reported in the survey

A closer look at the findings:

The 13% of parents and caregivers who said they were aware of the 2017 guidelines reported being white, between the ages of 30 and 44, educated and high income, or cared for a child with food allergy or eczema, the study found. 

The scientists asked survey respondents if they exposed their children to peanuts 1) before seven months (around four to six months old) and 2) after seven months (between seven months and a year old). Seventeen percent of all parents first offered peanut-containing foods before the age of seven months and 42% did so between the age of seven and 12 months, the study found. Peanut introduction occurred earlier among guideline-aware parents/caregivers, with 31% offering it before seven months. 

Fear of reaction was No. 1 reason for delayed introduction 

Thirty-three percent of those who delayed peanut introduction reported a fear of reaction to peanuts as the most common reason. However, the percentage of actual reported reactions of infants and children during peanut introduction were only 1.4%.

“Previous studies have found that, on average, infant reactions are much milder than older kids’ reactions,” Samady said. “Based on this, I would say you should be more concerned about your older child, not your five-month-old. Statistically, reactions are much milder younger in life.” 

The study found reactions that did occur were mostly dermatological (e.g., a rash) or gastroenterological (e.g., vomiting). 

“The perception amongst U.S. parents/caregivers about how common reactions are in children is much higher than the reality,” Samady said.

Broad dissemination of information, resources to integrate are key

There must be a multifold approach to reaching all U.S. parents and caregivers, Samady said. 

“We have to get to all the pediatricians, not just those who work in academic or affluent areas,” Samady said. “But we need to think outside that box as well.” The information should be shared at community centers, daycares and supplemental nutrition programs for WIC clinics (women, infants and children), Samady said.  

Other Northwestern co-authors include Christopher Warren, Lucy Bilaver, Justin Zaslavsky and Jialing Jiang. 

---

JOURNAL

PEDIATRICS

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jul-2023

Experts alarmed as free Barbies given to UK primary schools to teach social skills

Initiative raises questions about whether companies should be able to freely market their products in schools

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Toy company Mattel has been criticised for “stealth marketing” after giving away free Barbie and Ken dolls to schools as part of a programme to teach empathy to children, finds an investigation published by The BMJ today.

Investigative journalist Hristio Boytchev reports that Mattell’s “Barbie School of Friendship” programme, in which free dolls are given for children to carry out role play exercises, has been rolled out to 700 schools across the UK, "with the potential to reach more than 150,000 pupils", according to the company.

Mattel says it has sponsored research which shows playing with dolls offers “major benefits” for child development, including nurturing skills like empathy.

But experts have criticised the programme, raising questions about potential negative effects of Barbie dolls in terms of gender stereotyping, questioning the use of research to justify the programme, and asking whether companies should be able to freely market their products through schools.

“The project makes me suspicious that it may be exploitative”, said Philippa Perry, a psychotherapist and author of books on parenting and education. “I feel faintly repulsed by it.” Mark Petticrew, professor of public health evaluation at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine called the programme “alarming.”

“Commercial entities like Mattel are not experts in children’s health or education, they are experts in selling products to maximise profits”, adds May van Schalkwyk, a specialty public health registrar, also at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “The Mattel materials are heavily branded – why should children be exposed to this type of stealth marketing?”

Lisa Georgeson, a teacher at Lord Blyton Primary School in Tyne and Wear, which participated in the programme, said the company had offered free resources “which, given the current lack of funding in schools, is always a positive.”

On multiple occasions, in information aimed at teachers, parents and the public, Mattel references the studies it has funded as the basis for the programme.

The research is part of a five year collaboration between Mattel and Cardiff University, a Mattel spokesperson says. A paper published in 2020 found higher brain activity in children when they played with Mattel dolls compared with playing games on electronic tablet computers. A Mattel-sponsored reanalysis of the same experiment group concluded in 2022 that the children playing dolls used more “internal state language” describing feelings and thoughts.

Franziska Korb, a psychologist at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany, told The BMJ that the study’s idea was good and the methodology appropriate, but stressed that the studies found significant differences between doll and tablet play when each child was playing alone. When children played with an adult, the differences disappeared.

Korb also says the research cannot be used to make statements about long term developmental or behavioural effects.

Sarah Gerson at Cardiff University, the senior author of both studies and recipient of Mattel's research funding, says she finds the programme interesting but expressed some reservations. She described Mattell’s statement to parents – that the research shows playing with dolls like Barbie offers major benefits – as "a bit strong."

When presented with criticism of the programme, a Mattel spokesperson sent anonymous teacher testimonials celebrating the programme for the positive response it has elicited in pupils and the diversity of the dolls, in terms of body type, disability and skin tone.

The spokesperson also told The BMJ that because of the positive results, the company will consider expanding the programme to other markets.

The Department of Education refused to confirm if it had evaluated the programme and told The BMJ that British schools have autonomy to introduce any educational materials they believe are appropriate.

[Ends]

---

JOURNAL

The BMJ

DOI

10.1136/bmj.p1672 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

News article

ARTICLE TITLE

News Analysis: Neuroscience or stealth marketing? Experts alarmed as free Barbies given to UK primary schools to teach social skills

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jul-2023

 

‘I feel like I’m suffocating’: What’s driving suicidal thoughts in the Australian construction industry?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Long work hours and job insecurity are driving suicidal thoughts and distress among some Australian construction workers who are experiencing significant pressure from the industry’s demands.

The strain of working in a sector that by nature is often transient, requires hard physical labour and assumes self-reliance and risk-taking attitudes, is pushing some workers to unendurable distress.

These factors are contributing to the 190 cases of suicide within the Australian construction industry every year, equating to one worker taking their life every second day.

A University of South Australia study, in collaboration with mental health charity MATES in Construction (MATES), explored the drivers and experiences of suicidal thoughts and psychological distress of industry workers.

The research team also reviewed coping strategies that workers have adopted during challenging times, as well as what the industry can do to lower the risk of losing more of its workers.

A group of construction industry workers employed in a variety of roles were interviewed about their personal experiences with suicidal thoughts while employed in the sector, or their experience supporting a workmate with suicidal thoughts.

UniSA PhD candidate Simon Tyler from the UniSA Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Research and Education Group says eight themes relating to what may drive suicidal thoughts and distress were identified.

“These included challenges directly related to working within the industry, such as working long hours and the stress and isolation that comes from workplace transience and job insecurity, which are common issues in the sector,” he says.

“The people who discussed these issues saw them as increasing in intensity in recent times and said they played a significant part in experiences of suicidal thoughts and distress.”

Other themes driving suicidal thoughts and distress related to personal issues, such as relationship and family concerns, social disconnection, personal financial hardship, perceived lack of support, alcohol and drug use, child custody/access and legal issues, mental health challenges, trauma, or a significant adverse life event.

Many participants also highlighted the stigma around mental health and suicide among workmates that limits them reaching out for help.

“I think it’s just the stigma,” says one participant. “If you have a broken arm people can see and touch and feel it … but mental health. You cannot touch it and feel it and it’s not accepted.”

Other participants discussed thoughts of feeling trapped and overwhelmed.

“… to get me away from that situation, I was either going to take my life or I was going to quit,” one participant says.

“… you feel like you are suffocating. Like, you know, how the f*** am I going to get out of all this?” says another.

Tyler says for the construction industry, suicide is a significant concern.

“It’s a confronting reality – that one worker every second day is taking their own lives,” he says.

“The nature of the construction industry can be challenging with workplace drivers such as employment uncertainty, as well as industry cultures that encourage self-reliance attitudes and behaviours, but it’s also a sector that is determined to change and help better the lives of the people it employs.”

MATES in Construction is an organisation dedicated to creating this change.

With an aim to reduce the high number of suicides in the industry and raise awareness and peer support skills among workers, MATES delivers prevention and mental health programs to the building, mining, energy and construction sectors.

Since its programs were introduced, the organisation has trained more than 237,000 industry workers and estimates the suicide risk in the industry has dopped by about

MATES SA CEO Alan Suridge says participants had identified what helped them personally or had helped others who were experiencing challenges with mental health and suicidal thoughts.

“Mates in Construction is a three-tiered awareness program that teaches workers how to recognise when a mate is struggling and where to go for help,” he says.

“We then provide free counselling and support services to workers in need. Research such as this enables us to educate workers on signs to look for and how to respond appropriately, creating a safer, more caring workplace community.”

Media contact: Melissa Keogh, UniSA Media Team M: +61 403 659 154 E: Melissa.Keogh@unisa.edu.au

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Psychiatry

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1144314 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

“And you feel like you’re suffocating … how the fuck am I going to get out of all this?” Drivers and experiences of suicidal ideation in the Australian construction industry

 

Tourists help scientists reveal microplastic pollution on remote Arctic beaches

Samples collected by tourists on the beaches of Svalbard helped scientists detect microplastic from lost fishing gear

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

Tourists acting as citizen scientists have helped a research team detect microplastics on remote Arctic beaches. The global scale of plastic production means that these tiny fragments of plastic are now ubiquitous, and scientists fear that ocean currents will cause plastic to accumulate in the Arctic, damaging ecosystems. But our knowledge of the scale and type of plastic pollution in the Arctic is incomplete. Researchers recruited holidaymakers to carry out sample collection during cruises, hoping to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge.

“Plastic pollution is now ubiquitous. It is found on land and in soil and most rivers of the world,” said Dr Bruno Walther of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, author of the study in Frontiers in Environmental Science. “It is even found in the polar oceans and the deepest ocean trenches.”

Plastic gets everywhere

The Svalbard archipelago is Europe’s northernmost landmass – beautiful, remote, and at risk from microplastics transported by ocean currents. Four tourist cruises visiting Svalbard in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022 collected sediment samples: all cruises except 2022 also surveyed macroplastic debris (between 2.5 and 10cm in size) for a different study. Initially, single samples were taken from beaches using simple metal tools and sent to the scientists with metadata and photographs to record sampling locations. Later this was expanded to cover whole beaches with sampling grids.

“Citizen science is possible even in remote Arctic beaches,” said Walther. “This helps to cut down on travelling time, CO2 emissions and costs for scientists, and it helps to engage citizens in a global environmental issue.”

These samples were dried out, weighed, and measured. Each sample was filtered to capture particles 1mm or larger in size. This boundary was selected on the basis that larger particles don’t easily become airborne, an assumption that the scientists tested by keeping a bowl of purified water next to their worksurface and filtering it to search for microplastics after their analysis was complete: no microplastics had drifted from the laboratory’s air into the water. To avoid plastic contamination, the scientists ran an air purifier, wore cotton lab coats, avoided synthetic clothing, and covered samples with aluminum lids. Identified plastic particles were examined under a microscope and then analyzed using spectroscopy.

Warning signs

The scientists found that microplastics of the size they were searching for were not widespread but were very concentrated: the estimated overall level of plastic pollution was comparable to areas formerly believed to be much more polluted than Arctic beaches. Two specific sources of plastic pollution were identified in their samples: polypropylene fibers that likely formed part of a fishing net, and polyester-epoxide particles that probably came from a ship’s color coating or equipment.

“Plastic debris from fisheries is the most direct point of entry to the marine realm, and is often particularly important in remote areas,” said author Dr Melanie Bergmann of the Alfred Wegener Institute. “There is an active fishing fleet operating in the waters surrounding Svalbard but also in the North Sea and north Atlantic. Some of the waste that they emit drifts to the beaches of Svalbard.”

The netting appeared to have fragmented very quickly due to the conditions on the beach: repeated freeze cycles, high humidity from fog, and up to 24 hours of sunlight a day in summer. If this rapid fragmentation occurs at other locations, it could introduce tiny, elusive microplastics into the environment very quickly.

“We still need more sampling in the Arctic, in more places and in more regular time intervals to monitor the situation,” said Walther.

“It should be noted that we only analyzed microplastics particles larger than 1mm,” cautioned Bergmann. “This was because of the citizen science approach and to avoid potential airborne contamination by small particles. But our previous studies on Arctic water, ice, and sediment samples have shown that more than 80% of the particles were much smaller. So, we probably would have found more particles, if we had looked for smaller particles, too.”

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Environmental Science

DOI

10.3389/fenvs.2023.1210019 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Citizen scientists reveal small but concentrated amounts of fragmented microplastic on Arctic beaches

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jul-2023

 

New material could hold key to reducing energy consumption in computers and electronics

University of Minnesota researchers create thin film of unique semimetal for the first time

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

 

IMAGE: A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES TEAM HAS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, SYNTHESIZED A THIN FILM OF A UNIQUE TOPOLOGICAL SEMIMETAL MATERIAL THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE MORE POWER AND MEMORY STORAGE IN COMPUTER CHIPS WHILE USING SIGNIFICANTLY LESS ENERGY. view more 

CREDIT: ISTOCK

A University of Minnesota Twin Cities team has, for the first time, synthesized a thin film of a unique topological semimetal material that has the potential to generate more computing power and memory storage while using significantly less energy. The researchers were also able to closely study the material, leading to some important findings about the physics behind its unique properties.

The study is published in Nature Communications, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers the natural sciences and engineering.

As evidenced by the United States’ recent CHIPS and Science Act, there is a growing need to increase semiconductor manufacturing and support research that goes into developing the materials that power electronic devices everywhere. While traditional semiconductors are the technology behind most of today’s computer chips, scientists and engineers are always looking for new materials that can generate more power with less energy to make electronics better, smaller, and more efficient.

One such candidate for these new and improved computer chips is a class of quantum materials called topological semimetals. The electrons in these materials behave in different ways, giving the materials unique properties that typical insulators and metals used in electronic devices do not have. For this reason, they are being explored for use in spintronic devices, an alternative to traditional semiconductor devices that leverage the spin of electrons rather than the electrical charge to store data and process information.

In this new study, an interdisciplinary team of University of Minnesota researchers were able to successfully synthesize such a material as a thin film—and prove that it has the potential for high performance with low energy consumption.

“This research shows for the first time that you can transition from a weak topological insulator to a topological semimetal using a magnetic doping strategy,” said Jian-Ping Wang, a senior author of the paper and a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Robert F. Hartmann Chair in the University of Minnesota Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We’re looking for ways to extend the lifetimes for our electrical devices and at the same time lower the energy consumption, and we’re trying to do that in non-traditional, out-of-the-box ways.”

Researchers have been working on topological materials for years, but the University of Minnesota team is the first to use a patented, industry-compatible sputtering process to create this semimetal in a thin film format. Because their process is industry compatible, Wang said, the technology can be more easily adopted and used for manufacturing real-world devices.  

“Every day in our lives, we use electronic devices, from our cell phones to dishwashers to microwaves. They all use chips. Everything consumes energy,” said Andre Mkhoyan, a senior author of the paper and Ray D. and Mary T. Johnson Chair and Professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. “The question is, how do we minimize that energy consumption? This research is a step in that direction. We are coming up with a new class of materials with similar or often better performance, but using much less energy.”

Because the researchers fabricated such a high-quality material, they were also able to closely analyze its properties and what makes it so unique.

“One of the main contributions of this work from a physics point of view is that we were able to study some of this material’s most fundamental properties,” said Tony Low, a senior author of the paper and the Paul Palmberg Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Normally, when you apply a magnetic field, the longitudinal resistance of a material will increase, but in this particular topological material, we have predicted that it would decrease. We were able to corroborate our theory to the measured transport data and confirm that there is indeed a negative resistance.”

Low, Mkhoyan, and Wang have been working together for more than a decade on topological materials for next generation electronic devices and systems—this research wouldn’t have been possible without combining their respective expertise in theory and computation, material growth and characterization, and device fabrication.

“It not only takes an inspiring vision but also great patience across the four disciplines and a dedicated group of team members to work on such an important but challenging topic, which will potentially enable the transition of the technology from lab to industry,” Wang said.

In addition to Low, Mkhoyan, and Wang, the research team included University of Minnesota Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering researchers Delin Zhang, Wei Jiang, Onri Benally, Zach Cresswell, Yihong Fan, Yang Lv, and Przemyslaw Swatek; Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science researcher Hwanhui Yun; Department of Physics and Astronomy researcher Thomas Peterson; and University of Minnesota Characterization Facility researchers Guichuan Yu and Javier Barriocanal.

This research is supported by SMART, one of seven centers of nCORE, a Semiconductor Research Corporation program, sponsored by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). T.P. and D.Z. were partly supported by ASCENT, one of six centers of JUMP, a Semiconductor Research Corporation program that is sponsored by MARCO and DARPA. This work was partially supported by the University of Minnesota’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program under award number DMR-2011401 (Seed). Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, which receives partial support from the National Science Foundation through the MRSEC (Award NumberDMR-2011401). Portions of this work were conducted in the Minnesota Nano Center, which is supported by the NSF Nano Coordinated Infrastructure Network (NNCI) under Award Number ECCS-2025124.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-39408-2 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Robust negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and spin–orbit torque in sputtered Pt3Sn and Pt3SnxFe1-x topological semimetal

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Jul-2023

UN chief says the world is in a new era marked by the highest major power competition in decades



UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the world’s nations Thursday that the post-Cold War period is over and the world is moving toward a new multipolar era already marked by the highest level of geopolitical tensions and major power competition in decades.

He warned that these divisions are undermining the cornerstone of the United Nations – having all countries work together to solve global challenges.

The U.N. chief ticked off a host of challenges — more complex and deadly conflicts, re-emerging concerns about possible nuclear war, growing inequalities within and between countries, widespread terrorism, the climate emergency, mounting distrust in public institutions, and human rights under attack globally “including a pernicious pushback against women’s rights.”

The secretary-general said Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has made it even more difficult to address these challenges. And without naming Russia he clearly criticized it, saying if every country fulfilled its obligations under the U.N. Charter -- which include respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations – “the right to peace would be guaranteed.”

Guterres presented his grim view of the world in a policy paper outlining his “New Agenda for Peace” to diplomats from the U.N.’s 193 member states. It is the U.N.’s attempt to address the new threats, he said.

The U.N. chief stressed the critical importance of preserving multilateralism, saying: “In our fractured, troubled world, it is incumbent upon states to preserve our universal institution, in which they have a stake.”

“The time to act is not when the divisions and fractures have engulfed us," he said. "The time to act is now.”

The original Agenda for Peace was presented by then U.N. secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1992 following the break-up of the Soviet Union and the end of its Cold War with the United States. It welcomed the end of “hostility and distrust” between the superpowers and outlined how the U.N. could step up its work on preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, said this vision “of an activist, interventionist U.N.” has been its underlying policy for the past three decades. But he said Guterres’ “New Agenda for Peace” stresses that “the driving force for a new multilateralism must be diplomacy.”

In an analysis of the new agenda, Gowan said it focuses on what member nations need to do, and on multilateral cooperation in an increasingly fragmented and unequal world “in which Guterres believes that the U.N. must adapt to facilitating international cooperation, not aim to lead it.”

One of the key areas this proposed new approach is evident is in the secretary-general’s views on the U.N.’s far-flung peacekeeping operations, especially following the Security Council’s vote on June 30 to immediately end its more than 15,000-strong mission in Mali as demanded by the country’s military junta which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency.

Guterres told diplomats that while peacekeepers have saved millions of lives, “longstanding unresolved conflicts, driven by complex domestic, geopolitical and transnational factors, and a persistent mismatch between mandates and resources, have exposed its limitations.” Put bluntly, he said, “peacekeeping operations cannot succeed when there is no peace to keep.”

His proposed peace agenda urges nations to move toward “nimble, adaptable” peacekeeping models with exit strategies, and to support “peace enforcement action by regional and sub-regional organizations,” mandated by the Security Council, paid for by U.N. member states, and backed by political efforts to promote peace.

“There is no continent in greater need of this new generation of peace enforcement missions than Africa,” Guterres said.

The “New Agenda for Peace” is one of several policy papers the secretary-general is urging all countries to consider before the Summit of the Future he has called in September 2024, where the U.N. hopes a new vision for the coming years reflecting the world today that preserves multilateralism will be adopted.

After Guterres’ presentation, many countries voiced initial reactions to the proposed agenda with generally strong support from the European Union and others. But Egypt said some proposals are too ambitious and Russia warned against interference in internal affairs and objecting to the agenda's emphasis on human rights and calling its approach to climate controversial.

Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press