Could puncturing a satellite's battery help it deorbit faster?

by Andy Tomaswick, Universe Today

Visual depiction of Kessler syndrome. Credit: NASA Orbital Debris Program Office

A few years ago, there was a panic about lithium-ion batteries that exploded and could do things like take down a jetliner. On a recent trip, an airline asked passengers to turn in any devices with batteries that had been banned because of safety concerns. These are indicators of a widely understood downside of lithium-ion batteries, ubiquitous in cell phones, laptops, and other electronic hardware—they can easily catch fire very spectacularly. However, a team at the Aerospace Company is working on an idea to turn this potentially catastrophic event into an asset—by using it to deorbit defunct satellites

Almost all satellites have some form of battery backup in them. Many utilize it to keep the lights on, while its solar panels aren't catching enough rays to fully power the craft. And most of those batteries are some form of lithium-ion, so the industry already widely adopted the underlying technology.

But the satellite industry has to deal with an ever-increasing number of pieces of debris floating in or near low Earth orbit (LEO). Some will never deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere by themselves.

Credit: Universe Today

We've reported on plenty of strategies to deal with this problem before. From satellites that will specifically couple with other satellites and force them into a deorbiting path to nets that would slow a satellite down to a point where it would reenter on its own, they all have pros and cons.

But with this new idea, called the Lithium Ion Battery Deorbiter (LiBDO) by its creators, there wouldn't be any external hardware involved at all. There could simply be a minor adjustment to the battery pack itself, with almost no extra weight—an essential calculation for spacecraft designers.

The idea is simple enough. LiBDO batteries would be designed intentionally to puncture the battery and use the resulting plume of hot gases as a thruster. Joseph Nemanick and his colleagues at the Aerospace Corporation did some testing to see what kind of thrust could be expected—they calculated that, in a vacuum, a single battery cell being punctured would result in about 29.3 N of thrust.

Testing shows how a punctured battery could act very much like a thruster.

 Credit: Nemanick et al.

That might not seem like much compared to the thousands of Newtons provided by some rocket engines, but it could significantly decrease the time a defunct satellite stays in orbit. By one calculation, a single battery cell being punctured could reduce a satellite's deorbit time by up to 55%.

Any decrease in that time is welcome when the object is trying to avoid being hit by other debris in its orbit. Notably, the researchers calculated that the debris such a puncturing itself might create is minimal—only about 50 micrograms of material, hardly enough to damage anything, and it might just end up being deorbited itself soon as well.

How soon the technology might be adopted, if it is adopted at all, remains a mystery. While a preliminary test presentation is hosted on a NASA site, it's unclear what, if any, support the project is currently receiving. But, using a potentially catastrophic weakness of lithium-ion batteries as a tool is an extraordinarily unique way to solve what will become an increasingly pressing problem as we continue to launch more and more stuff into orbit.

More information: LiBDO: The Lithium Ion Battery DeOrbiter. www.nasa.gov/sites/default/fil … _deorb_jnemanick.pdf

A new mission will grab dead satellites and push them into the atmosphere to burn up

Arithmetic has a biological origin: It's an expression in symbols of the 'deep structure' of our perception

by Randolph Grace, The Conversation

Different cultures have developed their own symbols for numbers, but they all use addition 

and multiplication. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Everyone knows that arithmetic is true: 2 + 2 = 4.

But surprisingly, we don't know why it's true.

By stepping outside the box of our usual way of thinking about numbers, my colleagues and I have recently shown that arithmetic has biological roots and is a natural consequence of how perception of the world around us is organized.

Our results explain why arithmetic is true and suggest that mathematics is a realization in symbols of the fundamental nature and creativity of the mind.

Thus, the miraculous correspondence between mathematics and physical reality that has been a source of wonder from the ancient Greeks to the present—as explored in astrophysicist Mario Livio's book "Is God a Mathematician?"—suggests the mind and world are part of a common unity.

Why is arithmetic universally true?

Humans have been making symbols for numbers for more than 5,500 years. More than 100 distinct notation systems are known to have been used by different civilizations, including Babylonian, Egyptian, Etruscan, Mayan and Khmer.

The remarkable fact is that despite the great diversity of symbols and cultures, all are based on addition and multiplication. For example, in our familiar Hindu-Arabic numerals: 1,434 = (1 x 1000) + (4 x 100) + (3 x 10) + (4 x 1).

Why have humans invented the same arithmetic, over and over again? Could arithmetic be a universal truth waiting to be discovered?

To unravel the mystery, we need to ask why addition and multiplication are its fundamental operations. We recently posed this question and found that no satisfactory answer—one that met standards of scientific rigor—was available from philosophy, mathematics or the cognitive sciences.

The fact that we don't know why arithmetic is true is a critical gap in our knowledge. Arithmetic is the foundation for higher mathematics, which is indispensable for science.

Consider a thought experiment. Physicists in the future have achieved the goal of a "theory of everything" or "God equation." Even if such a theory could correctly predict all physical phenomena in the universe, it would not be able to explain where arithmetic itself comes from or why it is universally true.

Answering these questions is necessary for us to fully understand the role of mathematics in science.

Bees provide a clue

We proposed a new approach based on the assumption that arithmetic has a biological origin.

Many non-human species, including insects, show an ability for spatial navigation which seems to require the equivalent of algebraic computation. For example, bees can take a meandering journey to find nectar but then return by the most direct route, as if they can calculate the direction and distance home.

Bees can integrate their zig-zag flight path to calculate the straightest route back to the

 hive. Credit: Nicola J. Morton, CC BY-SA

How their miniature brain (about 960,000 neurons) achieves this is unknown. These calculations might be the non-symbolic precursors of addition and multiplication, honed by natural selection as the optimal solution for navigation.

Arithmetic may be based on biology and special in some way because of evolution's fine-tuning.

Stepping outside the box

To probe more deeply into arithmetic, we need to go beyond our habitual, concrete understanding and think in more general and abstract terms. Arithmetic consists of a set of elements and operations that combine two elements to give another element.

In the universe of possibilities, why are the elements represented as numbers and the operations as addition and multiplication? This is a meta-mathematical question—a question about mathematics itself that can be addressed using mathematical methods.

In our research, we proved that four assumptions—monotonicity, convexity, continuity and isomorphism—were sufficient to uniquely identify arithmetic (addition and multiplication over the real numbers) from the universe of possibilities.

• Monotonicity is the intuition of "order preserving" and helps us keep track of our place in the world, so that when we approach an object it looms larger but smaller when we move away.

• Convexity is grounded in intuitions of "betweenness." For example, the four corners of a football pitch define the playing field even without boundary lines connecting them.

• Continuity describes the smoothness with which objects seem to move in space and time.

• Isomorphism is the idea of sameness or analogy. It's what allows us to recognize that a cat is more similar to a dog than to a rock.

Thus, arithmetic is special because it is a consequence of these purely qualitative conditions. We argue that these conditions are principles of perceptual organization that shape how we and other animals experience the world—a kind of "deep structure" in perception with roots in evolutionary history.

In our proof, they act as constraints to eliminate all possibilities except arithmetic—a bit like how a sculptor's work reveals a statue hidden in a block of stone.

What is mathematics?

Taken together, these four principles structure our perception of the world so that our experience is ordered and cognitively manageable. They are like colored spectacles that shape and constrain our experience in particular ways.

When we peer through these spectacles at the abstract universe of possibilities, we "see" numbers and arithmetic.

These four principles structure our perception of the world and, collectively, point to

 arithmetic as an abstract symbol system that reflects that structure. 

Credit: Psychological Review, CC BY-SA

Thus, our results show that arithmetic is biologically based and a natural consequence of how our perception is structured.

Although this structure is shared with other animals, only humans have invented mathematics. It is humanity's most intimate creation, a realization in symbols of the fundamental nature and creativity of the mind.

In this sense, mathematics is both invented (uniquely human) and discovered (biologically based). The seemingly miraculous success of mathematics in the physical sciences hints that our mind and the world are not separate, but part of a common unity.

The arc of mathematics and science points toward nondualism, a philosophical concept that describes how the mind and the universe as a whole are connected, and that any sense of separation is an illusion. This is consistent with many spiritual traditions (Taoism, Buddhism) and Indigenous knowledge systems such as mātauranga Māori.

Journal information: Psychological Review 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Psychological study suggests arithmetic is biologically-based and a natural consequence of our perception

 

Fossil footprint discoveries and what they tell us

by Moina Spooner and Natasha Joseph, The Conversation

The oldest known footprint of our species, lightly ringed with chalk. It appears long and 

narrow because the trackmaker dragged their heel. Credit: Charles Helm

Footprints on a sandy surface don't usually last long: they're washed away by water, wiped out by wind or covered over by new tracks. At certain sites in southern Africa, though, some traces of animals have lasted for many thousands or even millions of years—fleeting moments preserved in sand that turned to rock.

They tell scientists about the creatures that lived in ancient times, how they behaved and what their environment was like. Studying fossil footprints also adds to what the body fossil record reveals.

In these articles from our archive, scientists share some of their exciting fossil footprint finds.

Zebra crossing, with a difference

Charles Helm studies the fossilised tracks, trails, burrows and excavations made by animals. He's discovered how, tens of thousands of years ago, a huge horse species roamed along South Africa's Cape south coast.

These findings also revealed that these Giant Cape Zebras must have been a fairly regular sight on the landscape. An insight that body fossil records don't provide.

Oldest human footprints

Armed with specialist skills and world-class technology, Charles Helm also teamed up with geographer Andrew Carr to investigate tracks along South Africa's coast. That's how they identified something truly remarkable: a footprint left by one of our human ancestors 153,000 years ago. So far, it's the oldest footprint in the world attributed to our species, Homo sapiens .

They explained how the finding also confirms that the Cape south coast was an area in which early modern humans survived, evolved and thrived, before spreading out of Africa to other continents.

Dinosaur behavior insights

Today, dinosaur fossils can be found in many parts of the world. South Africa and Lesotho's main Karoo Basin, for example, contains many dinosaur fossils and dinosaur markings, like footprints.

Miengah Abrahams explains that fossil footprints are a treasure chest of information. They can reveal what organism made the tracks, offer clues to their behavior and even provide evidence about the conditions in which they lived. She outlines what's been learnt from dinosaur tracks in the Karoo Basin.

An unexpected discovery

In this article, Miengah Abrahams tells the story of how she unexpectedly came across some new dinosaur footprints in Lesotho. For a geologist studying dinosaur tracksites this wasn't a massive surprise, but it was the first time a dinosaur from the ornithischian group—a four-footed, plant-eating, "bird-hipped" community—had been documented in the Roma Valley, an area rich in fossil footprints.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Dinosaur track site in Lesotho: How a wrong turn led to an exciting find

 

Two new Australian mammal species just discovered, and they are very small

by Linette Umbrello, Andrew M. Baker and Kenny Travouillon, The Conversation

Credit: Linette Umbrello, CC BY-SA

You probably know about the Tasmanian devil. You might even know about its smaller, less-famous relative, the spotted-tailed quoll.

But these are far from the only meat-eating marsupials. Australia is home to a suite of other carnivorous and insectivorous pouched mammals as well, some of them the size of a mouse or smaller.

Tiniest of all are the planigales, some of which weigh less than a teaspoonful of water. Despite their size, these fierce predators often take on prey as big as themselves.

To date, there are four known species of planigale found across Australia. We have recently discovered another two species, both inhabitants of the Pilbara region of northwest Western Australia: the orange-headed Pilbara planigale (Planigale kendricki) and the cracking-clay Pilbara planigale (P. tealei).

How many kinds of planigale are there?

The name planigale translates to "flat weasel," an allusion to their extremely flat heads, which allow them to shelter in small cracks in rocks and clay soils. Planigales are among Australia's smallest mammals, with some weighing an average of 4–6 grams (and measuring around 11cm in length), and other species a bit larger at 8–17 grams (and 13cm long).

Scientific studies from the late 1970s onward using body-shape and DNA data have suggested there are many more planigale species than we think.

We put these theories to the test, and found that planigales in the Pilbara display unique body shapes and are genetically unrelated to any of the four known planigale species.

Why have these species only been described now?

The process of describing these two new species was actually started more than 20 years ago, by scientists who were working at the Western Australian Museum at the time.

Their work began after ecologists conducting surveys for developing mines in the Pilbara were capturing planigales that didn't really fit the descriptions of the known species. For want of a better option, they were still usually identified as either the common planigale (P. maculata) or the long-tailed planigale (P. ingrami).

Scientists led by taxonomist Ken Aplin began examining specimens held in the WA Museum and sequencing their DNA. These studies helped to confirm the discovery of two new species.

Sadly, Ken fell ill and passed away in 2019. This is where we stepped in.

Through support from the Australian Biological Resources Study and the Queensland University of Technology we were able to finish off Ken's species descriptions and submit the research for publication. This is a crucial step in taxonomy—the species description has to be published before the new name can be considered official.

What do we know about the new species?

Both new species occur in the Pilbara and surrounding areas. The orange-headed Pilbara planigale is the larger of the two, weighing an average of 7g (up to 12g for large males) with a longer, pointier snout and bright orange coloring on the head.

The cracking-clay Pilbara planigale (P. tealei) has only been found on cracking-clay soils. 

Credit: Linette Umbrello, CC BY-SA

The cracking-clay Pilbara planigale is much smaller, averaging just 4g with darker coloration and a shorter face. It has only been found on cracking clay soils, hence its name.

The orange-headed Pilbara planigale has been found on rocky and sandy soils as well, but both species require a dense cover of native grasses to persist. Both species actively forage during the night, while taking shelter during the day.

This means the two widespread species, the common planigale and the long-tailed planigale, do not occur in the Pilbara or on neighboring Barrow Island, as was previously thought.

There is still a lot more work for us to do as there remain two "species complexes" of planigales. These are groups where genetic data suggests a species is comprised of multiple different forms.

We'll be following up on this with more analysis to define more of Australia's tiniest mammals.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Fecal pellets and food remains reveal what ghost bats eat in the Pilbara

 

Nearly 50% of environmentalists abandoned Twitter following Musk's takeover

by Cell Press

Tracking changes among Environmental and Politics Twitter users. (A) displays the proportion of users that were active in each 15-day window. In (B), the rate of change in the proportion of active users for both samples is shown. In both plots, the points depict the observed data while the color band with a dashed line shows the 99% confidence interval based on a bootstrap sample of the data. The dotted vertical line corresponds to April 25, 2023, when the Twitter board accepted Musk's initial purchase offer, and the heavier dashed line corresponds to October 28, 2022 when Musk's takeover was finalized. Credit: Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Chang et al.

In October 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter (recently renamed X), which had previously served as the leading social media platform for environmental discourse. Since then, reports a team of researchers in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution on August 15, there has been a mass exodus of environmental users on the platform—a phenomenon that could have serious implications for public communication surrounding topics like biodiversity, climate change, and natural disaster recovery.

"Twitter has been the dominant social media platform for diverse environmental interests to communicate and organize around advocacy goals, exchange ideas and research, and new opportunities for collaboration," writes the US-based research team of biologists and environmental consultants.

The team studied a group of 380,000 "environmentally-oriented users," which included a wide range of people from the conservation community who had actively participated in pro-environmental discussions surrounding topics like climate change and biodiversity on Twitter. Users were considered "active" if they posted on the platform at least once within a 15-day period.

The researchers found that in the 6-month period after Musk took over Twitter, only 52.5% of these environmental users were still actively using Twitter—a substantially larger drop-off rate than other "comparable online communities," including users who discuss general politics on the platform.

"There is currently no platform equivalent to Twitter," the team writes. "Thus, any changes in engagement by environmentally-minded users raises serious questions about where to track discourse about environmental conservation and how to mobilize pro-environmental segments of the public."

Going forward, the authors call upon researchers to take an active role in the transition towards different modes of environmental communication—whether that be advocating for change within Twitter to help make it a useful platform for environmentalists again or collectively switching to another platform like Mastodon or Threads. They also point to resources like the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, which bring people together to voice concerns to Twitter representatives and policymakers.

"The future of Twitter as a platform for outreach and research is uncertain," write the authors. "We need to create collaborations across industry, the non-profit sector, and academia to track public engagement with the environment across social media platforms for the benefit of primary research, applied environmental conservation, and climate mitigation."

More information: Environmental users abandoned Twitter after Musk takeover, Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.07.002

Journal information: Trends in Ecology and EvolutionMusk offers legal aid for users in trouble at work over X posts

PARANOID SAFETY FETISHISTS

Why parental pressures are taking the fun out of children's play

by University of Essex

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Modern day parenting pressures and expectations are leading to the death knell for children enjoying spontaneous play, according to a new study from the University of Essex.

While parents have always felt some responsibility for their children's development, the heightened intensity of parenting in recent years now means parents are expected to spend more time exhaustively watching, noticing and responding to their children's desires and behaviors.

This, the research suggests, is leaving less time for children to play independently where they learn for themselves the risks and dangers of outdoor play.

According to the study, published in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness, parents are worried this lack of spontaneous play means their children are not as developed and well-rounded as they could be, coupled with the fact children's play is increasingly more sedentary due to technology.

"Until around the 1990s, parents were not expected to endlessly entertain and monitor their children in the same way they are today, so children had greater freedom to play independently," explained the study's author Dr. John Day. "But since those children have become parents themselves, society has changed so there is a heightened feeling of responsibility for their children's development."

"One aspect of the problem is increased fears around stranger danger and more traffic on the roads which means opportunities for children to be physically active through spontaneous play have become limited."

So, today's youngsters are spending less time playing together away from adult care and more time under parental supervision and participating in structured health-focused physical activity settings such as holiday clubs.

Explained Dr. Day: "Parents are encouraged to spend more time with their children while simultaneously judged on how independent their children are. But most of the learning about independence takes place when children take risks of their own choosing and these opportunities are becoming lost in childhood."

This generational shift was noticed by Dr. Day, from Essex's School of Health and Social Care, when conducting in-depth interviews with 28 UK residents born between 1950 and 1994 about their physical activity history and how family members influenced these experiences.

The research found that the rise in structured physical activity for children happened at the same time as, and possibly caused, a decline in children playing spontaneously.

Growing concerns around child health meant many parents born after the late 1960s, who started parenting in the early 1990s, felt as though they should intervene to make sure their children were active, which restricted the possibility for more spontaneous forms of play.

"Society today positions parents as the sole engineers in their children's development which represents an unrealistic burden that brings with it unjust pressure and expectation," added Dr. Day.

To help address this trend, Dr. Day says there needs to be a culture shift where health policy makers ensure children are encouraged to learn about the risks of physically active play, independent of adult supervision.

"Parenting is no longer simply an aspect of who someone is but a role one is expected to extensively perform. Parents and their children are trapped together in this scenario and so we need policymakers to recognize this and work with parents and children to change this for future generations," he said.

More information: John Day, The intensification of parenting and generational fracturing of spontaneous physical activity from childhood play in the United Kingdom, Sociology of Health & Illness (2023). DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13701

Journal information: Sociology of Health & Illness 

Provided by University of Essex 

Getting adults on board with messy nature play

 

DNA evidence on dogs can help track down offenders

by Flinders University

Diagram of the nine areas sampled (shaded gray), including (A) a gloved hand after patting 

the dog’s neck, (B) a sheet walked over by the dog, (C1) the sites where the dog was

 swabbed on the chest, top of the head, back, left side and stomach (C2) the site where 

the dog was swabbed on the right side, and (D) the area patted with an ungloved hand.

 Credit: Genes (2023). DOI: 10.3390/genes14071486

Canines are often used in tracking down criminals but forensic science researchers say they could also help provide crucial evidence in police investigations—by being a witness or resident at the crime scene.

The new Australian study, by researchers in Victorian and South Australia, expands the opportunities for DNA to assist investigations of criminal activities by expanding knowledge about the presence and transfer of human DNA on pets such as cats and dogs.

Flinders University researcher Heidi Monkman in collaboration with Roland van Ooorschot from the Victoria Police Forensic Services Department and Bianca Szkuta from Deakin University collected human DNA from 20 pet dogs of various breeds from multiple households.

This preliminary study conducted at Deakin showed that human DNA can be retrieved from all areas of the dogs that were sampled, although some areas consistently provided more DNA than others, such as the head and back.

"This study demonstrated that human DNA can be transferred to dogs upon contact by a person's hand and that it can be transferred from dogs to a contacting surface, such as during patting and walking," says first author Heidi Monkman, from Flinders University's College of Science and Engineering.

"This information may assist those investigating criminal acts in which dogs are involved to consider situations in which it may be useful to sample for human DNA from a dog."

"It also showed that investigators may need to consider dogs as a vector for indirect transfer of human DNA within particular scenarios."

In addition to the dog owner(s), and people living in the same household, the study also found DNA from unknown sources, which required further investigation.

Animals in domestic environments could be a victim, offender, or innocent party associated with a crime however we have very limited knowledge of human DNA transfer, persistence, prevalence and recovery (DNA TPPR) associated with domestic animals, the researchers say.

Further work on the transfer of human DNA to and from companion animals is being conducted at Flinders University to build more understanding and provide data that will assist forensic investigators and legal arbiters.

The article, "Presence of Human DNA on Household Dogs and Its Bi-Directional Transfer," has been published in Genes.

More information: Heidi Monkman et al, Presence of Human DNA on Household Dogs and Its Bi-Directional Transfer, Genes (2023). DOI: 10.3390/genes14071486

Journal information: Genes 

Provided by Flinders University 

Can cats at a crime scene help find key DNA evidence?

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Strategies of kleptocrats and their enablers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, experts warn

by University of Exeter

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

International assessments of corruption can't properly show the increasingly sophisticated way elite people from rogue states use global networks to manage illicit finances, experts have warned.

Lawyers and professional enablers are used to help disintermediate the shady origins of funds and convert them to spendable and protected assets, as well as recasting public images.

Philanthropy rather than politics is increasingly being used to change the image of countries and individuals.

Global corruption rankings don't recognize the structured use of wealth managers, accounting firms, and international bankers, as well as citizenship managers, brokers, lobbyists, PRs and lawyers.

The study describes this era of reputation laundering as 'transnational uncivil societies'. The aims of transnational uncivil societies extend beyond personal benefits to political aims and to further authoritarian and kleptocratic power. TUSNs act against transnational activists through private investigators, the issuance of INTERPOL warrants, regional policing mechanisms and the courts.

The study, by Alexander Cooley from Barnard College, John Heathershaw from the University of Exeter and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira from the University of Oxford, is published in the European Journal of International Relations.

Professor Heathershaw said, "This is a growing type of conflict in global politics. Kleptocrats eject liberal activists from their own territories and create new spaces to whitewash their own reputations and build their own transnational networks. To do so, they hire political consultants and reputation managers, engage in public philanthropy and forge new relationships with major global institutions."

"These strategies of reputation-laundering are neither illicit nor marginal, but very much a product of the actors, institutions and markets generated by the liberal international order."

The story shows how these relationships between elites, lawyers and others may begin as contractual but over the long term are likely to become clientelistic as each party gains greater knowledge of the 'grey' and illegal behaviors of the other.

As part of transnational uncivil society reputation management is used in an aggressive and targeted way, while 'strategic lawsuits against public participation' (SLAPPs) are also increasingly deployed in the United Kingdom to tie civil society and media organizations up in lengthy and uncertain court procedures that effectively stifle the free speech necessary for advocacy campaigns.

Elites use sovereign rights to move to or reside in the West through entering diplomatic service, securing citizenship or a foreign residence, as well as participation in an investor visa or second passport.

Professor Cooley said, "Transnational uncivil societies seek to protect their own exclusive national sovereignty and regime authority at home, while eroding popular sovereignty in overseas liberal democracies by securing the right of residency and nurturing clientelistic ties and influence."

"Cumulatively, these networks of elites, foundations and private service professionals enhance the authority and legitimacy of uncivil elites, helping to blunt other actual advocacy campaigns."

More information: Alexander Cooley et al, Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy's global fightback against liberal activism, European Journal of International Relations (2023). DOI: 10.1177/13540661231186502

Provided by University of Exeter UK professions supporting 'laundering of money & reputations' of post-Soviet elite

 

A crossroads for women's football: New study reveals critical concern for leagues' finances

by University of Portsmouth

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new study into the financial health of professional women's football clubs in England (also known as soccer in the U.S.) suggests that money troubles and problems lie ahead unless governance structures and league design change significantly. This study is the first of its kind worldwide to analyze the financial health of any professional women's sports league in the world. It provides crucial insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the profession.

The research is published in the Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal.

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth examined the financial data of 73 annual accounts of 14 English Women's Super League (WSL) clubs from 2011 to 2019. The study highlights critical concerns about the league's financial sustainability and proposes a comprehensive road map for its development.

The report found that women's football stands at a pivotal crossroad, and the next direction of travel is likely to shape the future of the game for many years. On one hand, elite women's football is entering a "new age" of popularity, with increased attendances, media coverage, commercial partnerships, and mainstream interest, which has seen club revenue increase 590% (during the pre-COVID pandemic period 2011-2019).

However, despite these gains, a darker reality emerges, as club debt has skyrocketed by 1,351%, indicating an alarming trend that could jeopardize the league's financial stability and clubs' longevity.

Dr. Christina Philippou, Principal Lecturer, Accounting, Economics and Finance at the University of Portsmouth says, "Our research performed a financial assessment of the WSL, highlighting both areas of concern and strengths on which various stakeholders in the women's game can build on. The recent review of women's football led by Karen Carney, the growing clarity and focus on women's football by the FA, and the increasing commercial and broadcaster interest in the women's game as a whole all point to the financial opportunities that need to be explored and potential problems that can be mitigated before they affect the game."

Findings also indicate an emergent group of dominant clubs on and off the pitch which may threaten long-term sporting integrity. While certain clubs have managed to establish themselves as powerhouses in terms of both financial resources and sporting success, this trend may risk a lack of competitive balance within the league.

To safeguard the financial health of WSL clubs and promote sporting competition, the researchers propose a series of recommendations, revenue distribution, licensing criteria, rewards and diversity on boards. These measures aim to harness the positive momentum gained in recent years and guide the league toward a more sustainable future.

Dr. Beth Clarkson, visiting senior lecturer, University of Portsmouth, says, "To better understand how to move forward, we need to analyze our past. Our research is the first in the world to provide in depth financial analysis of any professional women's sports league and provides actionable steps that the Women's Super League and The Football Association can use to support its next strategic direction as it looks to capitalize on the England national team's success and build on the upward commercial interest in the women's game."

The study highlights the urgency for women's football to navigate its financial landscape with care and foresight. By employing the study's recommendations and adopting a holistic approach to financial health, the WSL has the potential to not only weather current challenges but to thrive sustainably, creating a brighter future for the game and its dedicated fans.

More information: Beth G. Clarkson et al, Money troubles and problems ahead? The financial health of professional women's football clubs in England, Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1108/SBM-10-2022-0088

Provided by University of Portsmouth New report finds serious concerns around financial sustainability in football