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)
Monday, September 22, 2025
Charity Plans to Move Aging Frigate From Pakistan to UK as Museum Ship
PNS Babur, a sister ship of HMS Ambuscade (USN file image)
A charity organization in the United Kingdom is undertaking an ambitious project that will see a decommissioned Royal Navy warship make a 6000-mile journey from Pakistan to the Clyde, where she will start a new life as a floating museum and education center.
In a mission aimed at preserving the rich shipbuilding history of the River Clyde for future generations, Clyde Naval Heritage (CNH) said plans are ongoing to bring the former HMS Ambuscade back to the UK.
Commissioned in 1975, the Amazon class Type 21 frigate served during the Falklands conflict as an electronic warfare picket ship, and took part in several bombardments of Argentine positions. In 1993, the warship was decommissioned and sold to the Pakistan Navy and recommissioned as PNS Tariq. She remained in active service for three decades.
CNH is announcing that the Pakistan government has since donated Ambuscade to the charity to become part of the Clyde Naval & Shipbuilding Heritage site. Plans are underway to bring the vessel back to the Clyde with the ship expected to make the 6,000-mile journey from Karachi later this year. On arrival, the intention is to preserve her as a floating museum and ensure she helps preserve the rich shipbuilding history of the River Clyde.
The Clyde’s shipbuilding history spans centuries, evolving from the construction of medieval fishing vessels to becoming one of the world’s most important industrial shipbuilding centers. Many commercial and naval warships have been built in the Clyde’s shipyards for both the Royal Navy and many countries around the world. They include world’s most iconic transatlantic liners such as the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and QE2. Unfortunately, most of the shipyards are long gone and only a few pockets remain of the region's shipbuilding heritage.
As part of the project to bring Ambuscade back to the Clyde, CNH has appointed consultancy firm Tricolor Collective as its lead development partner with the task of leading the next phase of project development, business planning, and strategic fundraising to bring the Clyde’s naval legacy back to life.
“The Clyde’s shipbuilding heritage is a powerful symbol of Scottish innovation, craftsmanship, and industrial strength. We intend to harness that legacy to drive the regeneration of a region that has seen significant decline. Our immediate goal is to bring the former HMS Ambuscade (PNS Tariq) back from Pakistan to the Clyde, where she was built,” said O’Neill.
Apart from bringing back Ambuscade, CNH also plans to create the Clyde Historic Dockyard, a new maritime heritage destination combining cultural programming, community co-creation spaces, naval innovation showcases, and heritage skills hubs.
“Our vision is to create a dynamic, inclusive, and future-facing heritage destination anchored by the Ambuscade/Tariq and innovative multi-dimensional immersive access to the global maritime story,” said Sarah Dowd, Tricolor Founding Director.
Urgent awareness gap: 1 in 3 Europeans unfamiliar with cystitis (UTI) , half unaware women are most at risk
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the second most common infections, affecting millions of people each year.
New study highlights need for public education on UTIs amid rising antibiotic resistance
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most common infections, affecting millions of people each year.
This major public health concern can often be prevented or cured if treated correctly. Experiencing a burning sensation down there? Talk to your doctor about it.
Arnhem, 22 September 2025 – A new international study has uncovered a concerning lack of public understanding about cystitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs) – common health issues that disproportionately affect women. The findings, which also highlight widespread misconceptions about prevention and treatment, underscore the urgent need for education to combat rising antibiotic resistance.
In a survey of over 3,000 adults across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK, 35% of respondents could not correctly define cystitis as a bladder infection, with some confusing it for a skin condition or even food allergies. Among younger adults aged 18–24, fewer than half (45%) were able to identify cystitis correctly.
A hidden gender gap in awareness Despite medical consensus that women are significantly more affected by UTIs, only half (51%) of respondents recognised this, while nearly 1 in 5 men incorrectly believed that men are more commonly affected. Encouragingly, awareness was higher among women themselves, with 63% correctly identifying their increased risk compared to just 38% of men.
Missed opportunities for prevention UTIs are often preventable, but knowledge of basic prevention strategies is worryingly low:
71% knew that drinking plenty of water can help.
Only 43% recognised the importance of proper hygiene (wiping front to back).
Just 35% understood the need to urinate after sexual activity.
Alarmingly, 17% mistakenly believed taking antibiotics without medical advice could prevent UTIs.
Only 21% of all respondents could identify all three key prevention strategies, and 1 in 6 couldn’t name a single correct preventive measure. Women are three times more likely to identify the three correct ways of prevention.
"Many teenagers today are sexually active without understanding the risks of bladder infections. Young women in particular are more vulnerable because of their anatomy, yet too often they think the contraceptive pill protects them from all risks and that condoms are unnecessary. We urgently need to address this through school education and social media, otherwise we risk a new generation of young women suffering repeated urinary tract infections and even long-term bladder damage," says Jane Meijlink, chair of the International Painful Bladder Foundation.
Antibiotic misuse adds to the challenge While not all UTIs require antibiotics, 16% of respondents incorrectly believe they are always needed—a misconception that fuels antibiotic overuse and resistance. Even among those affected, awareness of the risks associated with antibiotic resistance is not widespread. Almost half of respondents either underestimated or were unaware of the growing difficulty in treating UTIs due to antibiotic resistance.
"Urinary tract infections affect over 400 million people worldwide and cause approximately 240,000 deaths each year, with rising antibiotic resistance making them harder to treat," said Prof. Gernot Bonkat (CH), chair of the EAU Infections Guidelines Panel. "This study shows that raising public awareness, as well as education about symptoms, causes, and treatment, is still essential to prevent infections, reduce suffering, and slow the spread of resistance. Importantly, not every infection needs to be treated with antibiotics—judicious use is key to combating resistance. "
About UTIs and Urology Week 2025 The survey is part of Urology Week 2025 (22-26 September), an initiative by the European Association of Urology to create awareness of urological conditions among the general public. This year the focus lies on urinary tract infections (UTIs) and in particular cystitis.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infections, affecting millions globally. They are the second most common infection after respiratory infections and are significantly more prevalent in women than men. Approximately 50-60% of women will experience a UTI at least once in their lives.
UTIs are a major public health concern due to their high incidence and morbidity. Their financial burden is substantial, estimated at billions of euros annually worldwide. Understanding the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of UTIs is crucial for effective prevention and treatment strategies. That is why this year Urology Week is focusing on raising awareness for urinary tract infections. For more information about Urology Week, visit http://urologyweek.org. For more information about urinary tract infections, please see https://patients.uroweb.org/condition/urinary-infections.
ENDS
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second most common infections, affecting millions of people each year.
This major public health concern can often be prevented or cured if treated correctly. Experiencing a burning sensation down there? Talk to your doctor about it.
Credit
European Association of Urology
About the survey
The new survey was commissioned by the European Association of Urology (EAU) for its annual Urology Week (22-26 September 2025). Over 3,000 members of the public from Spain, France, Germany, the UK and Italy were asked about their knowledge of and experience with urinary tract infections. The survey was supported by GSK. The information was sourced in July 2025.
About the European Association of Urology (EAU) The European Association of Urology is a non-profit organisation which supports medical professionals working in the field of urology through many of its scientific, professional, educational and awareness-building initiatives. The overarching mission is to raise the level of urological care in Europe, and for many years this has been done through educational and scientific programmes aimed at urologists. Today the EAU represents more than 19,000 medical professionals working in Europe and beyond its borders. For more information see www.uroweb.org
About GSK GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. GSK has pioneered innovation in infectious diseases for over 70 years, and the Company’s pipeline of medicines and vaccines is one of the largest and most diverse in the industry, with a goal of developing preventive and therapeutic treatments for multiple disease areas or diseases with high unmet needs globally. Find out more at gsk.com.
Science journalists as brokers of trust
According to a new JCOM study involving media professionals, journalism also involves an active mediating role with the public
“Trust in science is collapsing”—that’s the alarm we often hear. It’s not surprising, then, that recent years have seen major efforts to study the phenomenon and its dynamics in the general population. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the information professionals—journalists—who play a crucial bridging role between the world of scientific research and the public. A new paper in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) by a research group at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, gives voice to journalists in three countries—Germany, Italy, and Lithuania—each representing a different media ecosystem.
The picture that emerges is far more fragmented and nuanced—and, above all, strongly context-dependent—than the common narrative would suggest. The journalists described themselves as being in constant negotiation with their audiences, calling themselves “knowledge brokers.” They also stressed that, in today’s science journalism, fact-checking and accuracy must be coupled with political, social, and emotional dimensions and with audience expectations, and they highlighted the need for new co-creative media formats.
“According to the journalists involved in our study, trust in science is not collapsing,” explains Nora Weinberger, a researcher at ITAS and one of the authors of the study, who contributed to the analysis of the focus-group data (that were all pre-analyzed locally). “That was kind of a surprise for me, because in the media and in discussions among researchers there’s this idea of a collapse, while participants in our study see trust as being constantly negotiated.”
“Public trust in science is not uniformly declining,” confirms Dana Mahr, also a researcher at ITAS and the study’s first author. “It’s fragmented, dynamic, and highly dependent on social, political, and media contexts, as well as individual expectations.”
The focus-group study involved 87 participants—mostly journalists (also including a number of science and institutional communicators and a few scientists)—across three very different countries. Germany shows a relatively solid landscape for science journalism, with dedicated desks in public broadcasters and major outlets, a strong professional network, and good fact-checking practices. Italy is more fragmented, with fewer pure science desks, many freelancers, and often poorly paid. As described by one Italian participant: “Science journalism in Italy is treated as a luxury. When there’s a crisis, it suddenly matters. Otherwise, it’s ignored.” Lithuania, shaped by its post-communist past, has a very small market with few full-time specialists; science is often covered by generalists or in collaboration with universities and research centers.
Context effects and fragmentation
Journalists highlighted the public’s growing ideological polarization: some continue to trust scientific institutions, while others assess information through an emotional and political lens. As one German participant put it: “People don’t evaluate scientific facts independently anymore. They trust or reject science based on whether it aligns with their political identity.”
They also criticized a reactive form of journalism that works on a very short time horizon and often depends on contingencies and public mood. In practice, topics are covered mainly in emergencies (think of the pandemic), while in-depth, long-term reporting is rare. This dynamic, by reducing the public’s familiarity with scientific issues, ends up triggering a vicious circle that further undermines trust in scientific research.
Online sets the agenda
Another key point is that dynamics of the online sphere spill over offline, shaping what appears in print. “The same article gets published in print and online, and if it gets no clicks online, then the topic doesn’t come up next time in the editorial discussions with regard to the print,” explains Mahr.
This further restricts in-depth coverage of important topics — from vaccines to climate change: if a subject doesn’t draw online interest, it stops being covered. Mahr cites global warming: although it’s scientifically crucial, it no longer attracts audiences unless framed with sensational headlines (often misleading, sometimes not evidence-based), and is gradually sidelined by outlets. “The journalists in our focus groups expressed the idea that basically you cannot do journalism on climate change because the public is overladen with information. Basically they are tired of the topic of climate change.” This, in turn, creates space for “alternative information” (not evidence-based and driven by a specific political agenda), which spreads pseudoscientific misinformation.
The role of support structures
Because journalism is so dependent on context and “market” factors, participants stressed the need for broader infrastructures to support their work: “Whether journalists can foster trust depends less on individual reporting and more on systemic conditions,” explains Weinberger. “Now there is really a need for media infrastructures and institutional support. Trust, and political culture, are questions of structures in society, not only of journalistic skills or good stories. For me, that was really surprising, in a way.”
The envisaged structures include elements that help mitigate market pressure: more stable funding (e.g., public service media), dedicated science desks, investigative funds, fact-checking units, collaboration networks, and ongoing training. In Germany, for example, these supports are more established than elsewhere, reducing click pressure and enabling longer-term, well-contextualized coverage.
Trust brokers and co-creation
“What I found really interesting was that they see their role as trust brokers—not only translating complex research, but also building trust,” says Weinberger. “That is not their formal job description, and from my point of view this represents a shift in their role.” This emerges in all three countries studied, despite clear differences in the media landscape. Journalists do not see their work as only conveying scientific information clearly, fairly, and accurately. They also take on an active role of mediation and dialogue with the public, in some cases pushing the profession toward the edge of activism. They feel literally tasked with building public trust in science.
For this reason, they believe news formats should incorporate more co-creation. “The journalists are aware of the social contract that we connect to the role of journalists—so they want to make it even stronger, with more transparency, more humility, and more dialogue with audiences. Basically, their idea is to allow more co-production.”
The strategies mentioned include producing interactive formats such as podcasts and Q&A sessions, and building relationships within digital communities instead of relying on one-way messaging, adapting content to the platforms without compromising scientific accuracy. These approaches are not panaceas, but necessary experiments that mark a shift from simple dissemination to dialogue and from authority to co-creation, recognizing that trust must be built by meeting audiences where they already are.
The article “Science journalists and public trust: comparative insights from Germany, Italy, and Lithuania” by Dana Mahr, Arianna Bussoletti, Christopher Coenen, Francesca Comunello, Julija Baniukevic and Nora Weinberger is published in the Journal of science Communication JCOM. The study was conducted as part of the EU Horizon Europe project IANUS (Inspiring and Anchoring Trust in Science, Research and Innovation, Link: https://trustinscience.eu/) aimed at strengthening warranted trust in science, research, and innovation through inclusive, value-sensitive, and participatory approaches.
Journal
Journal of Science Communication
Method of Research
Observational study
Article Title
Science journalists and public trust: comparative insights from Germany, Italy, and Lithuania
Article Publication Date
22-Sep-2025
Virtual care expansion did not expand specialist access in rural areas
Despite the expansion of virtual care in Ontario prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, specialist physicians did not expand reach to patients living at great distances from where they provided care, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250166
“We found that widespread availability of virtual care, accompanied by remuneration changes, was not associated with substantial expansion of specialists’ practices to serve patients who lived farther away,” writes Dr. Natasha Saunders, a pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids); adjunct scientist, ICES; and associate professor, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, with coauthors.
About 18% of Canada’s population lives in rural areas, but only 2.2% of specialists practise in these regions. It has been widely suggested that virtual care could increase access to health care for people in rural areas.
To understand if changes in virtual care in Ontario — which included billing codes and technological infrastructure to enable physician use — extended reach of specialist care, researchers compared driving distance and driving time between patients and physicians in a pre–virtual care period (January 1, 2019, to November 30, 2019) and a virtual care period (January 1, 2022, to November 30, 2022). The study included more than 11 000 specialists and more than 5.3 million patients who had over 25 million visits during the virtual care period.
The researchers did not find meaningful changes in distance between patients and specialists, except in psychiatry, where there were modest changes across all measures.
“If virtual care is to increase access to specialty care for rural patients, efforts are required to identify and target other barriers for virtual care, one of which could be that providers refer to specialists within their own self-contained networks,” the authors write. “In other words, rural patients may not be referred to specialists who are far away because their provider is not aware of them. Centralized referral systems could pool patient referrals and match patients to specialists.”
The authors also suggest considering patient preferences could increase use of virtual care among patients who may have health conditions or transportation or time challenges that would make virtual care a better option.
“To make virtual care more accessible, especially for patients living in rural areas, attention should be paid to other factors such as referral patterns and the role of patients in determining the type of visit they prefer,” the authors conclude.
A hybrid snapdragon. Snapdragons are usually magenta or yellow. In the valley of Planoles in Spain, these two types come together, forming hybrid plants in a variety of colors.
Every season, scientists from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) go on field trips to the Pyrenees. Their mission: gather snapdragon flowers to understand their genetic makeup. In a recently published study in Molecular Ecology, theyshow how nature uses color genes to keep two varieties of snapdragons distinct, even when they share the same habitat.
On the border between France and Spain lies a mountain range that spans from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea. The lush valleys and high peaks attract many tourists to the Pyrenees, known as “Pireneus” in Catalan.
Arka Pal, a biologist and PhD student from the Barton group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), visits the region for a different reason. He comes to collect snapdragons or Antirrhinum—a vibrant plant that, when squeezed, resembles the jaws of a dragon. Together with an international team of scientists, Pal’s newest publication highlights the importance of flower color genes that keep two snapdragon varieties separated in several valleys across the Pyrenees, although they hybridize and occupy the same space.
Collecting snapdragons
For the past 17 years, scientists from the Barton group have been travelling to Planoles—a Spanish village situated 1,135 meters above sea level, near the RÃo Rigat and the French border—looking for snapdragons. Each field season, around 20 researchers reside in a small hut, venture into the picturesque surroundings and collect over 5,000 samples.
“You could romanticize it and say we are hiking,” Pal jokes. “But Antirrhinum likes to grow in human-disturbed habitats, often alongside mountain roads. So, we walk these beautiful roads in the Pyrenees, sporadically climbing steep slopes through brambles and nettles to collect snapdragons.”
When in bloom, snapdragons are easy to spot with their striking yellow or magenta petals. When they are not, the scientists rely on identifying their leaves. Pal and his colleagues keep records of the plants’ growth and their GPS locations, and collect both flowers and leaves for processing back in the hut. There they assess the color of their samples, score how much magenta or yellow they have, and take pictures of the flowers from different angles. Additionally, they dry the leaves in silica gel and put them in envelopes to bring them back to ISTA to genetically analyze them.
What drives the Barton group to invest such effort in studying these plants? What deeper insights into evolution does the color of a snapdragon reveal?
Hybrid zones – nature’s laboratory
Pal is interested in how speciation happens—how different varieties emerge from a common ancestor and separate over time. In the valley of Planoles, two varieties of Antirrhinum—distinguished by their vibrant yellow (A. majus striatum) and magenta flowers (A. majus pseudomajus)—come together and hybridize naturally. During the last ice age, the two Antirrhinum varieties were geographically isolated in different parts of the Pyrenees. As the ice melted, they likely gradually spread along the valley from opposite directions, forming a so-called ‘hybrid zone.’
“Hybrid zones are essentially ‘natural laboratories’ where you can study the process of speciation and evolution in nature, letting nature conduct the experiments for us instead of crossing them in greenhouses,” says Pal. The magenta and yellow snapdragons form a narrow strip, roughly 1 km in length, where they hybridize to produce a kaleidoscope of colors.
The genetic encyclopedia
Planoles is not the only hybrid zone in the Pyrenees. A very similar one also exists 100 km to the west, near the town of Avellanet. The Barton group collected samples there, too. In his latest study, Pal compared both hybrid zones to understand how evolution has shaped them. Back at ISTA, Pal analyzed the two sets of samples to see whether their genomes look the same.
“You can think of the genome as an ‘encyclopedia of words.’ Within this encyclopedia, there are billions of letters which make up thousands of words—our genes. Yet, only a few key ‘words’ are important to keep species or varieties separated,” says Pal.
“The same bee species pollinates both the yellow and the magenta species. Bees learn where to go to find nectar. On the magenta side, they visit magenta flowers, while on the yellow side, they frequent yellow ones,” Pal says. Hybrids do not attract as many bees due to their lack of distinct color contrast required for bees to learn, resulting in reduced fitness and fewer offspring.
To tackle this data set, Pal made use of whole-genomic sequencing—a tool commonly used to map the DNA of humans and other animals. In this case, he and his team employed a novel sequencing technique that had previously been untested for Antirrhinum. Unlike well-studied organisms such as mice or Arabidopsis thaliana plants, where more genomic data exists, this large-scale sequencing of snapdragon genomes involved a process that resembled piecing together a vast puzzle.
“When we compared the Planoles and Avallenet hybrid zones, we found their genomes were quite different—they all had different mixtures of ‘words.’ But the seven genes that control the flower color were the same in both zones,” explains Pal. Those genes, act like keywords that stay consistent.
In hybrid zones, one would expect nearby plants to be closely related to each other. But when the researchers traced the plants’ genetic ancestry, they discovered that the flower color genes did not follow that pattern. The seven genes in the yellow snapdragons from the Planoles zone were more closely related to those in the yellow plants in the Avellanet zone. The same was true for magenta plants too.
Pal’s new study reveals that, although there is a lot of genetic variation between the zones, the genes responsible for flower color have a shared evolutionary history. This finding is important—it suggests these color genes help snapdragons remain distinct and recognizable, even when they grow in the same environment, and share other genes across their extensive genome.
Journal
Molecular Ecology
Method of Research
Data/statistical analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Genealogical Analysis of Replicate Flower Colour Hybrid Zones in Antirrhinum
Caption
Magenta, yellow, or hybrids? Back in their hut, the scientists meticulously document the colors of the collected snapdragons.
Tubes of flowers. The scientists process the collected snapdragons and prepare them for their trip to ISTA’s campus
One valley, many different snapdragons. In the valley of Planoles, hybrid forms of snapdragons grow right next to each other.
Contrast counts. Bees are more attracted to yellow and magenta variants than hybrid plants.
Geographic distributions of magenta- and yellow-colored snapdragons. Colored circles represent flower types and sample locations. Samples were collected from two hybrid zones: Avellanet (19 magenta and 19 yellow) and Planoles (18 magenta and 18 yellow).
Strolling through ISTA’s campus. Arka Pal passes by the new VISTA Science Experience Center. The first exhibition there, which opens on October 3, will also feature an exhibit on the snapdragon research conducted by the Barton Group at ISTA.
