Polycrisis and systemic risks: New approaches in governance and communication

Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, climate change and other events highlight our growing exposure to complex, interconnected, and intertwining risks. In view of this development, the focus of risk research has shifted towards the comprehensive analysis of interconnected and mutually interactive risk sources and crises. In a review article published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, Huan Liu (Kyoto University) and Ortwin Renn (Research Institute for Sustainability, RIFS) offer an overview of the current state of research on polycrises and systemic risks.

The researchers initially clarify the terms "polycrisis" and "systemic risks", outlining their theoretical foundations, historical evolution, and practical relevance. The key distinction between the two is that polycrises comprise multiple entangled and mutually reinforcing crises that unfold simultaneously across different systems. The concept of systemic risks, on the other hand, refers to risks within a single system that can lead to widespread failure but can also extend to other risk areas. In addition, crises refer to events that have already occurred, while risks refer to impending events that have not yet materialised. 

Complexity poses challenges for risk assessment

In traditional approaches to risk assessment, risks are analysed in isolation, with the aim of avoiding harms or – failing that – minimising impacts. However, those risks that can escalate into polycrises require new, integrated approaches that account for interdependencies, cascading effects, and the complex interactions of multiple systems. Ortwin Renn: "Risk assessment in the context of polycrises is particularly challenging due to the complexity, interdependence and unpredictability of the risks involved. Data scarcity, incomplete information, and the dynamic nature of crises also make precise assessments difficult. It is therefore particularly important to make the interactions themselves the primary focus of scientific modelling in order to determine combined effects as accurately as possible.” 

Integrated methods of modelling that can be used to capture the non-linear interactions and feedback loops that are characteristic of complex systems show particular promise and could help to uncover weaknesses, improve predictive capabilities, and develop more effective risk mitigation strategies.

“Risk management seeks to strengthen the resilience of a system in such a way that its functionality can be safeguarded or restored in a short time, even in the event of several crises occurring simultaneously", explains co-author Huan Liu. Stress testing and simulations involving multiple parallel crises are particularly suitable for this purpose.

Communication is crucial for public trust

According to Liu and Renn, communication also plays a crucial role in efforts to address polycrises. It can promote transparency, strengthen trust, and facilitate the inclusive participation of all stakeholders. Effective risk communication conveys complex and uncertain information in a way that is understandable and credible for different target groups, such as the public, politicians and experts. It also creates spaces for open dialogue. In times of crisis, when misinformation and rumours can spread quickly, structured communication approaches are crucial for building public trust and delivering coherent responses to crises that may seem implausible at first glance, but are most likely to produce the desired effect. 

This holistic perspective enables policymakers and practitioners to better anticipate cascading effects, develop adaptive strategies, and strengthen the resilience of various climatic, social, economic and political systems. Ultimately, it facilitates coordinated responses that are more robust and better able to cope with the diverse challenges of the current global crises.

The review article was originally prepared for the International Symposium on Polycrises and Systemic Risks held in Beijing in 2024. The article will be published in a special issue of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Science later in 2025.

---

Journal

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science

DOI

10.1007/s13753-025-00636-3 

Method of Research

Systematic review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Polycrisis and Systemic Risk: Assessment, Governance, and Communication

 

Green light activates this antibiotic only where it’s needed

American Chemical Society

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

A clear boundary formed after exposing light-activated penicillin to green light — half of the dish was sterilized, and the other half teemed with E. coli bacterial growth.

view more 

Credit: Adapted from ACS Central Science 2025, DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.5c00437

To treat bacterial infections, medical professionals prescribe antibiotics. But not all active medicine gets used up by the body. Some of it ends up in wastewater, where antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can develop. Now, to make a more efficient antibiotic treatment, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science modified penicillin, so that it’s activated only by green light. In early tests, the approach precisely controlled bacterial growth and improved survival outcomes for infected insects.

“Controlling drug activity with light will allow precise and safe treatment of localized infections,” says Wiktor Szymanski, a corresponding author of the study. “Moreover, the fact that light comes in different colors gives us the ability to take the spatial control of drug activity to the next level.”

Scientists can add a light-sensitive molecule to drug compounds to keep them inactive in the body until they’re needed. When light shines on a modified compound, the extra molecule breaks away and then releases the active drug. This process gives scientists precise control over when and where drugs are activated. Previous light-reactive tags, such as coumarin added to the opioid reversal agent naloxone, require high-energy UV or blue light to kick-start the process. But molecular tags made from other coumarin compounds can be released by green light, a less intense form of light. So, Albert Schulte and Jorrit Schoenmakers, along with their supervisors and colleagues, wanted to develop coumarin-based modifications to create light-activated antibiotics.

The researchers first linked a coumarin-based molecule to the portion of penicillin that targets bacterial cell walls, making the antibiotic inert. When exposed to green light, the new molecule broke away, activating the penicillin. Initial experiments with bacteria grown in petri dishes showed that exposing the modified penicillin to green light significantly inhibited E. coli colony formation and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm development. Next, the researchers treated Staphylococcus aureus-infected wax moth larvae, which have immune defenses similar to those of humans, with an injection of the modified penicillin followed by green light therapy. Treated larvae had an improved survival rate (60%) compared to infected larvae that were left alone (30%). These observations show a successful proof of concept in living organisms, say the researchers.

The researchers add that these results are promising for future work that may expand the system to multiple light beams and different colors of light for controlling antibiotic activity in larger living organisms, including humans.

The authors acknowledge funding from an ERC Advanced Investigator Grant, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of The Netherlands Gravitation Program, and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences of the University of Groningen.

The paper’s abstract will be available on June 11 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscentsci.5c00437   

###

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Registered journalists can subscribe to the ACS journalist news portal on EurekAlert! to access embargoed and public science press releases. For media inquiries, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Note: ACS does not conduct research but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.

Follow us: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

---

Journal

ACS Central Science

DOI

10.1021/acscentsci.5c00437 

Article Title

Green-Light-Activatable Penicillin for Light-Dependent Spatial Control of Bacterial Growth, Biofilm Formation, and In Vivo Infection Treatment

Article Publication Date

11-Jun-2025

 

Eavesdropping on laptop, smart speaker microphones demonstrated in new security attack

University of Florida

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

video: 

A demonstration of the microphone attack through a 15 cm wall

view more 

Credit: Sara Rampazzi

The ghostly woman’s voice pipes through the speakers, covered in radio static but her message intact from beyond — “The birch canoe slid on the smooth planks.”

A secret message from the other side? A spectral insight?

No, something much spookier: Voice recordings captured, secretly, from the radio frequencies emitted by ubiquitous, cheap microphones in laptops and smart speakers. These unintentional signals pass, ghost-like, through walls, only to be captured by simple radio components and translated back to static-filled — but easily intelligible — speech.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Electro-Communications in Japan have revealed a security and privacy risk inherent in the design of these microphones, which emit radio signals as a kind of interference when processing audio data.

The attack could open up people to industry espionage or even government spying, all without any tampering of their devices. But the security researchers have also identified multiple ways to address the design flaw and shared their work with manufacturers for potential fixes going forward.

“With an FM radio receiver and a copper antenna, you can eavesdrop on these microphones. That’s how easy this can be,” said Sara Rampazzi, Ph.D., a professor of computer and information science and engineering at UF and co-author of the new study. “It costs maybe a hundred dollars, or even less.”

They used standardized recordings of random sentences to test the attack, giving the eerie impression of a ghostly woman talking about canoes or imploring you to “Glue the sheet to the dark blue background.” Each nonsense sentence instantly recognizable despite, in some cases, passing through concrete walls 10 inches thick.

The vulnerability is based on the design of digital MEMS microphones, which are widespread in devices like laptops and smart speakers. When processing audio data, they release weak radio signals that contain information about everything the microphone is picking up. Like other radio signals, these transmissions can pass through walls to be captured by simple antennas.

Even when someone is not intentionally using their microphone, it can be picking up and transmitting these signals. Common browser apps like Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music and Google Drive enable the microphone sufficiently to leak out radio signals of anything said in the room.

The researchers tested a range of laptops, the Google Home smart speaker, and headsets used for video conferencing. Eavesdropping worked best on the laptops, in part because their microphones were attached to long wires that served as antennas amplifying the signal.

Rampazzi’s lab also used machine learning-driven programs from companies like Open AI and Microsoft to clean up the noisy radio signals and transcribe them to text, which demonstrated how easy it would be to then search eavesdropped conversations for keywords.

However, a series of fairly simple changes could greatly decrease the effectiveness of the attack. Changing where microphones are placed in laptops could avoid long cables, which amplify the radio leakage. Slight tweaks to the standard audio processing protocols would reduce the intelligibility of the signals.

The researchers have shared these ideas with laptop and smart speaker manufacturers, but it’s not clear if the companies will make the upgrades in future devices. 

---

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Sound of Interference: Electromagnetic Eavesdropping Attack on Digital Microphones Using Pulse Density Modulation

 

Researchers create new way to remove phosphorus from contaminated water

North Carolina State University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessage

Researchers have created an inexpensive hydrogel that can filter phosphorus from contaminated surface waters, drinking water supplies or wastewater streams to reduce phosphorus pollution and reuse the phosphorus for agricultural and industrial applications. In addition to efficiently capturing and releasing phosphorus, the hydrogels can be reused multiple times – making them cost-effective.

Phosphorus is an essential element for many applications, particularly agricultural fertilizers. But there are two key challenges. First, the phosphorus used for farming and industrial applications primarily comes from mining operations, which rely on limited resources and can pose environmental problems. Second, high phosphorus levels in surface waters – from agricultural runoff, wastewater plants and other sources – contribute to significant water-quality problems such as eutrophication, leading to so-called “dead zones.”

“The idea of filtering phosphorus from contaminated waters is not new, but existing technologies rely on potent acids or bases to release the phosphorus once it has been captured,” says Jan Genzer, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work, and S. Frank and Doris Culberson Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. “Ultimately, this poses environmental challenges of its own and makes it expensive to harvest phosphorus using filtration technologies. We have made major strides toward solving this problem.”

The researchers created a hydrogel that combines two commercially available materials: polyethyleneimine (PEI), which is an inexpensive polymer whose molecular structure allows it to harvest phosphorus from water as the water passes through the material, and poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) (PMVEMA), which is an inexpensive polymer that bonds with the PEI to form a robust gel that allows water to pass through while maintaining its structural integrity.

In testing, the PEI/PMVEMA hydrogel was extremely efficient at removing phosphorus from contaminated water as it flowed through the material at room temperature. It also efficiently released the captured phosphorus at room temperature using mild bases.

“Our experiments suggest the hydrogel would be able to remove well over 90% of the phosphorus from wastewater or contaminated surface waters,” Genzer says. “We also demonstrated that we can reclaim up to 99% of that phosphorus for reuse. We also showed that the hydrogel can then be reused with minimal decline in performance. For example, after being used three times, we could still reuse 97.5% of the phosphorus.

“To put this in context, current phosphorus filtration materials cost $20-300 per pound of phosphorus they can capture,” says Genzer. “Our material costs $23 per pound of phosphorus removed if you only use it once. But you can use it over and over again. If you use the hydrogel twice, the cost drops to $8 per pound of phosphorus harvested. If you use it 50 times, the price drops to less than 50 cents per pound.

“We have filed a provisional patent for the material and are looking for industry partners interested in incorporating the material into practical applications for wastewater treatment, environmental remediation, and harvesting phosphorus for agricultural and industrial use,” says Genzer.

“From a research standpoint, the next big challenge is determining how to use this material to harvest phosphorus from contaminated soils. That is a more complex problem than removing phosphorus from liquids.”

The paper, “Functional Hydrogels for Selective Phosphate Removal from Water and Release on Demand,” is published in Langmuir. The paper’s first author is Jiangfeng Xu, a Ph.D. student at NC State. The paper’s co-corresponding author is Kirill Efimenko, a research associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State. The paper was co-authored by Christopher Gorman, a professor of chemistry at NC State; Yaroslava Yingling, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at NC State; and Lisa Castellano, a research associate at NC State.

This work was supported by the Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS) Center, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center based at NC State that is funded under grant CBET-2019435.

---

Journal

Langmuir

DOI

10.1021/acs.langmuir.5c00679 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Functional Hydrogels for Selective Phosphate Removal from Water and Release on Demand

Article Publication Date

13-Jun-2025

 

Program helps cancer survivors return to work with confidence

First-of-its-kind tool can ease transition and improve quality of life, study finds

McGill University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A new pilot project led by McGill University researchers is showing early success in helping cancer survivors return to work, addressing an aspect of recovery they say is often overlooked.

iCanWork is an online support program being developed by Christine Maheu, Associate Professor at McGill’s Ingram School of Nursing, in collaboration with BC Cancer.

“Work isn’t considered a key health indicator in cancer care, even though it’s a major concern from the moment someone is diagnosed and is associated with better quality of life in survivors” said Maheu.

Lingering side effects of cancer treatment like fatigue, “chemo brain” and anxiety can make it hard to focus, stay organized and manage stress, making the return to work feel overwhelming, she explained.

Promising early results

In a randomized trial involving 24 cancer survivors, Maheu and her colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of iCanWork.

In the 10-step program, survivors met virtually with return-to-work counsellors and therapists who helped manage the hurdles to reintegration and referred them to additional specialists when needed.

Half of the participants returned to full-time work within three months, compared to about one-third in the control group. Participants also reported working more effectively, feeling more socially connected and found pain interfered less in their daily lives.

“One participant said without the sessions, she would have quit. Another had considered early retirement but changed her plans,” said Maheu.

A missing piece in cancer care

The first-of-its-kind program aims to fill a gap in Canadian cancer care. Only four per cent of employers have cancer-specific return-to-work policies, which the authors say are more common in some European countries.

The gap also has financial consequences. Maheu said previous research shows that, on average, cancer patients face over $2,500 a month in lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses like medication and home care. Employers, meanwhile, often spend up to $24,000 to replace a worker on medical leave. “Having proper support in place benefits both sides,” said Maheu.

The team is preparing a larger trial and looking for partners to help scale iCanWork across Canada.

The structured program tested in the study is still in development, but survivors can already access tools and resources through the Cancer and Work website, launched in 2016 and recognized with the 2020 CIHR Inclusive Research Excellence Prize for its accessible and inclusive design.

About the study

“Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of iCanWork: Theory-Guided Return-to-Work Intervention for Individuals Touched by Cancer” by Christine Maheu and Maureen Parkinson et al. was published in Current Oncology. The study was funded by the Work Wellness Institute.

---

Journal

Current Oncology

DOI

10.3390/curroncol32050266 

Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of iCanWork: Theory-Guided Return-to-Work Intervention for Individuals Touched by Cancer