Irish student wins first prize in annual physics competition
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Goliath's Curse: Powerful if uneven portrait of societal collapse sings the praises of Irish citizens' assembly
Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse Author : Luke Kemp ISBN-13 : 978-0241741238 Publisher : Viking Guideline Price : £25 'A pin in the hands of a child,' James Connolly once told his fellow Irish republicans, 'might pierce the heart of a giant.' This was Connolly's version of David and Goliath, the biblical story about a hulking Philistine warrior killed by an Israelite shepherd boy's slingshot. Even the most arrogant and intimidating colossus, in other words, may be more vulnerable than they look. According to Luke Kemp's learned, provocative and deeply unsettling book about how societies come crashing down, today's equivalent of Goliath is staring us in the mirror. Our current civilisation is more complex, sophisticated and interconnected than any the world has ever seen. That is precisely why a single, well-aimed blow at one of its vital organs could have devastating consequences. 'Once you pull on the thread of collapse, the entire tapestry of history begins to unravel,' Kemp warns in his typically melodramatic introduction. 'The darker angels of our nature are flying us towards evolutionary suicide.' READ MORE These may be bold claims, but Kemp is certainly well qualified to make them. The young Australian is a research affiliate at Cambridge University 's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), created in 2012 to work out how humanity can avoid various dystopian futures. Climate change , nuclear weapons , AI -driven robots and a bioengineered pandemic are all obvious threats on CSER's radar screen. Above all, however, Kemp and his colleagues want to identify the root weaknesses that result in societies being destroyed by their challenges rather than overcoming them. Goliath's Curse is a project with its academic roots fully on show. Copious maps, diagrams and statistical data underpin Kemp's analysis of 324 case studies, stretching roughly 4,000 years from the Bronze Age empires to the disintegration of Somalia. He includes potted histories of once-mighty regimes that eventually bit the dust, most notably ancient Rome, Mesoamerica's Aztecs and multiple Chinese dynasties. Many famous thinkers have put forward theories on this subject, but CSER's research can apparently prove most of them wrong. To take just one example, Kemp vigorously disputes Thomas Hobbes's dictum that life in a community without strong rulers will always be 'nasty, brutish and short'. By contrast, the most recent archaeological evidence suggests that even our hunter-gatherer ancestors co-operated well and were not innately violent. Instead, Kemp points his finger at a different culprit. Inequality, he declares, is the 'constant variable' or Achilles' heel that sooner or later causes all Goliaths to buckle. If people stop believing they are 'all in it together', the upshot will be a game of thrones that nobody actually wins. Whether it's Mayan cities or west African kingdoms, Kemp argues, the pattern is much the same. Goliaths flourish for a while before becoming victims of their own success, with prosperity leading to status competition, fighting over resources and 'state capture by private elites'. When drought, disease or an invasion comes along, their disillusioned citizens are unable to pull together and see it off. By now, it is obvious why Kemp thinks our Goliath's alarm systems should be flashing red. The 21st century's defining characteristics so far are social fragmentation, economic insecurity, attacks on democracy and declining faith in public institutions. No wonder that our response to looming catastrophes such as global warming can often make a rabbit caught in the headlights look decisive. [ From the archive: Ireland 'one of world's best five places' to survive global societal collapse Opens in new window ] As if Kemp's readers weren't nervous enough already, he compares civilisation to a badly designed ladder whose rungs break away once they have been climbed. Today's global Goliath has now reached such dizzying heights that any slip could be fatal. 'If we were hit by a plague like the Black Death,' he speculates, 'we would be likely to fall apart in a way that medieval Europe did not.' Unfortunately, Kemp's overblown conclusion suggests he is better at diagnosing Goliath's problems than prescribing solutions. Stretching his analogy to breaking point, he urges us to become Davids instead and slay the giant while there is time to replace him with a superior model. 'Open democracy' is Kemp's silver bullet, with Ireland's citizens' assembly on abortion cited as an example of how more inclusive decision-making can produce better laws. He also calls on voters to elect leaders who will scrap nuclear weapons, tech monopolies and fossil fuel use in an epilogue with the pithy subheading: 'Don't Be a Dick.' It's impeccably worthy, but far too vague to inspire much confidence. All this, to be fair, is a simplification of Kemp's sprawling 450-page narrative which contains lengthy diversions on warfare, technology, colonisation and other related issues. Goliath's Curse clearly belongs to the 'great unifying theory' genre that has produced international best-sellers such as Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens. It may lack their widespread appeal, however, since Kemp is no great prose stylist and his didactic tone has a wearying effect. Ironically enough, this feels like a Goliath of a book – exceptionally powerful, undeniably impressive but occasionally just a little too sure of itself.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Liver cancer: ‘The saddest part is that most of the cases are preventable'
Liver cancer kills more than 700,000 people each year. However, three in five cases could be prevented, according to a comprehensive analysis published in the journal Lancet. The research found that prevention could be accomplished by addressing the disease's major causes – hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol -associated liver disease and liver disease linked to metabolic risk factors such as obesity . With nearly 900,000 new cases globally each year, liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the third leading cause of death from cancer. If cases continue to rise at the current rate, the number of new annual diagnoses will almost double, rising to 1.5 million globally in 2050, the study predicted. There are two broad categories of liver cancer – primary liver cancer and metastatic (secondary) liver cancer. About 370 people are diagnosed with primary liver cancer each year in Ireland. It is twice as common in men than it is in women. READ MORE The researchers estimated that liver disease from alcohol use and metabolic dysfunction together would account for nearly a third of new liver cancer cases by 2050. The findings align with what liver specialists have seen in their clinics for years. 'Liver cancer is common. It causes immense suffering and death, and the saddest part for me as a physician is that most of the cases are preventable,' said Dr Brian Lee, an associate professor of medicine, who was not involved in the study. Improved screening, vaccination and treatment in recent years have helped stem viral hepatitis. But the threat of liver cancer from heavy alcohol use and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, formerly known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, 'has been underrecognised and underestimated,' said Dr Ahmed Kaseb, a professor of gastrointestinal medical oncology. A vast majority of liver cancers arise in people with cirrhosis, says Dr Hashem El-Serag, chairman of the department of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and one of the authors of the new study. Cirrhosis, or advanced and largely irreversible scarring of the liver, damages healthy tissue and prevents the organ from working normally. [ Doctors share 19 tips for looking after your liver: Don't drink alcohol every day, but do drink coffee, and lose weight Opens in new window ] The hepatitis B and C viruses cause inflammation that, if left untreated, can scar and damage the liver, potentially leading to cirrhosis. And both alcohol and metabolic dysfunction lead to abnormal deposits of fat in the liver, which can also result in inflammation. Dr Lee says the accumulation of fat and inflammation acts as a 'highway' to liver scarring, which in turn can injure DNA and lead to cancer. 'There could be multiple ramps to get on to that highway,' he said. The new paper found that the share of liver cancers resulting from hepatitis B and hepatitis C is expected to drop to 63 per cent in 2050, from 68 per cent in 2022. But the burden of liver cancers resulting from alcohol and MASLD is expected to grow. An estimated four in 10 adults worldwide have MASLD, a condition in which fat builds up in the liver. Risk factors include obesity and Type 2 diabetes. A subset of patients with MASLD will go on to develop an advanced form called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, which has been described as a silent killer because it can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer without being noticed. Current guidance recommends monitoring for liver cancers in patients who have a history of viral hepatitis or established cirrhosis. Patients with MASH typically don't meet that criteria, Dr Kaseb said, but they could have liver scarring without symptoms, and nobody would know. That's why screening for liver disease needs to begin at the primary care level, where cases can easily go undetected, said Dr Mary Rinella, a hepatologist at University of Chicago Medicine and the lead author of guidelines for the management of MASLD. She recommended that doctors use a metric called the Fib-4, which uses routine blood test results to estimate the amount of liver scarring, to screen high-risk patients. These include people who have Type 2 diabetes or obesity with at least one other metabolic risk factor, such as high cholesterol. [ 'A serious threat to public health': Doctors warn about delay to mandatory alcohol health labels Opens in new window ] MASLD is reversible with lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and increased exercise, and weight-loss drugs have recently been shown to be effective at reversing scarring as well. 'If you stop the reason or the impetus for scarring and injury in the liver, then you're going to have less impetus for the development of cancer,' says Dr Rinella. There is no national liver cancer screening programme in Ireland, so it's important to talk to your doctor about surveillance if you have a liver disease such as hepatitis B or C, genetic haemochromatosis or liver cirrhosis, as the risk of liver cancer is higher. [ Parents facilitating a 16-year-old's 'prinks' is a sign of our weird relationship with alcohol Opens in new window ] Alcohol-related liver disease is also on the rise. In research published in July , Dr Lee and his colleagues showed that the risk of alcohol-related liver disease among heavy drinkers (at least 10 drinks per week for women and 15 for men) in the United States more than doubled between 1999 and 2020, despite similar alcohol use over that period. That suggests that heavy drinkers today may be more sensitive to the effects of alcohol on the liver than those in the past, Dr Lee said. In Ireland, while average alcohol consumption per adult has shown signs of falling, the incidence of binge drinking continues to be pronounced. Drinking heavily and having a metabolic condition such as obesity can independently damage the liver, but patients who fall in both categories are at an especially high risk. These trends are likely to continue. 'Alcohol use is increasing,' says Dr Rinella. 'Obesity and diabetes are increasing.' 'I expect that we're going to continue to see a high burden of liver disease,' she added. – This article originally appeared in the New York Times
Agriland
5 days ago
- Agriland
Project seeking farmers to investigate crop physiology traits
New project expected to boost weed competitiveness in sustainable farming A project led by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is set to investigate crop physiology traits in winter wheat that enhance weed competitiveness in low-input and organic farming systems. The initiative will support cereal and oilseed growers with sustainable strategies to naturally suppress weeds, reducing reliance on herbicides and supporting the transition to more environmentally friendly agricultural practices. According to the AHDB, the project builds on findings from the 2022/2023 review of the recommended lists of cereals and oilseeds, where levy payers highlighted the importance of variety competitiveness against grass weeds. It said that with a growing body of evidence supporting the use of competitive varieties for weed suppression, this new research aims to pinpoint the specific varietal traits that deliver this benefit – informing both farmer decision-making and long-term plant breeding strategies. Delivered in collaboration with RSK ADAS Ltd, Cope Seeds UK Limited, the Organic Research Centre (ORC), and UK Grain Lab, the project will run from June 2025 to December 2027. It will involve a UK-wide network of on-farm trials focused on identifying key traits that correlate with weed competitiveness under organic and low-input conditions. The AHDB said that the results will contribute to a "robust, multi-year dataset", which will enhance the information gained through RL crop physiology assessments. The project will equip farmers with additional insights into variety selection – helping them choose winter wheat varieties that offer greater natural weed suppression. Senior knowledge transfer manager at AHDB, Henny Lowth said: "We know that managing weeds without chemicals is a key challenge for growers in low-input and organic systems. "This project represents a major step toward providing clear, evidence-based guidance on how variety choice can support integrated weed management." "We're excited to be working with our partners and the farming community to deliver meaningful, field-tested results," Lowth added. For farmers interested in taking part and hosting an on-farm variety trial, the form is available online.
