Conversations in Science Behind the Scenes of COVID-19 with Dr Julian Druce By Zachary Holloway What will our future with COVID-19 look like? How do we live with it? How could it have been managed better? In conversation with Dr Julian Druce, a renowned expert in the field of virology. Edited by Caitlin Kane & Breana Galea Issue 1: September 24, 2021 Illustration by Janna Dingle Interview with Dr Julian Druce, head of the Virus Identification Laboratory at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory. Before the middle of 2021, it seemed Australia was finally seeing the back of the COVID-19 pandemic: case numbers were down, the vaccine rollout was gaining momentum and Victoria had defeated the Delta variant twice. Fast forward to today, and the outlook doesn’t appear to be as rosy. Over a year and a half from when the pandemic began, it is still dominating headlines around the world. But like many in Australia, I still had many questions regarding the state of the pandemic, our path out of it and how scientists behind the scenes were shaping our public health response. I sat down in conversation with Dr Julian Druce hoping to find some of the answers to these questions. Zachary Holloway: What was the work you were conducting at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) before the COVID-19 pandemic? Dr Julian Druce: VIDRL itself is a public health reference laboratory, with a large focus on virology. For virology there are four main labs: one is a big serology laboratory which tests for antibodies and the footprints that a virus leaves after your immune system has interrogated that pathogen. The other labs are more focused on direct detection of some specific viruses: there’s an HIV-specific lab, a hepatitis-specific lab and then my lab, which focuses on all other viruses. These mostly use very specific PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for the detection of the virus. Another option for rapidly detecting viruses that might be new is by having tests that, rather than detecting a specific virus, detect a family of viruses at once. They’re called consensus PCRs or pan-viral PCRs. One of those tests was a pan-coronavirus PCR, and that had been sitting in a freezer for thirteen years, only to be brought out at the start of 2020 when SARS-CoV-2 emerged, and that was the test we used to verify that we had the virus by sequencing the PCR product. ZH: I know that VIDRL was the first lab outside of China to grow SARS-CoV-2 in culture. What was the process for this, and how did this help in developing a standardised test for COVID-19? JD: My boss, Dr Mike Catton, and I had been on WHO [World Health Organisation] teleconference calls all through the preceding weeks where everyone was clamouring for someone to grow the virus. So I immediately put it up for culture on the Friday night when we detected it. This process puts a small amount of patient sample onto cells that may get infected with the virus. I came in on Sunday to check it, and thought something might be happening so put the flask of cells onto a camera that took photos every fifteen minutes. As soon as I checked this on Monday, I knew that it was growing because there was an obvious pattern in the cells that showed they were changing. In terms of having the cultured virus, it was then just a process of getting it out to other labs and collaborators. We gamma-irradiated some material and that material, which is killed, was a good positive control material for other laboratories to use to verify and validate their testing algorithms. Because at that point, there were only self-designed tests for COVID-19 in a few labs. This material was used to help validate all the labs around Melbourne and Australia as commercial tests became available to get them ready for testing. ZH: How important was genome sequencing for our contact tracers to be better able to track and trace the spread of the virus? JD: In general, roughly every two weeks the virus will generate one mutation somewhere. That mutation can be used to track the lineage – a bit like a family tree – and once that mutation goes from, say, me to you, you might get a new mutation when you pass it on to someone else. That mutation then becomes a key identifier for that strain. That really helped in tracking and tracing in the early days, to understand who was probably giving it to whom even though contact tracing can often work that out. Importantly though, at that very early stage we closed our borders to China, but we left our borders open to America and Europe. So as cases were coming in from those countries, we had to do genomic sequencing to verify what strain, or lineage if you like, with key mutations were showing up. We could then readily identify whether the samples were from Europe, America or the Ruby Princess, or from wherever there were new cases coming in. ZH: Has the increased infectivity of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 beaten contact tracers and made Australia’s “COVID zero” strategy unachievable? JD: In terms of “COVID zero”, the national pandemic plan has always been to suppress the virus and flatten the curve, and the public health aim of that is to push the volume of samples down and stretch it out along a timeline axis. You might end up with the same numbers, but it’s stretched out across a year rather than one or two months, which shatters your health system. But what we found early was that with a lot of goodwill and effort from the public, we did eliminate the virus. We didn’t necessarily expect to do that, so that was a lucky event. But with the Delta variant, it does seem that it spreads more efficiently: the calculated reproduction rate for this variant is about 3-4 or more, and about 2-3 for the original wild-type. So this makes it much harder to eliminate. ZH: I think millions of people around the country want to know the answer to this question, but when will lockdowns stop being a viable strategy for containing this virus? Does it come with increasing vaccination, or could it continue after that? JD: It very much depends on what happens as we move forward. Of course, vaccination is the pathway out of this. As more people become vaccinated and less susceptible to serious disease and death, we will slowly transform this virus into a common cold, or at least that’s what is likely to happen. But I suspect that as we open up, if it all goes badly, we may have to have some level of restrictions to mitigate transmission. Some of this is already being discussed with entry passports, and people not being allowed into pubs, theatres, or wherever else there is close confinement in a natural or urban setting, unless they’re double-dosed. ZH: In retrospect, how will we rate the response to this pandemic? Was it proportional to the dangers it posed? JD: I think that will be debated for years. Every country has done it a little bit differently, from the worst end of the scale to the best end of the scale. Australia is probably on the better end, in terms of suppressing and eliminating the virus, but we haven’t done as well with the vaccine rollout. We’re getting there now – we’re catching up – but I think, generally, Australia will be viewed favourably as having had a good response. In Australia there’s a double-edged sword with vaccination uptake because we didn’t have the carnage that other countries had.. But now that we’ve got the virus circulating again, that has prompted a greater uptake of the vaccine, which is a good thing. Outside of Australia, I imagine the World Health Organisation will do an analysis of the generalised responses of different countries: from some of the poorer performers – like America and other countries that decided to let it rip, thinking that herd immunity was the best option – to the responses of other countries, mainly severe lockdowns, who suppressed and eliminated the virus. There are still many types of parameters to look at, from economic and socioeconomic to virological and epidemiological, a lot of elements still to tease apart when this is all done. Dr Julian Druce is the head of the Virus Identification Laboratory at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, where he works with a team to detect many of the viruses that infect humans and devises new ways to detect novel viruses. We would like to thank Dr Druce for taking the time to meet with us and discuss his work.

< Back to Issue 9 Unravelling the Threads: From the Editors-in-Chief & Cover Illustrator by Ingrid Sefton, Aisyah Mohammad Sulhanuddin & Anabelle Dewi Saraswati 28 October 2025 Illustrated by Anabelle Dewi Saraswati Edited by the Editor-in-Chiefs Innovation evolves, and perhaps what once made headlines becomes embodied in ourselves and in our universe. The science that we once saw is no longer visible, yet no less integral in the ways in which it governs our world. Like the strings of a puppet, scientific principles guide us and coordinate the patterns and movements which shape our daily lives. Yet equally, science encourages us to look behind the curtain in order to unravel the forces which pull on the strings of our universe. Following these rich threads of knowledge, so often taken for granted, this issue brings to the fore and celebrates the science that keeps our world running. An introspective chat with the brain, a journey along the production line that creates our much-loved daily cup of matcha, fundamental questions about how we seek and create knowledge: Entwined seeks to make explanations explicit and start conversations about the scientific mechanisms embedded in our lives. When we take the time to focus our gaze, encourage awe at the everyday and seek reflection over reaction – that’s when we start to disentangle the science that binds us; that which keeps us Entwined . Begin your immersion in the world of Entwined with Issue 9’s Cover Illustrator, Anabelle Dewi Saraswati , as she explains the vision and rationale behind her work. “I found myself drawn to the world of Art Nouveau for these cover illustrations, captivated by the way forms seem to grow into each other, sharing meaning and life, much like the theme of ‘Entwined’ itself. There is something magical about that moment in history, where art, architecture, and science all seemed to bleed into one another, each discipline borrowing and lending, rooted in the emphasis on the beauty of nature after the coldness created by the Industrial Revolution. That sense of crossover felt like the perfect encapsulation for this issue, derived from pictorial history. The way feminine figures and flowing hair seem to melt into vines and leaves, everything tangled together in a quiet conversation. The motion and sense of growth, but also its hidden mathematical precision required to produce such beautiful curving forms. Art Nouveau captured how the artificial and natural worlds are always weaving into each other, inseparable. I wanted to draw from that imagery in a way that acknowledges its history I return to my architectural roots in structure, composition and line with my approach in building these pieces. The signage piece is fully hand-drawn and deliberate – reflecting the craft and typographic precision of the era. The collage is a layering of textures and fragments, letting ideas overlap and bleed into each other, much like memories and histories do. A way to begin the issue visually to trace the growth of worlds as they intertwine. Paying homage to the harmony between the natural and the human-made, to reflect on how we are shaped by the places we inhabit, the histories we inherit, and the stories we choose to keep alive.” Previous article Next article Entwined back to

From the Editors-in-Chief Issue 1: September 24, 2021 Images provided by the OmniSci Team Patrick Science is more than the ghostly green of life on agar, more than the dust-white scrawl on the blackboard, more than the speckled-ink sky that embraces our eggshell Earth; science is a way of viewing the world with curiosity and naked wonder. There is scholarship in science, but science has forever existed without scholarship. For many, the joy of science communication lies in reaching and nourishing the scientist within people; science communicators encourage people to see this different perspective and see it often. Likewise, the importance of science communication lies in making science accessible to all. Despite the rigor of trials, p-values, simulation, and the scientific method, there is no reason that scientific research should not reach all audiences. When populists conflate expertise with elitism, we know that we have failed to share science with the world. ‘Scientist’ is not shorthand for lab coat and goggles – it is a spark shared by every member of the human race. Felicity Our common belief in the importance of science communication continues to inform our vision and mission for OmniSci. We believe that creating a platform on which students can practice and hone their communication skills is the key to a future of responsible science communication. The skills we strive to spotlight and develop as a magazine extend not only to the written form, but to graphic art and photography, too. As a wholly student-run magazine, we aim to make our magazine accessible to readers from all skill levels and disciplines, encouraging a general interest in science from outside the field as well! Ultimately, our mission is to engage students and the general public with thoughtful, well-researched and balanced science topics, all the while providing a platform to help the science communicators of the future grow. Maya When deciding on a name for our magazine, we endeavoured to find a name that would encompass all fields of science. We decided to search for affixes derived from Latin and Greek. And what did we come across? Omnis, the Latin prefix meaning all. Of course, this perfectly suited our aspiration to be inclusive of every field of science. So we decided to combine omni and science together, finally shortening it to OmniSci; this directly led us to the theme for our first issue, “Science is Everywhere”. Every day we come across millions of phenomena that can be explained by science. For example, we would not be able to understand the amazing processes of gravitational pull and digestion without physics and chemistry, respectively. We are fortunate enough to be witnesses and beneficiaries of these amazing events. However, we are not privileged enough to understand how and why all of them occur. For our very first issue of OmniSci Magazine, we wanted to share with our readers a little more insight into the way our incredible world works. Have you ever wondered about how trees communicate with one another? Or have you ever been curious about the importance of sleep and its impact on dreams? These questions, amongst many others, will be answered in this issue, and we hope you enjoy discovering a little more, that science truly is everywhere. Sophie We couldn't conclude without acknowledging the incredible people who brought this magazine to life! Thank you to everyone who submitted photography and art for our National Science Week competition - we were stunned by the beautiful submissions, and honoured to be able to feature them in our first issue. A special thank you goes to Natalie Gibley from the University of Melbourne for her help in making the competition happen! We are especially grateful for the never-ending support, passion and enthusiasm of Dr Jen Martin. From Zoom calls and endless emails, to workshops on writing and editing, Dr Martin has been an invaluable mentor for our team, and an incredible champion for science communication among students at the University of Melbourne. Finally, thank you to our amazing writers, editors, graphics designers, social media and web development officers. We couldn't have asked for a better team of students to start on this journey with us, and we are so excited to see what we create in the future! Your editors-in-chief, Sophia, Maya, Patrick and Felicity Edited by Tanya Kovacevic

< Back to Issue 9 Living Pixels by KJ Srivastava 28 October 2025 Illustrated by Max Yang Edited by Nirali Bhagat We’ve all seen those hypnotic videos of colour-changing animals – a cuttlefish pulsing stripes across its body, a chameleon melting from green to gold, or an octopus vanishing into coral like a magician’s smoke bomb. Their skin shifts hues like it’s nothing. But how do they actually do that? Take starfish, for instance. They don’t seem to have eyes, yet somehow they “know” what their surroundings look like. Cephalopods, your octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish, go even further, creating patterns that match their environment with uncanny precision. How can they pull that off if they can’t even see any details around them? Seeing Without Eyes? A chromatophore is a specialised cell found in animals, and even some bacteria, that contains pigment or reflects light. You’ll find them across the animal kingdom: in fish, frogs, chameleons, and even in certain bacteria (yes, microbes get to have fun too). Depending on the species, chromatophores come in different flavours. Some are pigment-based, like those filled with melanin (the same as in human skin), while others use microscopic structures to bend and reflect light, acting like natural nanotech (1). Under white light, chromatophores are often classified by the colour they show off – red, brown, blue, green, and the iridescent in-betweens. In vertebrates like fish and reptiles, these cells sit in neat layers under the skin, filtering and bouncing light to produce a kaleidoscope of shades. Chromatophores 101: Nature’s Colour Cells In creatures like octopuses and cuttlefish, chromatophores are tiny, elastic sacs filled with pigment. These sacs are surrounded by radial muscle fibres which are wired to the nervous system. When the animal wants to display a colour, it sends a signal that contracts those muscles, pulling the pigment sac open like an umbrella. The expanded pigment becomes visible on the surface. Relax the muscle and the sac snaps shut – colour gone! So instead of pigment just sitting there passively, the cephalopod is actively controlling its skin colour with muscle contractions, at speeds fast enough to create those mesmerising rippling patterns. All these changes are actively, neurally controlled; they're not automatic like blushing. They're often voluntary, and dynamic, responding to things like light, mood, temperature, and stress (2). In fact, cephalopod chromatophores are sensitive to direct electrical stimulation. One study found that when researchers applied oscillating electrical patterns to the squid Sepioteuthis lessonia, the pigment sacs expanded and contracted in synchronised, wave-like patterns under 1.5Hz; essentially, we can rhythmically ‘play’ these cells like an instrument! (1) Chromatophores in vertebrates work a bit differently. Instead of opening and closing sacs, the pigment inside the cell moves around, spreading out when the colour needs to be more visible, clustering together when it doesn't. Still responsive, still cool, just a little less… flashy. Layers, Pigments, and Light Tricks Here’s where things get really interesting. Chromatophores aren’t all for show. They’re sensitive to light, chemistry, and electrical signals, which makes them incredibly valuable for science and technology! Some fish chromatophores, for example, visibly change colour in the presence of toxins like cholera and pertussis. They detect these threats in real time, with the colour change varying with concentration, meaning you can even tell how much of a toxin is there, not just whether it is present (3). That makes them powerful candidates for biosensors, living tools that can monitor environmental or biological conditions. Why is it a big deal? Unlike traditional sensors made of synthetic materials or inert components, chromatophore-based systems are made of living cells. They keep reacting, adapting, and functioning over time, giving them an edge in sensitivity, flexibility, and longevity (2). While chromatophores already act as living, colour-changing pixels, researchers are exploring how to use them in adaptive camouflage technologies. Imagine a bandage that shifts colour when it detects infection, the moment bacteria start to grow, not just after the infection has spread. Or ocean sensors that monitor salinity and pollution, while blending seamlessly into coral reefs so as not to disturb marine life. All of these possibilities are made an achievable reality by these remarkable sacs of pigment! These amazing cells offer a glimpse at what happens when evolution builds something both beautiful and functional. Next time you see a chameleon vanish into a leaf, or an octopus ripple with light like a living mood ring, take a second to think about what’s really going on under the surface. Behind every colour shift is a tiny symphony of biology and physics, all working together in real time. And the best part? It’s still magic. It doesn't stop being magic when we figure out how it works! References Lei Y, Chen W, Mulchandani A. Microbial biosensors. Analytica chimica acta . 2006;568(1-2):200-10. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2005.11.065 Tan L, Schirmer K. Cell culture-based biosensing techniques for detecting toxicity in water. Current opinion in biotechnology . 2017;45:59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.11.026 Plant TK, Chaplen FW, Jovanovic G, Kolodziej W, Trempy JE, Willard C, Liburdy JA, Pence DV, Paul BK. Sensitive-cell-based fish chromatophore biosensor. InBiomedical Vibrational Spectroscopy and Biohazard Detection Technologies 2004;5321;265-274. doi: 10.1117/12.528093 Kim T, Bower DQ, Deravi LF. Cephalopod chromatophores contain photosensitizing nanostructures that may facilitate light sensing and signaling in the skin. Journal of Materials Chemistry C . 2025;13(3):1138-45. doi: 10.1039/D4TC04333B Previous article Next article Entwined back to

< Back to Issue 4 Fool Me Once by Julia Lockerd 1 July 2023 Edited by Tanya Kovacevic and Elijah McEvoy Illustrated by Sonia Santosa I have rabies. I’m absolutely sure of it. I mean, I can't really tell, but that’s the silent killer, right? You don’t know you’re rabid till it’s all over, and you’re foaming at the mouth and biting your student tutor on the leg. Despite being completely safe here in Australia with its complete lack of rabies-having animals, I’m still pretty sure I’ve managed to catch it. Next week it will all be over for me and my tutor. Sorry, James. Of course, it’s not actually rabies that I’ve contracted, but a much more common condition: Medical Student Syndrome (1). Last week in my lectures, we learned all the ins, outs, and symptoms of the rabies virus. So, naturally, now we all have it. This health-related anxiety is a prime example of how our human brains can trick us into experiencing phantom symptoms. The same cognitive veil is used in clinical trials all over the world in order to test the efficacy of new drugs. We’ve all felt it. That moment when you question, ‘Is this real, or is my mind making its reality?’ We call this the placebo effect. The placebo effect is crucial to modern and historical experimental design. The ‘trickable’ nature of the human mind has changed the course of drug development as we know it. The effects’ success hinges on a patient's belief that they are receiving treatment for their ailment. The simple belief in a cure can often result in real physiological changes in an individual. This makes the placebo effect a very powerful tool in the development of new drugs for the market. In a placebo-controlled trial, half of the sample population will be blindly given a placebo, and the other half of the drug being tested. In order for a potential treatment to be considered effective, it must produce more significant results than the placebo group (2). We must improve our approach to designing and researching hypotheses. Can we use what we know about the placebo effect to make more accurate claims about modern pharmaceutical development? Well, in 2017, Dr. Sara Vanbheim of the Arctic University of Norway published a study that brought into consideration the possible effects of differing sexual characteristics on placebo efficacy (3). This idea could restructure the way experiments are designed going forward and potentially provoke a possible review of drugs already on the market. Is it possible that traditionally marginalised groups are underrepresented in the clinical trial process? Can we restructure experiments to be more inclusive? Are changes even really necessary? These questions were investigated through the compilation and calculation of placebo and nocebo effects on men and women over multiple previously conducted studies mostly centering around physical pain and the administration of analgesia. The term ‘nocebo’ defines the antithesis of a placebo (4), referring to adverse side effects a subject feels when given an inert version of the test drug. While placebos tend to have an analgesic effect, nocebos often cause negative effects or emotions when the subjects are told that they should expect/anticipate them. Before discussing any of these questions, it is worth noting that the Norwegian study focuses solely on classic sexual differences between cis-gender men and women. Though both keywords ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ were included in the study, research surrounding the specific effects of gender identity and gender-affirming therapies on placebos has not been thoroughly conducted as of 2023. It is with this focus that the following hypotheses are stated (3): “1) placebo responses would be stronger or more frequently observed in males than in females, 2) nocebo responses would be stronger or more frequently observed in females than in males, 3) verbally induced placebo responses would be more frequently observed in males than in females, and 4) conditioned nocebo responses would be more frequently observed in females than in males.” Results concluded that there was indeed a significant correlation between sex and placebo/nocebo effects when concerning pain relief. But what is truly fascinating is that while men received elevated levels of a placebo effect, such as reduced symptoms and analgesia, women were more susceptible to hyperalgesia and negative emotions. Those supposed ‘side effects’ appear to weigh more heavily on women (3). What does this say about how men and women process pain and information? The Norwegian study discusses the role of ‘psychophysiological mechanisms’ in pain pathways. Or, more simply, How stress and anxiety can affect the pain the brain perceives. In 8 of the 12 studies, men experienced significantly stronger analgesic effects from the placebo than women (3). It is plausible that men react more strongly to pain induced by stress hormones. This would explain why when taking a placebo, their anxiety level would decrease, and they would receive higher levels of analgesia than their female counterparts (3). Another study, upon which the Norwegian argument builds, investigates placebo delivery methods and their effect on perceived pain in men and women. In this study, men relied far more on verbal queues to provide analgesia, whereas women received a more significant effect from classic conditioning (5). These studies bring into question both the methodological and physiological effects of placebos on different sexes. What do these differences tell us about how men and women perceive the world? And what does this mean for the future of the placebo? The result of all of these studies is to show not whether placebos are bad or good, reliable or unreliable, but instead to highlight the differences in the physiological and psychological links when looking at different groups of people. At its core, a placebo is simply a trick of the brain, a psychological mirage. While the basis and reliability of placebos can be debated at length, their effect on the human brain teaches us something about ourselves societally. In all areas of medicine, the inclusion of people from all different backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and ages is crucial so professionals know how to identify and treat various manifestations of a disease with grace and care. Now I know James responds better to verbal commands; I’ll be sure to tell him he has rabies the next time I see him. References Henning Schumann J. I contracted medical student syndrome. You probably will too. [Internet]. AAMC. [cited 2023 Jun 22]. Available from: https://www.aamc.org/news/i-contracted-medical-student-syndrome-you-probably-will-too Harvard Health Publishing. The power of the placebo effect - Harvard Health [Internet]. Harvard Health. Harvard Health; 2021. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect Vambheim S, Flaten MA. A systematic review of sex differences in the placebo and the nocebo effect. Journal of Pain Research. 2017 Jul;Volume 10:1831–9. National Cancer Institute NCI. Definition of nocebo effects [Internet]. www.cancer.gov . 2011. Available from: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/nocebo-effect Enck P, Klosterhalfen S. Does Sex/Gender Play a Role in Placebo and Nocebo Effects? Conflicting Evidence From Clinical Trials and Experimental Studies. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2019 Mar 4;13. 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< Back to Issue 7 Interstellar Overdrive: Secrets of our Distant Universe by Sarah Ibrahimi 22 October 2024 edited by Hendrick Lin illustrated by Amanda Agustinus “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known” - Carl Sagan Humanity's innate curiosity and desire of uncovering the unknown has been the spark for mankind's explorations since the beginning of time. From Columbus' expedition across the Atlantic to discover the New World, to Armstrong's first steps on the Moon's surface, we have experienced technological advancement at a lightning pace over the course of human history. Perhaps the most enthralling of these advances has been the scientific quest to unveil the true nature of our universe - the stars, the planets and the beings that exist within it and far beyond. And now, a novel and revolutionary tool has been developed to deepen our understanding of the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) developed by NASA is the largest of its kind to ever be placed in space. Launched on Christmas Day in 2021 on board the Ariane 5 rocket, it travelled 1.5 million kilometres equipped with various high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing scientists the ability to capture detailed infrared astronomical images of our old and distant universe (NASA, 2022a). In a matter of less than a year, the deepest infrared image known to mankind was produced. Named Webb's First Deep Field, it was unveiled by U.S. President Joe Biden on June 11th, 2022 at the White House, encapsulating never-before-seen perspectives of our universe. With this revelation, a new gateway has been opened into answering the countless questions of the early universe pondered by astrophysicists and the public alike. Confronting viewers with an array of contrasting colours and eccentric shapes, Webb’s First Deep Field can be hard to interpret ( figure 1 ). Figure 1. Webb’s First Deep Field: SMACS 07223 Note. From/Adapted from Webb’s First Deep Field: SMACS 07223 [photo] by James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, 2022b. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/035/01G7DCWB7137MYJ05CSH1Q5Z1Z?page=1&keyword=smac Copyright 2022, NASA. But with a careful eye and some clever detective work, we can begin to decipher the secrets contained within. For example, the bright lights depicting what appear to be stars are rather entire galaxies, each a gateway to billions of stars. In addition, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) is able to capture distant galaxies with the sharpest focus to date, unravelling important features from their faint complexities. Appreciation for this image increases exponentially once we begin to comprehend the magnitude of its importance - it depicts the galaxy cluster, SMACS 0723, exactly as it looked 4.6 billion years ago! In other words, this image is a glimpse back to a time well before humans or any life forms existed. Amongst the myriad of initial images produced by JWST, one particular point of interest would be the Southern Ring Nebula illustrating the dying NGC 3132 star ( figure 2 ). This can be seen through the expulsion of its gases and outer layers, producing striking imagery through Webb’s NIRCam. Viewers may also notice the bright lights representing individual galaxies in the nebula's background - again, not to be mistaken as stars. JWST’s ability to capture such a pivotal point in the trajectory of a star's life is crucial in assisting scientists to calculate the volumes of gas and dust present, as well as their unique molecular compositions. Figure 2. Southern Ring Nebula captured by JWST Note. From/Adapted from Southern Ring Nebula [photo] by James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, 2022c. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/033/01G70BGTSYBHS69T7K3N3ASSEB Copyright 2022, NASA. The efforts to produce such groundbreaking images and insights into the universe did not happen overnight. The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was an important predecessor to the JWST. Whether it was confirming the existence of black holes, or the Nobel Prize winning discovery demonstrating the accelerating rate of expansion of the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope laid the foundations for the JWST to flourish. These marvellations revealed by the JWST would also not be possible without the efforts of countless scientists to improve the technological potential of the Hubble Telescope. As a result of these developments, JWST contains a larger primary mirror, deeper infrared vision, and is optimised for longer ultraviolet and visible wavelengths, all with the aim to increase the telescope’s ability to capture profound images of our universe. Nonetheless, a number of hypotheses relevant to matters such as dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics remain unanswered. As a next step forward, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is set to launch in 2027 with the capacity to produce a panoramic view two hundred times greater than the infrared view generated by Hubble and JWST. The questions that continue to itch our minds remain limitless. As Einstein once lamented, "the more I learn, the more I realise how much I don't know”. There is still so much that remains to be discovered. However, the JWST illustrates that through collaborative scientific efforts, humankind can begin to unravel the many mysteries that govern our universe, one galaxy at a time. References NASAa. (2022, July 12). NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe yet. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-webb-delivers-deepest-infrared-image-of-universe-yet/ NASAb. (2022, July 11). Webb’s First Deep Field . Webb Space Telescope. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/035/01G7DCWB7137MYJ05CSH1Q5Z1Z?page=1&keyword=smac NASAc. (2022, July 11). Southern Ring Nebula. Webb Space Telescope. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/033/01G70BGTSYBHS69T7K3N3ASSEB Previous article Next article apex back to

By Juulke Castelijn < Back to Issue 3 Believing in aliens... A science? By Juulke Castelijn 10 September 2022 Edited by Tanya Kovacevic and Ashleigh Hallinan Illustrated by Quynh Anh Nguyen Next The question of the existence of ‘intelligent life forms’ on a planet other than ours has always been one of belief. And I did not believe. It was probably the image of a green blob with multiple arms and eyes squelching across the ground and emitting noises unidentifiable as any form of language which turned me off the whole idea. But a book I read one day completely changed my mind; it wasn’t about space at all, but about evolution. ‘Science in the Soul’ is a collection of works written by the inimitable Richard Dawkins, a man who has argued on behalf of evolutionary theory for decades. Within its pages, you will find essays, articles and speeches from throughout his career, all with the target of inspiring deep rational thought in the field of science. A single essay gives enough food for thought to last the mind many days, but the ease and magnificence of Dawkin’s prose encourages the devourment of many pages in a single sitting. The reader becomes engulfed in scientific argument, quickly and completely. Dawkins shows the fundamental importance of the proper understanding of evolution as not just critical to biology, but society at large. Take, for instance, ‘Speaking up for science: An open letter to Prince Charles,’ in which he argues against the modelling of agricultural practices on natural processes as a way of combating climate change. Even if agriculture could be in itself a natural practice (it can’t), nature, Dawkins argues, is a terrible model for longevity. Instead, nature is ‘a short-term Darwinian profiteer’. Here he refers to the mechanism of natural selection, where offspring have an increased likelihood of carrying the traits which favoured their parents’ survival. Natural selection is a reflective process. At a population level, it highlights those genetic traits that increased chances of survival in the past. There is no guarantee those traits will benefit the current generation at all, let alone future generations. Instead, Dawkins argues, science is the method by which new solutions to climate change are found. Whilst we cannot see the future, a rational application of a wealth of knowledge gives us a far more sensitive approach than crude nature. Well, perhaps not crude per se. If anyone is an advocate for the beauty and complexity of natural life, it is surely Dawkins. But a true representation of nature, he argues, rests on the appreciation of evolution as a blinded process, with no aim or ambition, and certainly no pre-planned design. With this stance, Dawkins directly opposes Creationism as an explanation of how the world emerged, a battle from which he does not shy away. Evolution is often painted as a theory in which things develop by chance, randomly. When you consider the complexity of a thing such as the eye, no wonder people prefer to believe in an intelligent designer, like a god, instead. But evolution is not dependent on chance at all, a fact Dawkins argues many times throughout his collection. There is nothing random about the body parts that make up modern humans, or any other living thing - they have been passed down from generation to generation because they enhanced our ancestors’ survival. The underlying logic is unrivalled, including by religion. But that doesn’t mean Dawkins is not a man of belief. Dawkins believes in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and for one reason above all: given the billions upon billions of planets in our universe, the chance of our own evolution would have to be exceedingly small if there was no other life out there. In other words, we believe there is life out there because we do not believe our own evolution to be so rare as to only occur once. Admittedly, it is not a new argument but it had not clicked for me before. Perhaps it was Dawkins’ poetic phrasing. At this stage it is a belief, underlined by a big ‘if’. How could we ever know if there are intelligent life forms on a planet other than Earth? Dawkins provides an answer here too. You probably won’t be surprised that the answer is science, specifically a knowledge of evolution. We do not have to discover life itself, only a sign of something that marks intelligence - a machine or language, say. Evolution remains our only plausible theory of how such a thing could be created, because it can explain the formation of an intelligent being capable of designing such things. We become the supporting evidence of life somewhere else in the universe. That’s satisfying enough for me. Previous article Next article alien back to

By Hazel Theophania < Back to Issue 3 Existing in an Alien World: Navigating Neurodiversity in a System Built for Someone Else By Hazel Theophania 10 September 2022 Edited by Breana Galea and Ruby Dempsey Illustrated by Janna Dingle Next Content warnings: Ableism, mental illness. Have you ever read something that just makes everything click into place? For me, it was that autism is characterised by a difficulty in forming and understanding ‘second-order representations’1. Let me explain: A ‘first order representation’ is the face value, the direct interpretation of an object or event. A ‘second order representation’ is the underlying meaning, the non-literal association with an object or event. Autistic people struggle with the latter. Allistic (non-autistic) people don’t, and for them it’s intrinsic in a large part of communication – nonverbal cues and gestures, sarcasm, undertones, passive aggression, politeness and more complex events like communication of social hierarchy all take place beneath the veneer of explicit communication. They rely on the ability to interpret another’s actions based on extrapolating their perspective. Rather than being automatic for autistic people, doing so is a learned, active behaviour, and one that is taxing to maintain and use. Reading this explanation was epiphanous for me for two reasons: it concisely explained why I and other autistic people I knew had such trouble navigating and communicating in social interactions, and it clarified why conflict and miscommunication arose so frequently. It contextualised and validated the way I experience and understand the world. Autistic communication is direct, predominantly using first order representation. It doesn’t soften effect or hide meaning with subtext; conversely it has difficulty picking up on inference and implication from others. So many times I have answered questions or followed instructions ‘incorrectly’, because I’ve addressed the words and not the implied meaning underneath. Much of boundary setting and emotional communication in social relationships is implicit - are they ‘acting’ interested? Does it ‘feel’ like they are reciprocating? Can you ‘tell’ that they want to be friends? - inability and difficulty in reading those complex second order representations makes navigating those situations painful and confusing. These struggles and anxieties make it much harder for autistic individuals to make and maintain friendships (3). Sedgewick and Pellicano (3) found that both autistic girls and boys report weaker friendships with more conflict than their neurotypical peers. They experience more victimisation, autistic girls especially, from bullying and other relational aggression, and experience far more insecurity around their friendships. The authors identify “both autistic and neurotypical girls alluded to wanting to fit in, but in different ways.” The neurotypical girls in the study were more concerned with securing a place in the social hierarchy – appearing cool and fitting in with the popular crowd - whether through dating or other means. For the autistic girls it was about finding people who actually accepted them as themselves; fitting in was not about adhering to social expectations, but about finding friends where they didn’t have to. Bury and Hedley (5) found much the same issues in analysing the problems autistic people face in the workplace. While the work itself was no more trouble for autistic individuals than their neurotypical counterparts, navigating the social aspects of a workplace drastically increased the stress and drain on autistic employees. Issues can arise from relative trivialities like dealing with food or birthday wishes, up to serious conflicts that jeopardise their employment. The same communication and relational issues that lead to autistic individuals struggling socially can have more serious consequences when the miscommunication and conflict arise when interacting with an authority, such as a boss or supervisor. Problems stem from unclear instructions, not adhering to unwritten or unspoken rules (social and otherwise), interrupting and socialising at wrong times – everything that relies on being able to determine and pick up on implicit communication. In other words, being autistic has career consequences. Now, having anxiety or depression aren’t intrinsic to being autistic (6). They’re not part of the same dysfunction in development. However, something about being expected to negotiate a minefield of implicit communication that others grasp intuitively leads to an extreme coincidence of autism with both anxiety and depression. The social ostracism and punishment for violating rules you’ve never been taught casts a slight shadow over every interaction. The starkly increased incidences of bullying and victimisation autistic youth go through may also contribute to mental illness. Mayes, Murray and their team7 write: “It is quite possible that youth with ASD (youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ) face considerable challenges during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Social difficulties and awareness of being different from others, especially during the teen years, may lead to problems with anxiety, depression, or hostility.” They reported anxiety in autistic children ranging from 67% to 79% depending on the severity of their traits, and depression affecting between 42% and 54% likewise – in comparison to anxiety occurring in 8% of children and adolescents8 and depression in 5% of children, 17% of adolescents13, and 5% of adults12 overall. Similar figures are reported by Susan White and her colleagues in their meta-analysis “Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders”. The social deficits autistic individuals endure lead to social anxiety by increasing the likelihood of negative interactions9 and then that anxiety makes interaction with others more difficult, perpetuating the cycle. It’s clear there’s an issue here. Despite no biological link, autistic people suffer far greater rates of depression and anxiety than their neurotypical counterparts. They find friendships more taxing, worrying, and less fulfilling due to impossible unrealistic expectations of allistic communication and understanding. They’re far more likely to be the target of bullying and victimisation than their neurotypical counterparts. Autistic adults suffer in their careers and employment due to a lack of accommodation and recognition. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Growing up neurodivergent shouldn’t be traumatic. Existing as an autistic person shouldn’t be fraught with conflict. I don’t know how we will get to that point. It feels like there are a hundred facets to the issue, each their own problem and needing their own solution. That being said, all solutions need to stem from an understanding of autism and autistic individuals. So, what does it mean to be autistic and how can we navigate those communicative differences? The social aspect of autism arises from a deficit in ‘Theory of Mind’, which is the capacity to interpret and conceptualise another’s thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and intentions (1, 2, 9, 10). Second order representations are the events in which Theory of Mind is used to interpret their meaning – and so a disorder in Theory of Mind development affects the ability of an individual to use and understand those second order representations. Essentially: autistic individuals struggle to interpret and conceptualise other people’s thoughts, beliefs, emotions and intentions. What does that mean for communication? As mentioned earlier, it leads to this a twofold miscommunication between autistic and allistic people, where autistic people don’t see meaning where it is, and allistic people see meaning where it isn’t. This is known as the ‘double empathy problem’ (2). But it isn’t just a communication deficit on the part of the autistic person – the disconnect is due to two entirely different communication styles. Allistic people use second order representations readily and frequently. They’re able to infer other’s perspectives with ease and conversation is based around these assumptions. Gestures, body language and inference are used to convey meaning and assess receptiveness. If the wrong assumptions are made, it can lead to ‘fragmenting’, where there is a cost to getting it wrong and the conversation is disrupted (2). It may not be relationship-damaging every time, but people do pick up on misread cues or intentions and often the only indication a mistake has been made is given through those same implicit communications. The creation of a shared understanding is known as ‘intersubjectivity’ (1, 2). Allistic intersubjectivity is managed through these second order representations, where the shared understanding is outlined and defined implicitly. Autistic people don’t have the same ability to interpret second order representations, so rather than probing or assessing what others have in common, they essentially have to guess. As a result, autistic people can seem appear egotistical or self-interested (2) when they spontaneously talk about an interest of theirs, or suddenly change the topic of conversation. In actuality, they’re trying to find common ground. Because finding that initial mutuality is harder, autistic individuals also place far less of a social cost on getting it wrong (2) and so while intersubjectivity may be harder to initially reach, there’s far less penalty for trying and failing. If these bids for connection are reciprocated, it can creates a “rich intersubjective space for shared understanding” (2). These two elements of autistic communication come together to form a coherent communication style. Heasman writes “The generous assumption of common ground and the low demand for coordination are more than two isolated features; they potentially fit together into a functional system that allows rich forms of social relating” (2). The autistic communication style only appears to be dysfunctional when “[placed] against the cultural backdrop of neurotypical norms and expectations” (2). Another way to look at that is that autistic people don’t need ‘extra’ accommodation or compensation compared to allistic people – allistic people just have all their needs already met. They’re already accommodated for, but it’s such a cultural norm that it’s not even perceived as being so. A metaphor for the two types of communication is that of an allistic person and an autistic person trying to set up fishing rods along a river. The allistic person knows where the fish are - perhaps from reading the movement of the water - and sets up all their poles in that spot. The autistic fisherperson has no such information and sets up their rods all up and down the river to try to find themwhere the fish are. Once they’ve got a few bites and know where the fish are, great! They can move all their rods and set up in whatever spot they’ve found. They just don’t have the same ability to determine where to set up in the first place. They’re not any worse at fishing (i.e., communicating) – they just have trouble knowing where to start. Autism is only a disability in an environment that doesn’t support it. As Bury noted, the only deficits in the workplace are from a lack of social accommodation – autistic individuals don’t struggle with the work itself. In fact, both Bury and Hurley-Hanson and her co-authors report that autistic individuals perform better in a multitude of areas: they have greater problem-solving, pattern-recognition and decision-making skills and a greater tolerance for repetition (5, 11). And that’s great! It’s wonderful to be recognised for the talents you have and the effort you put in. But it shouldn’t have to be justified that autistic people deserve employment and equitable treatment. It’s depressing to have your life and experience boiled down to your marketability and employability. But there is still a disconnect between autistic and allistic people. The perception of autistic people as defective rather than different prevents the integration and acceptance of autistic people into the social space and workforce. To work towards an autism-friendly society, education and awareness of the ways communication and understanding differ in neurodivergent individuals need to be ubiquitous. The hardships autistic people face aren’t because we’re autistic – they’re because everyone else isn’t. Instead of us continuing to assimilate to an allistic worldview, perhaps it’s time to meet us halfway and learn how we operate instead. References Frith, U. (1989) A new look at language and communication in autism. Heasman, B. (2018) Neurodivergent intersubjectivity: Distinctive features of how autistic people create shared understanding. Sedgewick, F., Pellicano, E., (2018) ‘It’s different for girls’: Gender differences in the friendships and conflict of autistic and neurotypical adolescents. Happé, F., Leslie, A. (1989) Autism and ostensive communication: The relevance of metarepresentation Bury, S. et al. (2020) Workplace Social Challenges Experienced by Employees on the Autism Spectrum: An International Exploratory Study Examining Employee and Supervisor Perspectives White, W. et al. (2009) “Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.” Mayes, S.D., Calhoun, S.L., Murray, M.J. et al. (2011) Variables Associated with Anxiety and Depression in Children with Autism. Bernstein, G. A., & Borchardt, C. M. (1991). Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence: A critical review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Bellini, S. (2004) Social Skill Deficits and Anxiety in High-Functioning Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. Brewer, N, Young, RL & Barnett, E 2017, ‘Measuring Theory of Mind in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder’ Hurley-Hanson, A. (2020) ‘Autism in the Workplace’, Palgrave Macmillan Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) Selph, S. (2019) Depression in Children and Adolescents: Evaluation and Treatment Previous article Next article alien back to

Curious what an OmniSci Editor-in-Chief actually does? We spoke to Rachel about drawing anatomy, interviewing a med student hero, and helping build the the science communication universe! Rachel is a writer and Editor-in-Chief at OmniSci, now in her first year of the Doctor of Medicine. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is writing an interview with science communicator, Dr Karen Freilich. Meet OmniSci Writer and Committee Member Rachel Ko Rachel is a writer and Editor-in-Chief at OmniSci, now in her first year of the Doctor of Medicine. For Issue 4: Mirage, she is writing an interview with science communicator, Dr Karen Freilich. interviewed by Caitlin Kane What are you studying? I am currently studying a Doctor of Medicine and I’m in my first year. Before that, I was studying a Bachelor of Biomed. What first got you interested in science? Exposure through education, stuff I’d studied in school. It sparked interests outside of school and I realised it was something that I wanted to pursue as a career. Something that really reinforced my love for science was doing a major in human structure and function, so anatomy. I really enjoyed that I could weave it in with my other passions in things like art and drawing and painting. I was able to look at science in a way that was really the artsy side of science. It's something I’ve tried to pursue with OmniSci as well. Do you have any advice for younger students? Don’t be afraid of trying all areas of science. Because I loved a specific area of science so much, I wanted to make sure that was what reeled me in as compared to other things. I tried a bunch of research projects, some of them I didn’t really love and I had to stick it out to the end, but then I could tick that off my list as having done that, and never have to do it again. But then I did another project which was 3D modelling a bone. It was just me sitting there for hours with a pen, drawing the bone in 3D space, which was very much up my alley. Don’t be afraid of trying everything, even if it feels like a waste of time in the moment. It isn't, it’s the process of filtering out and finding out what you love. And I’m still in that process. I have no idea what kind of medicine I want to go into, but I’m going by process of elimination and finding where I fit in the realm of science in that way. How did you get involved with OmniSci? Like I said, I like the artsy side of science. I actually sought out a few non-science related magazines at uni. I’ve always been into journalism and I love writing as well, so it made sense for me to look into that in my undergrad years. OmniSci emerged during those undergrad years and I thought, “Perfect!” I was a columnist first and I started doing some illustrations as well. Then I dropped my role at Farrago completely just to concentrate on this because I found it was a really nice intersection of what I love to do. My column was about vestigial features, like useless body parts, which I thought would be a fun, light column–I just wanted something cute and fun. So I started that, and now… I’m in the committee. What is your role at OmniSci? I am an Editor-in-Chief at the moment, and I have also written one of the pieces for Issue 4, purely because of my love for writing and contributing. I might step in as an illustrator at some point… I’m hoping in this break I can sit down and draw a little more than I used to. As Editors-in-Chief, we work with the committee to coordinate the things being published and try to envision what role OmniSci plays within the science communication universe. And whilst figuring out what we’re publishing and putting out to the world, we’re also trying to include the rest of the student community. We also have social events so that we can share our love for…whether it’s science or art or writing… any of the parts that OmniSci encompasses. We're there to keep everything chugging along!. What is your favourite thing about contributing at OmniSci so far? The people that you meet along the way. I do eventually want to pursue science communication myself, alongside medicine. I don’t know what that will look like, but I know that the people who will be involved in that space are the people you meet at the moment. Even with the committee, chatting about things and discussing interests has been super enlightening. When you expand that to the rest of the OmniSci community, I think it’s super super rewarding. Also seeing something tangible come out of it all… I just love seeing the magazine come together. When we printed it—though not ideal for the environment for every issue—to have the paper magazine in our hands from last year was super rewarding to see. Can you give us a sneak peak of what you're working on this issue? Well as Editor-in-Chief, the whole issue is kind of our collective baby! Personally I interviewed Dr Karen Freilich, a GP specialising in sexual health and working in education as well. I was lucky enough to have her as one of my sexual health elective tutors. She also started a podcast when she was in medical school called Humerus Hacks. It is basically super famous within the med student community. It sounds like such a simple thing, but just to hear her and the friend she started the podcast with talk things through and make things entertaining… it was such a fresh way of getting the information out. It’s kind of what we do at OmniSci: make science more accessible to people who might feel intimidated by those bigger, wider topics that they might never have ventured into. And the whole point of a magazine is to get information out to more people, and to spark interest, and show people that these things exist. As a med student, I kind of came across it as naturally as you could have. And as she was my tutor, I thought it was such an important opportunity to talk to her about why she did it and where she sees science communication going. What do you like doing in your spare time (when you're not contributing at OmniSci)? Well, there’s the anatomical art. I haven’t had a lot of time to do that… and I’ve been really wanting to try and incorporate it into my study but I spend a lot of time on one painting so it wouldn’t have been time efficient. But my plan for this break is to go to a bar, get myself a drink and just paint on my own… relax in that way. Otherwise, I play the violin, something I like to destress. It’s actually been a surprisingly big part of my life in med because there's a medical student orchestra. The rehearsals are quite long but it’s actually quite worth it to be sitting there not thinking about medicine. And yeah, just catching up with friends, going cafe hopping, bar hopping, that’s what I like to spend time doing. Which chemical element would you name your firstborn child (or pet) after? Let me pull up a visual aid. I actually don’t mind chemistry, but after year twelve I’ve kind of put a line between myself and it. Have you seen that trend online where people are pulling up words that would be really pretty baby names if they didn’t mean what they meant? Ooh, I’m going to go with Livermorium, Liv for short. Element 160. There’s some good ones—you could go Rutherfordium, Ruth for short. Read Rachel's articles Silent Conversations: How Trees Talk to One Another Wiggling Ears Our Microbial Frenemies Hiccups The Evolution of Science Communication Law and Disorder: Medically Supervised Injection Centres “Blink and you’ll miss it”: A Third Eyelid? Mighty Microscopic Warriors!

The Greenhouse Unpacking the Latest IPCC Report - What Climate Science is Telling Us By Sonia Truong The most comprehensive climate science report to date, this sixth assessment report reveals the reality of climate change and stresses that we need to take action urgently. Edited by Jessica Nguy & Yen Sim Issue 1: September 24, 2021 Illustration by Jess Nguyen On the 9th of August 2021, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its first instalment of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report from Working Group I, Climate Change 2021 — The Physical Science Basis of Climate Change. The IPCC is one of the world’s leading authorities on climate change and its reports provide an important scientific framework for governments to develop climate policies. With the collaborative effort of 234 leading climate scientists and more than 1,000 contributors, the latest IPCC report provides the most up-to-date information about the scientific basis of climate change and the effects of human activity on Earth’s systems. The report can be found online — it features a ‘Summary for Policymakers’ document exploring key findings across four topic areas as well as a comprehensive ‘Full Report’ which assesses and compiles peer-reviewed literature on climate science from across the globe. The report also features the IPCC WGI Interactive Atlas which explores observed and projected regional climate changes across different emissions and warming scenarios. Three key takeaways from the IPCC report are described below. #1: Human activity has contributed to climate change It in unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Headline statement from the IPCC’s ‘Summary for Policymakers’, AR6 2021 Advancements in attribution studies have allowed scientists to better simulate Earth’s responses to natural and anthropogenic factors and estimate the extent of human influence on observed climate trends. For the first time, the IPCC report has been able to state with a very high level of certainty that anthropogenic factors have been the main driver of increasing temperature extremes since the mid-19th century. Figure SPM.1 shows that simulated natural factors do not come close to explaining the observed increase in global surface temperature since the mid-19th century. Figure SPM.1: A powerful comparison of changes in global surface temperature since 1850 with and without human factors. This figure shows that the effects of natural climate drivers on global warming have been negligible compared to human influence on the climate. IPCC AR6, ‘Summary for Policymakers’ Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are higher than what they have been in the last two millennia and have been increasing at an unprecedented rate, mainly due to human activities in greenhouse gas combustion and deforestation. According to the report, greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have caused warming of approximately 1.1°C above pre-industrial average. In fact, human activities have caused enough emissions for even greater warming, but this has been partially counteracted by the cooling effect of aerosols in the atmosphere. Some recent heat extremes would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human forcing factors. Siberia’s prolonged heatwaves of 2020, for example, would have occurred less than once every 80,000 years without human-induced climate change. Moreover, the onset of Siberia’s wildfire season saw record-high temperatures throughout 2020 and 2021 as well as the burning of over 16 million hectares of land. Even in today’s climate, such extreme weather events are unlikely, but have been predicted to become more frequent by the end of this century. #2: Every region will experience environmental changes due to climate change The IPCC report states that the “widespread, rapid and intensifying” effects of climate change will be experienced by every region in a multitude of ways. Since the release of the last IPCC report in 2018, the world has observed an increase in acute weather events such as widespread flooding, storms, drought, fire weather and heatwaves. These are predicted to increase in frequency and severity as a result of human-induced climate change. Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming. They include increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions, and proportion of intense tropical cyclones, as well as reductions in Arctic sea ice, snow cover and permafrost. B.2 from the IPCC’s ‘Summary for Policymakers’, AR6 2021 Several environmental changes due to climate change are already irreversible. Notably, global sea level rise and ocean acidification are set in long-term motion and will proceed at rates which will depend on future emissions. Glacial retreat is occurring synchronously across the world and glaciers will continue to melt for decades or centuries. All emission scenarios within the 21st century described in the report have revealed that global temperature changes will exceed a 1.5ºC increase, even in the lowest emissions scenario (SSP1-1.9). Thus, warming will reach a critical level regardless of actions that the world takes now. We can, however, prevent further temperature increases with deep reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions (especially carbon dioxide and methane). Figure SPM.5: All regions of the world (with one exception) will experience warming as a result of climate change, although not at an equal level. IPCC AR6, ‘Summary for policymakers’ Environmental changes at a 2ºC warming will be more pronounced and widespread, and extremes are likely to exceed critical tolerance thresholds in human health, ecological systems and agriculture. Australia, in particular, is vulnerable to experiencing scarce water resources in drought-prone areas and flooding and landslide events due to heavy rainfall events. Australia’s coastlines are also prone to erosion and flooding from rising sea levels and extreme meteorological events. The IPCC report examines evidence for climate ‘tipping points’ which, due to uncertainty about the Earth’s feedback systems, “cannot be ruled out” in climate projections. These tipping points are key thresholds that will lead to large-scale and irreversible damages to the Earth’s systems if breached. One of these tipping points is the loss of the Greenland ice sheet which is melting at an unprecedented rate. Surface melt of this major ice sheet involves a number of positive feedback loops which exacerbate the melting as the ice surface gets darker and less reflective of solar radiation. Scientists warn that, while highly unlikely, there is a possibility that we will reach a tipping point with current warming trends. #3: We need to make drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions immediately The Sixth Assessment Report tells us, with greater certainty than ever before, that human activities over the past six decades have caused global warming trends and affected climate extremes globally. These trends are likely to continue on a long-term scale. Most importantly, the report stresses that if we want any chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels, we must urgently make strong, sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions. The current global carbon budget to remain below 1.5ºC warming is estimated to be at an additional 500 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas. To remain within this budget, we need to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will only be achieved with meaningful climate action. If we can drastically reduce emissions now, we will still have a chance of averting the climate crisis. The two succeeding instalments of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report will cover the impacts of climate change and mitigation of climate change and are planned to be released in 2022. References: IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [MassonDelmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.

Exciting technological leaps are being made in the futuristic field of visual prostheses. Australians suffering from visual impairment can be helped by emerging treatments including Bionic Eyes: a sight for sore eyes. This piece takes a look at the prevalent impairments and our ocular opportunities to treat them. Bionics: Seeing into the Future By Joshua Nicholls While the Bionic Eye might seem like a technology of the far future, exciting advancements are being made in the field of visual prostheses. This piece points a keen eye at emerging treatments for some of the most prominent diseases, along with their possible bionic treatments. Issue 1: September 24, 2021 Illustration by Friday Kennedy Visual prostheses, colloquially known as bionic eyes, are a set of experimental devices designed to restore — or partially restore — vision to those with varying levels of blindness (1). While once viewed as “science fiction”, these technologies are becoming a reality for thousands of Australians with visual impairments. Since its inception in 1956 by the Australian inventor Graham Tassicker (2), the idea of restoring vision using electronics has undergone several developments, ranging from rudimentary cortical stimulation to modern advancements in state-of-the-art retinal implants. As of 2018, it was estimated that over 13 million Australians have some form of visual impairment. Of these 13 million, 411,000 have cataracts or the clouding of the lens; 244,00 have macular degeneration, which degrades fine detail vision; and 133,000 are either partially or entirely blind (3,4). The economic burden of blindness in Australia is substantial. In 2009, it was estimated that the total cost of vision loss per person aged 40 and over was $28,905 — a nationwide total of 16.6 billion AUD (5). Figure 1: Categorisation of Total Economic Cost of Vision Loss in 2009 (5) Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one condition for which visual prosthetics may be applicable. AMD refers to the irreversible loss of high-acuity, colour-sensitive cone cells in the centre field of vision. This structure of the retina is responsible for reading, recognising faces, driving, and other visual tasks that require sharp focal vision. In fact, you are using these cells to read this article right now. Its typical onset is later in life, affecting 12% of people aged 80 or over (6). As the leading chronic eye condition for elderly Australians (7), it accounts for 48% of all cases of blindness nationwide (8). According to AIHW4, there is also a higher prevalence amongst females than in males — between 4.9%–6.8% and 3.6–5.1%, respectively. Macular degeneration exists in two forms: dry and wet. Dry macular degeneration is caused by thinning of the macula; it is the most common form of the disease and progresses slowly over many years. Wet macular degeneration is a potentially more severe variation of the disease which is caused by the sudden development of leaky blood vessels around the macula (9). With no known cure — and most treatments being directed towards prevention and delaying progression — interventions relying on prosthetics may be the best hope for the restoration of lost eyesight (10). Graham Tassicker was the first to realise the potential utility of cortical stimulation in restoring sight to those with vision loss. In 1956, Tassicker developed a photosensitive selenium cell which, when placed behind the retina, resulted in phosphene visualisation — the phenomenon of seeing light without light actually entering the eye (2). This was the first evidence of non-cortical stimulation to elicit visual experience. It was in the 1990s that visual prostheses took a radical development; sophisticated retinal surgeries and the creation of biomaterials led to a surge of novel inventions, including cortical implant miniaturisation and artificial retinas — the latter of which is the most advanced to date. There is currently a state-of-the-art retinal bionic system that has recently undergone clinical trial research: the Argus II Retinal Stimulation System. The Argus is an epiretinal (above the retina) implant which has been designed by SecondSight; as of 2013, it was FDA approved for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) but has potential utility for dry AMD. It consists of a device that is implanted in the patient’s eye and an external processing unit worn by the user. The system consists of sixty electrodes, each of which is two-hundred-micrometres in diameter. Images that have been captured by a small camera on glasses are converted into electrical impulses to stimulate surviving ganglion cells on the retina. It is currently the most widely used retinal prosthetic system in the world, with more than 350 RP patients being treated to date. The cost of this device is 150,000 USD — a price that excludes surgery and post-operative training (11). Figure 2: The design of the Argus II (12) In 2015, a case study was performed by the Argus II study group on the impact the implant would have on restoring visual function to subjects who had complete blindness from RP. The results from this study were quite promising; it showed that of the 30 patients who received the Argus II system, all significantly performed better on a white square test than they did without the prosthesis. (None of the subjects scored any points with the device absent.) The Argus also showed reliability for 29 subjects, all of whom still had functioning devices after three years (13). In 2020, a clinical trial of this device for dry AMD was completed. The study, which consisted of five patients, assessed the safety and feasibility of the device. According to Mills et al. (14), no patients reported confusion when operating the Argus alongside their healthy peripheral vision. Adverse events occurred in two patients who experienced proliferative vitreoretinopathy — or tractional retinal detachment. However, due to recent events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the company declared that they would be performing “an orderly wind-down of the company’s operations”. SecondSight is now focusing on a new device: The Orion. This device is designed to stimulate the visual cortex of the brain — a return to the original conception of visual prosthetics. The Orion is planned to expand the pool of patients who are eligible for visual prosthetics. It will essentially bypass the requirement for healthy ganglion cells and a functioning optic nerve, which retinal prosthetics require. The only forms of blindness not encompassed by this technique are congenital forms of blindness or people who are ‘cortically blind’ from suffering damage to the visual cortex area V1. The Orion is modelled after the Argus II with its 60 cortical-stimulating electrodes receiving input from a camera on the user’s glasses. Under the Breakthrough Device Pathway, the FDA approved Orion for an early feasibility study. Six human subjects have been fitted with the device — one woman and five men between the ages of 29 and 57. Of these six, one had endophthalmitis, two had glaucoma, and three suffered trauma. After one year of wearing the device, four of the patients could accurately discern the location of a palm-sized white square on a computer screen, and five could locate its movement in space. The Orion has shown a good safety profile after 12 months of use, and follow-ups on its progress will occur for five years (15). Visual prostheses have a promising and bright future of development ahead of them. While it is still in its infancy, the results of ongoing clinical trials show promise for sight restoration. With multiple models and modes of intervention available, artificial vision is slowly becoming a reality for the visually impaired, but further developments in the field are still required. It would be promising to see advancements from mere two-dimensional grey-scale images to the rich, three-dimensional, and full-colour experience that we take for granted as normal vision. For now, two essential factors need to be improved for the full realisation of artificial vision: cost and electrode density. The Argus costs 150,000 USD — an expense that excludes surgery and training. This figure may be unfeasible for the thousands of Australians who would benefit from such a device. If the current trend of Moore’s Law continues, electrode density will increase whilst the cost of the device will decrease — a trend analogous to the increase in power and improved price of computers in the last century. This pixel density will hopefully improve to the point of achieving near-normal visual acuity. The 60 pixels, while helpful in regaining some functionality, cannot compare to the some 96 million photoreceptor cells in the retina — 5 million of which are located in the cone-dense macula. Nevertheless, artificial vision is an exciting and innovative technology currently under development. While much research is still needed, further advancements in bionics will one day make visual prosthetics a ubiquitous and affordable technology to those in need. About the writer: Joshua Nicholls was the 2021 winner of the Let's Torque competition. Joshua : I am a 5th-year neuroscience and biochemistry student at the Swinburne University of Technology. I finished my Health Science degree a few years ago, majoring in neuroscience. I am now completing my final few subjects in my Bachelor of Science, with biochemistry as my major. For the state-wide Let’s torque competition, I changed my pitch to artificial vision, hence its title, Bionics: Seeing into the Future—a catchy pun, if I do say so myself. I made the rather complex topic of visual prosthetics approachable and understandable to the general audience by, as stated previously, conveying a story. I asked my audience to consider losing vision, if not completely, at least partially. Considering this, I then asked them to imagine what life must be like for the some 13 million Australians of whom suffer from some form of visual impairment. This exercise brought home the very real phenomenon of visual impairment, which many of us have—or will—be impacted. The solution for currently untreatable vision loss is already underway: The Bionic Eye, as it is colloquially known. While it may sound like science fiction, bionics (or prosthetics) are nothing new; artificial hearing through the cochlear implant and artificial limbs are becoming rather ubiquitous. I briefly detailed a few diseases for which visual prosthetics may be appropriate, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, and spoke about past and current clinical trials demonstrating their efficacy. To end my pitch, I talked about the lasting impact these devices will have on people’s lives and the future developments required. In doing so, I relayed the past, present, and future of the bionic eye, which detailed a coherent and relatable story to my audience. I was successful in my pitch and won first place among the state! It was an absolute privilege even to have been a part of this competition; coming first place was an added honour and will remain one of the highlights of my life. I believe this experience will serve as a footstone toward my career in science and science communication. If anyone has any desires to get their foot in the door of this field, get your name and face out there and just go for it! References: Ong, J. M., & da Cruz, L. (2012). The bionic eye: a review. Clinical & experimental ophthalmology, 40(1), 6-17. Tassicker, G. (1956). Preliminary report on a retinal stimulator. The British journal of physiological optics, 13(2), 102-105. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). National Health Survey: First Results, 2017–18. Canberra: ABS Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/national-health-survey-first-results/latest-release Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2021). Eye health. Canberra: AIHW Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/eye-health/eye-health Taylor, P., Bilgrami, A., & Pezzullo, L. (2010). Clear focus: The economic impact of vision loss in Australia in 2009. Vision2020. Retrieved from https://www.vision2020australia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Access_Economics_Clear_Focus_Full_Report.pdf Mehta, S. (2015). Age-related macular degeneration. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, 42(3), 377-391. Foreman, J., Xie, J., Keel, S., van Wijngaarden, P., Sandhu, S. S., Ang, G. S., . . . Taylor, H. R. (2017). The prevalence and causes of vision loss in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: the National eye health survey. Ophthalmology, 124(12), 1743-1752. Taylor, H. R., Keeffe, J. E., Vu, H. T. V., Wang, J. J., Rochtchina, E., Mitchell, P., & Pezzullo, M. L. (2005). Vision loss in Australia. Med J Aust, 182(11), 565-568. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06815.x Calabrese, A., Bernard, J.-B., Hoffart, L., Faure, G., Barouch, F., Conrath, J., & Castet, E. (2011). Wet versus dry age-related macular degeneration in patients with central field loss: different effects on maximum reading speed. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 52(5), 2417-2424. Cheung, L. K., & Eaton, A. (2013). Age‐related macular degeneration. Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy, 33(8), 838-855. Luo, Y. H.-L., & Da Cruz, L. (2016). The Argus® II retinal prosthesis system. Progress in retinal and eye research, 50, 89-107. SecondSight. (2021). SecondSight: Life in a New Light. Retrieved from https://secondsight.com/ Ho, A. C., Humayun, M. S., Dorn, J. D., Da Cruz, L., Dagnelie, G., Handa, J., . . . Hafezi, F. (2015). Long-term results from an epiretinal prosthesis to restore sight to the blind. Ophthalmology, 122(8), 1547-1554. Mills, J., Jalil, A., & Stanga, P. (2017). Electronic retinal implants and artificial vision: journey and present. Eye, 31(10), 1383-1398. Pouratian N., Yoshor D., & Greenberg R. (2019). Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System Early Feasibility Study: Interim Results. Paper presented at American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting.

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