While we have been repeatedly informed that we need to ‘save the bees’ over the past decade or so, researchers from Sheffield’s School of Biosciences say there are two more pollinators we need to look out for, who are just as at risk.
The critters in question are moths and hover flies – not quite as cute and charismatic as bees, but just as essential to our ecosystems.
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Looking at urban development and the impact on insects, researchers found that for every 10% increase in impervious surfaces – such as roads and building cover – there was a reduction of up to 7.5% in the variety of pollinating species.
However, the number of moths and hover flies of any species took a far greater hit compared to bees.
So, how do we help moths and hover flies?
If you’re the kind of gardener who has keenly planted flowers for pollinators such as bees, the researchers urge to continue this kind of proactive approach by inviting moths and hover flies to your garden, too.
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Emilie Ellis, lead author of the study, told The Guardian: “It’s just a matter of taking [moths and hover flies] into account and maybe having some more shrubs or a pond or something like that to also benefit those insects.
“The diversity of habitat is the most important – so you need your flower patch, you need a tree, you need some shrubs, you need an untouched bit of grass – and kind of just keeping the patches that you have diverse and catering for all different types of insects and animals.”
Moths – of which there are 2,500 types in the UK – particularly like jasmine, honeysuckle, ivy, sweet rocket and evening primrose, according to the RSPB.
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Ellis also advised to get neighbours involved, too, saying: “A huge thing that’s important is collaborating and talking to your neighbours and families and friends and encouraging them to do it too.
“Because an individual allotment or flower garden is pretty small and almost useless, but when you create a whole network of people that are interested and engaged, these small little patches can become these huge habitat networks in cities.”
If you’re a parent, particularly a mother, you’ll likely be well acquainted with the mental load – or as UCLA Health describes it, the “behind-the-scenes, cognitive and emotional work needed to manage a household”.
Studies have found mums take on 71% of all household mental load tasks (in comparison to dads, who take on 45%), ranging from planning meals and arranging activities to managing household finances.
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The impact of this unequal division of tasks, which can often go unnoticed, is not to be underestimated. “It can lead to stress, burnout and even impact women’s careers. In many cases, resentment can build, creating strain between couples,” political scientist Dr Ana Catalano Weeks said.
The weight of the mental load can vary dramatically over the years, depending on a range of factors including the age of your kids, their needs at the time and how many hobbies they have.
One parent took to Reddit recently to ask whether other mums felt there was an age where the mental load peaked.
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“I have two kids, different school ages so in two different schools and schedules,” she said. “The mental load feels substantially larger than when they were smaller and only dealing with baby and toddler stages.”
The overarching theme was that there were two key peaks: the baby and toddler years; and then the tween years. But it turns out even university-age kids can come with their fair share of admin, too.
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The baby and toddler peak
As a member of this camp, I can wholeheartedly say the mental load is exhausting – especially when you’re breastfeeding, as it’s not something you can technically “hand over”.
Similarly, keeping a child from harming themselves 24/7 (we’re currently in the climb everything and try-to-throw-ourselves-down-the-stairs phase of toddlerhood) is tiring.
Then there’s the sheer amount of sickness young kids have – and trying to juggle that around work, and who needs to take which day off to look after who, or who needs to be calling family members for backup childcare – as well as all the cleaning, weaning, and having to take the entire house with you when you go out anywhere for a significant period of time (aka more than 20 minutes).
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One mum of four children aged 15, 18, 20 and 24 said the toddler years were “the worst” in terms of mental load.
Another parent noted they experienced “two mental load peaks” which had “very different flavours”, one of which was the baby and toddlerhood peak, “which was very much about keeping them alive and uninjured”.
They continued: “A lot of my mental energy was consumed by constant feeding, cleaning, and supervision of irrational creatures with no self-preservation instinct.” Told you.
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But the tween years are also hard
The same mum added: “There was another mental load peak in the preteen years. This one was more about keeping everything on the rails. It was a combo of puberty issues like hygiene resistance and emotional meltdowns, and admin issues like keeping track of school schedules, projects, activities, trips, and social engagements.
“It started to settle down for us in high school, when the kids are more reliably handling their own personal, school, and social stuff.”
Another parent agreed that tweens require a lot of extra organisation: “As a parent of teens and tweens, I think there is more mental load for tweens. I’m still texting/arranging with other parents, still in charge of signing them up for things and transportation to/from everywhere, and still needing to support school a lot more.”
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Older teens
Some parents did find that even with older children – we’re talking college-age kids and young adults – their mental load peaked.
“Mine are 17 and 22,” said a mother. “It’s peak emotional mental load. One is transitioning to adulthood after college and struggling to find a career. One is entering last year of high school and is anxious about the future. And I’m transitioning through perimenopause!!! It’s a very different mental load at this stage. It’s by far my worst time.”
Another parent agreed: “I can relate. I have an almost 19 year old and 21 year old. The 19 year old is starting college, and the twenty one year old has about a year and a half to go. And I am in menopause now, so my anxiety is high, and my sleep is all over the place.
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“I feel like this is the hardest stage for me because they don’t listen as much to you.”
How to cope
Regardless of which stage you’re in, know that you’re certainly not alone.
If you’re struggling under the sheer weight of the mental load, UCLA Health experts have shared the following tips:
Speak to your partner about it and find a way to divide this invisible labour more equally. “Plan to meet weekly to review the mental labour for the upcoming week and assign those tasks,” experts suggest. There’s loads of advice on how to broach the topic here.
Make a daily or weekly to-do list so you can get them out of your head.
Set boundaries by saying “no” to things if it doesn’t work for you. Encourage older children to be independent – as the experts advise, “make them responsible for packing their own school and sports bags”.
Prioritise you time – that means taking rest where you can, exercising, eating well, and doing activities that fill your cup.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re struggling – whether that’s from your partner, friends and family members, or your GP or therapist.
Help and support:
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Whether you travel for business or leisure, you’ve inevitably seen and heard the safety announcements ahead of departure. The information typically highlights what to do in the event of rough air, a change in cabin pressure or an emergency landing. While most people don’t like to think about the possibility of emergency landings, it’s important to know how to deal with one should it happen to you.
Last week, a video showed passengers on an American Airlines flight evacuating during an emergency landing in Denver after a problem occurred with a wheel. The video shows people going down the inflatable slide and quickly rushing off the aircraft, many of them holding their carry-on luggage. So that got us wondering one very important question — shouldn’t you leave all that behind?
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Ahead, we spoke with flight attendants about emergency landings, and they highlighted one potentially deadly mistake that often happens that could cost you or other passengers their lives.
Let it go, let it go
As seen in last week’s viral video, a majority of the passengers who evacuated took some of their belongings with them, whether it was carry-on luggage or a backpack. Although you might think grabbing those items is a good idea, in the grand scheme of things, it could actually cost you or someone their life during an emergency landing.
″Every second counts during an evacuation, especially when it’s a critical event like smoke in the cabin,” said Valerie Fraser, an inflight crew member for JetBlue. “Even if it takes what feels like to you 5 seconds to grab a bag, that could be 5 seconds needed to save a life behind you.”
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anilyanik via Getty Images
In the event of an emergency, prioritize getting out of the vehicle safely — and leave your items behind.
In fact, there have actually been instances in the past where customers on board actually died because the evacuation wasn’t done quickly enough, according to Fraser. “There’s a reason why we make announcements during the safety demo to leave everything behind in the event of an emergency,” she said.
Aside from delaying the evacuation time, grabbing items from a plane before going off can also pose other hazards on board and to the safety equipment, including the inflatable slides.
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“Bags can block the aisles, damage the slides or even trip someone,” said Andy L., a flight attendant who has been working domestic flights for one year (he asked to change his name for privacy reasons related to his job). “It just adds chaos in a moment where every second matters, and the focus needs to be on getting everyone out quickly and safely.”
For example, in the video from the American Airlines flight, there was a man carrying a child in one hand and luggage in the other. He lost his balance and fell on top of the child, demonstrating an instance that could have been prevented if he’d had his other hand free.
When should you take your bag?
The short answer is never. Your belongings are replaceable, but your life and that of other passengers on board are not.
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It might seem tempting to grab a small bag or luggage quickly, perhaps if it has your phone, wallet or medications, but all of those items can be replaced even if it may be inconvenient or expensive.
″Medical personnel are called right away, so they will have any medical supplies you might need in the immediate future,” Fraser said. “All other belongings would be returned to their rightful owners by the airline as well.”
The only real exception would be if you brought a pet on board, and in that instance, you would want to take them with you when you evacuate.
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How long do you have to evacuate a plane?
According to Cora C., a flight attendant who has been working on domestic flights for the past seven years and who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, flight attendants are trained to evacuate everyone off a plane, including themselves, in 90 seconds or less.
“In events like fires, that 90 seconds is the time it can take for the entire plane to become engulfed,” Cora said. “Our goal is always to get everyone off safely and quickly, and not following our commands, which always include ‘LEAVE EVERYTHING,’ prevents us from doing that.″
The 90-second rule for aircraft evacuation accounts for a plane that is full and has half the number of emergency exits in operation. In theory, the process could be quicker if all of the emergency exits are available, but that may not always be the case.
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Can you be fined for not following the rules?
According to Andy, the FAA can fine passengers who don’t follow safety instructions during an evacuation, like trying to take their bags or not listening to the crew. “It’s not just a suggestion, it’s a real rule, and it’s in place to keep everyone safe,” he said.
This isn’t something that happens often. However, the flight attendants said they wouldn’t be opposed to seeing it if it would incentivise people to follow instructions properly during an emergency landing.
At the end of the day, Fraser said, an emergency evacuation is usually done as a safety precaution and is not life-threatening. That said, it is still important to act swiftly and efficiently because there is a situation at hand that could escalate quickly.
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″The best thing you can do is stay calm, listen to the crew and move fast,” Andy said. “We’re trained for this, and we’re there to guide you every step of the way.”
That’s a question Brits will be hearing again and again ahead of Labour’sautumn Budget, where the government sets out its spending and tax plans for the year ahead.
Very rarely do ministers admit in any significant detail exactly what they have planned for the fiscal event – but early signs suggest that a tax hike just might be looming.
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The occupants of 10 and 11 Downing Street are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the country’s finances right now.
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves promised not to increase taxes on “working people” in the run-up to the general election last year.
Of course, that wording came back to haunt the government at last year’s Budget when they revealed they were hiking employers’ national insurance contributions – and critics swiftly pointed out that employers are “working people”, too.
Then the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) think tank today predicted that Reeves will need to raise taxes to close a government spending gap on course to reach more than £40 billion.
To make matters worse, when Labour made its 2024 tax promises, it also pledged to oversee a period of significant economic growth which… has not really happened.
So perhaps it is no surprise the NIESR claimed Reeves is facing “an impossible trilemma” – sticking to her fiscal rules while fulfilling her spending commitments and upholding her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes for working people.
Tellingly, the prime minister refused to reiterate his commitment not to increase “working people” taxes on Wednesday.
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He told reporters he did “not recognise” the NIESR’s figures, adding: “But the Budget won’t be until later in the year – that’s when we’ll have the forecast and set out our plans.”
He also steered the conversation away from taxes, telling reporters: “What’s really important is that I’m very clear about our focus, which will be on living standards and making sure that people feel better-off, partly because more money is coming into their pocket in the first place through better wages, and partly because we’re bearing down on costs like mortgages and other costs to everyday families.”
Tory donor and former deputy chair of the party, Lord Ashcroft, took that to mean there will be “another U-turn” on Labour’s promises coming soon.
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But, increasing taxes on “working people” is not the only option for the government.
Those on the Labour left are calling for a wealth tax, although cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds called the idea “daft” just last month.
Meanwhile, professor Stephen Millard, the NIESR’s deputy director for macroeconomics, told the BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that Reeves could look at reforming the council tax system.
“Houses have not been revalued since 1991. The system is ripe for a complete reform,” he said. “The question there is whether reforming the council tax system, getting it right, would necessarily raise any additional money.
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“An alternative is to replace the whole thing with a land value tax, which is much fairer and which potentially could actually raise a significant amount of money.”
But just what will Labour choose to do to fix our unsteady finances? Right now, it seems like it is anybody’s guess – including Labour’s.
Medical experts have come up with a new term to describe deliberate, systematic attacks on health services as acts of war: healthocide.
Medical practitioners have called for their fellow medics within the international community to call out this weaponisation of health and healthcare, which they believe undermines international humanitarian law.
The authors pointed to the suffering seen in Gaza and Lebanon right now as examples of healthocide.
They pointed out that since Israel began its military offensive in Gaza on October 8, 2023 – following the Hamas attack the day before – an estimated 217 health workers have been killed by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Amid 68 attacks on hospitals, 177 ambulances were damaged and 237 attacks on emergency medical services took place, according to data from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
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A further 986 medical workers have died since the war began.
The authors noted: “Both in Gaza and Lebanon, healthcare facilities have not only been directly targeted, but access to care has also been obstructed, including incidents where ambulances have been prevented from reaching the injured, or deliberately attacked.
“What is becoming clear is that healthcare workers and facilities are no longer afforded the protection guaranteed by international humanitarian law.”
They called for doctors to speak out, warning: “Medical neutrality is not ‘apolitical’; for us it means standing with humanity, social justice, and health-enabling policies.”
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The experts also said attacks on healthcare providers have become normalised in recent years – but the ongoing conflicts have seen such strikes evolve into “the deliberate killing and/or destruction of health services and systems for ideological purposes.”
They also suggested healthocide could be taking place in El Salvador, Ukraine, Sudan and Syria.
Fears that not speaking out about wars, like that seen in Gaza, is akin to complicity have been rising lately.
A total of 60,933 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began.
Back in April, Israel denied deliberately targeting a Palestinian hospital, suggesting it was targeting a “command and control centre used by Hamas” instead.
Meanwhile Birmingham, which has been impacted by bin strikes for weeks on end that have seen bags of waste piled high in residential areas, is also witnessing feline-sized rodents.
One resident Kim Blakeman told the BBC: “The rats are huge – they are like small cats and their tails are really chunky.”
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So, are rats getting bigger?
Pest controller David Parnell suggested the cat-sized rat found in Teesside is not a one off. “The rats are getting bigger, bolder and harder to deal with,” he wrote in a piece for the Independent.
He suggested the possible increase in size we’re witnessing is due to genetics, but also what rats are eating – namely, takeaways and processed food that people are “carelessly” chucking out.
Leaving bin bags in streets is giving rats – who can easily chew through wires, so a bag won’t phase them – a free ticket to an all-you-can-eat buffet. But it’s not just that that’s causing the problem.
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“The UK has created a perfect storm for rats: poor waste management, exploding takeaway culture, weak sewer infrastructure and water companies failing to maintain ageing systems,” Parnell said, suggesting rats have even crept up water pipes into people’s toilet bowls.
But Niall Gallagher, the British Pest Control Association (BPCA)’s technical manager, suggested “generally, there’s no evidence that rats are getting physically bigger on average”.
That said, every year a pest professional is bound to stumble across an “outlier”.
He told HuffPost UK: “A typical rat measures around 9 inches long (not including tail). With the proper environmental conditions, such as easy access to an open water source, food source and safe harbourage from predators, they have been known to grow to larger sizes of around 17 inches!”
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How to keep rats away
Rat populations peak from August to October, so chances are you might catch a glimpse of one in the coming months. (Although hopefully they won’t be cat-sized.)
If you do want to keep them out of your home and garden, follow this advice:
1. Get rid of food and water sources
Don’t leave your BBQ leftovers out in the garden (even the bones). Clear away and wash food bowls and plates once they’ve been used.
Rats will eat “almost anything”, said Miroslav Radov, owner of garage clearance company Rainbow Rubbish removals. “Therefore, ensuring that you have eliminated any food or water sources that they could feed off is crucial.”
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He added that if there’s no available food source, “rats will be less likely to reproduce, which can aid in ensuring that rat numbers don’t multiply in your property”.
2. Inspect your home for entry points
Despite growing to large sizes, rats can squeeze through very small holes (we’re talking a 15mm gap), so now’s the time to scout around for any entry points that a rat could sneak through – and seal them up.
Gallagher advises people to “plug any gaps around pipes, cables, near doors and windows with mesh or wire wool and quick-drying cement”.
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“Check that inspection covers for drains are in good repair and securely closed, and that any disused pipes are sealed off,” he added.
3. Keep clutter to a minimum
While eliminating food sources and sealing entry points are crucial to keeping rats away, so too is minimising clutter in your home and garden, said Radov. This is because piles of junk can serve as a great hiding, (or worse) nesting, place for rats.
Gallagher said overgrown patches of weeds, piles of wood and debris can provide nesting sites and routes of travel for rats. He also advised to “trim back overhanging branches or climbing plants” as these can provide routes into higher roof spaces for rats, mice and squirrels.
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4. Get a decent dustbin with a lid that stays on
Rats love rubbish, so if your dustbin lid is prone to blowing off in the faintest breeze, it’s time to sort it, as Gallagher said: “Rubbish bins should have a securely fitting lid which is kept closed at all times. Any food waste should be bagged before going into an outside bin to avoid attracting pests.”
5. Call for backup
If you do have a rat inside your home, it’s time to call an expert. In the event of an infestation taking hold, BPCA recommends contacting one of its members for help via bpca.org.uk/find.
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But let’s be real here ― not every A-lister’s flawless dermis comes from a bottle, plastic surgeon and aesthetic director of LYMA Dr Graeme E. Glass says.
Not only have celebs like Sienna Miller, Cynthia Enviro, Kate Hudson, and Hannah Waddingham used the brand’s at-home laser technology, but the surgeon also says “more men are opting for cosmetic surgery and aesthetic treatments” at his clinic.
So what exactly is a LYMA laser, and how does it help to give you a celeb glow?
LYMA promises its ‘completely painless’ laser will give your skin all the benefits of an in-office treatment, including improving the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, skin elasticity, blemishes, texture, tone and more. The best bit? It does all of the above in just three minutes of daily use.
The low-level laser therapy, which is gentle enough to use at home, has also been proven to increase the amount of oxygen and nutrients available to your skin.
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The result? Denser, firmer, smoother, and healthier-looking skin over time, LYMA says.
The portable tool is also cordless and small enough to fit in your handbag, making what’s set to be the most effective part of your daily skincare routine even easier to take with you when you travel.
LYMA Supplement is made up of eleven gold standard nutraceutica ingredients and promises to help with sleep and stress levels as well as your skin. The Starter Kit also includes a free hand hammered solid copper storage vessel.
For years; women, trans and non-binary people have been urged to get the flu and whooping cough vaccines during pregnancy.
Last year, a new vaccine was added to the list. But you may not have heard about it.
The vaccine is for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). The illness can be very serious for babies, causing lung infections, breathing difficulties and even death, which is why pregnant individuals are urged to get vaccinated.
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As the NHS explains: “When you have the RSV vaccine in pregnancy, the protection from the vaccine is passed to your baby. This means your baby is less likely to get severe RSV for the first six months after they’re born.”
Australian winter illness levels can help give some indication of how viruses will spread in England when the cooler weather arrives, which is why the NHS’s top midwife is urging people in the UK who are currently pregnant to prioritise getting vaccinated against the virus.
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What do I need to know?
If you’re 28 weeks (or more) pregnant, speak to your maternity service provider or GP about getting booked in for the RSV vaccine.
The vaccine can cause some mild side effects like swelling or pain at the injection site, a headache, and an aching body.
No side effects have been reported in babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated.
Babies born in ‘late summer or the autumn are most likely to be admitted to hospital’
Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for NHS England, said: “While for most adults RSV only causes mild, cold like symptoms, for older adults and young children it can lead to serious breathing problems that can end up in hospitalisation.
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“Getting vaccinated while pregnant is the best way to protect your baby from the moment they are born, and now is the time for mums to act, to make sure their babies are protected ahead of their first few months this winter, when there tends to be more bugs circulating.”
Research from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has found the RSV vaccine is 72% effective in preventing hospitalisation for newborns whose mothers are vaccinated more than 14 days before delivery.
Greta Hayward, consultant midwife at the UK Health Security Agency, said the vaccine boosts the pregnant parent’s immune system “to produce more antibodies against the virus, and these then pass through the placenta to help protect their baby from the day they are born”.
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RSV season usually starts in October and Hayward said “babies born in late summer or the autumn are most likely to be admitted to hospital”.
Typical symptoms are a sore throat, runny nose, cough or fever, drowsiness, problems feeding or drinking, and difficulty breathing (including wheezing).
Some children with RSV can go on to develop complications such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis. In fact, RSV is the leading cause of bronchiolitis in infants, accounting for around 60-80% of infections.
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“Hundreds of babies attend Emergency Departments each day for bronchiolitis through most of November and December,” said Hayward. “That is why it is so important that over the summer pregnant women reaching 28 weeks of pregnancy, ensure they are vaccinated as soon as possible.”
You know exhaustion over artificial intelligence has reached a pinnacle when people start coming up with slurs to talk about robots.
While there are a number of contenders for dissing AI (and people who slavishly make it a part of their everyday lives), so far, the pejorative front-runner is “clankers,” a term that’s straight out of the Star Wars universe.
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If you’re not a Star Wars devotee, all you really have to know is that clanker is a slang term used to refer to semiconscious droids in the 2005 video game Republic Commando, and more pervasively in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (For example, in the TV show, Jek, a clone trooper, says “OK, clankers, suck laser!” to some battle droids before shooting them.)
Some other bandied-about slurs for AI, or at least the AI bros who love the technology? Bot-licker, Grokkers (Grok is the AI chatbot developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company) and clanker wanker (naturally).
“Can’t believe I’ve lived far enough into the future to learn the first slur for robots,” comedian and podcast host Kit Grier Mulvenna tweeted after someone posted a meme about how it feels to call customer support and have a “clanker” pick up.
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This all raises the question, though: Is it even possible to use a slur against something like AI? (Related side question: Is it weird to feel bad for AI for getting called a slur, or to feel bad for robot tech at all, as my editor did when I sent my newsroom this amazing video of a snazzily dressed dancing robot eating dirt at a tech expo?)
Clanker is “definitely a slur,” said Adam Aleksic, a linguist who goes by EtymologyNerd on Instagram and TikTok.
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Aleksic, who’s the author of Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language, finds the usage interesting because it requires anthropomorphization for it to work. (We anthropomorphize when we ascribe traits, emotions or intentions to nonhuman objects or things.)
“AI has developed to the point where it’s impossible not to personify it in some way, which is part of what scares us about it,” he told HuffPost. “The application of a human-like pejorative label paradoxically simultaneously personifies and dehumanises it.”
Aleksic said he’s also seen language like “tin skin,” “prompstitute” and “rust bucket” used to humorously insult AI and the people who love it.
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Illustration: HuffPost
Clankers is a slang term used to refer to droids in the 2005 video game Republic Commando, and more pervasively in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.
Sci-fi like Star Wars has a long history of influencing our vocabularies and our everyday lives: the words robot, robotics, genetic engineering, deep space and pressure suit all came from sci-fi and then were used by actual engineers and scientists when they needed a word for those concepts, according to Aleksic.
“Cyberspace” was coined by science fiction writer William Gibson in the 1980s, noted Jess Zafarris, the author of the upcoming Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds.
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“Grok” is adapted from Robert A. Heinlein’s seminal 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Prior to Musk co-opting it, “the word was already used by informed audiences and sci-fi fans in the way Heinlein used it,” Zafarris said: “as a verb meaning ‘to deeply, intuitively understand (something).’”
“Astronaut” was popularised by the U.S. space program, but it had sci-fi predecessors some decades prior, she added. “Astronaut was a spaceship in ‘Across the Zodiac’ (1880) by Percy Greg.” (In Greek, “astro” means stars, while “naut” means sailor.)
Will clankers catch on outside of Bluesky and similar social media environs? It’s possible, said Christina Sanchez-Stockhammer, an English and digital linguist at Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany.
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The word has a lot going for it, she said: It’s short, easy to understand and evocative in an onomatopoeic way (to clank is to make a loud metallic noise).
“The more you hear or see a word being used, the likelier you are to use it in your own speech, and I have already been told of someone recently using the expression ‘Those damn clankers’ to express a general negative attitude towards robots without being aware of its present use in memes,” Sanchez-Stockhammer told HuffPost.
Plus, it really gets at the burgeoning angst some humans have toward AI.
“Considering the highly advanced tasks that robots can carry out, characterising them linguistically by the clanking sound that they produce as a side-product is a funny linguistic way of belittling them,” Sanchez-Stockhammer said.
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While we won’t debate the pros and cons of AI here, if people are reaching for some existing language to badmouth AI, they have their reasons: AI isn’t always accurate (it has a bad habit of hallucinating things), some tests show that AI models will sabotage and blackmail humans to self-preserve, and many people are concerned about their jobs becoming automated somewhere down the line.
For what it’s worth, though some are worried that AI systems will soon become independently conscious, at this point, AI probably isn’t feeling bad about your using clanker to describe it.
Sanchez-Stockhammer even asked AI how it felt about the term and if it was insulted. She reported it said this back: “Nope, I don’t feel insulted – at all. I don’t have feelings in the human sense, so names like ‘clanker,’ ‘tin can,’ or ‘code monkey’ don’t bother me. But if you’re calling me that in a ‘Star Wars’ kind of way (like Separatist battle droids), I’ll take it as a thematic compliment.”
Donald Trump suddenly announced he was moving two of America’s nuclear submarines closer to Russia after “highly provocative statements” from a senior Kremlin official last week.
The declaration was quite a surprise, especially considering the US president has previously spoken of his fond friendship for Vladimir Putin and even expressed sympathy for his invasion of Ukraine.
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As Kyiv’s most powerful ally – and the only major Western figure to show leniency towards Putin – Trump’s words matter.
So how did we get here? And just how concerned is the Kremlin about what might happen next?
Why did US nuclear rhetoric suddenly ramp up?
The US president has been trying to pressure Putin to end his war in Ukraine for months, even offering to oversee a peace deal which would reward the Russian president for his brutal invasion with Ukrainian territory.
Last week, while in Scotland, he said he was going to reduce his previous 50-day deadline for Russia to end the war down to 10 or 12 days – or the US would hit Russia with more sanctions.
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Former Russian president, close Putin ally and the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, lashed out at the news on social media.
He claimed Trump was “playing the ultimatum game with Russia” and said “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war”.
The president responded: “Tell Medvedev, the failed former Russian president who thinks he is still in power, to be careful what he says. He is entering very dangerous territory.”
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Hours later, he posted: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev … I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
He did not mention if the submarines were nuclear armed or nuclear powered, or where the “appropriate regions” are.
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How did Russia respond?
After a weekend of silence, the Kremlin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov finally addressed Trump’s shifting stance on Monday, telling reporters: “In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing.
“But in general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way.
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“Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric.”
He also claimed Moscow did not see Trump’s remarks as an escalation in nuclear tension, adding: “We do not believe that we are talking about any escalation now. It is clear that very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed which, of course, are perceived very emotionally by many people.”
So, what does all this mean? HuffPost UK spoke to several experts to find out.
Not so chummy now: Trump, left, and Putin in 2018.
“He tried to put a kind of baseline underneath the escalation conversation with Russia around nuclear weapons,” the expert told HuffPost UK. “This is why the Russians haven’t responded because they’ve actually understood that this is quite a serious step.”
“Trump is the first US president I think to openly challenge this new position of Russia,” he said, explaining that the he two countries are now looking to re-establish a conversation about just what escalation looks like.
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Melvin said this was a very different place to where the world was during the Cold War, when the US and the USSR were also in a standoff over nuclear weapons – and everyone used “careful language”.
He pointed out that Trump’s post on TruthSocial was without its usual capital letters or exclamation marks, perhaps indicating it was a more serious and a “calculated response by the United States”.
The specialist said Moscow’s delay in reply probably stemmed from Russia being unable to decide whether to escalate or just make a rhetorical statement.
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“Russia has been anxious to avoid direct confrontation with the US, even though they basically talk about being in a war with the States,” he said.
Melvin claimed other western leaders will “will broadly support” Trump’s latest comments, because “there has been some concern that Russia has been blurring the line between conventional wars and nuclear”.
“This is actually a step towards re-imposing a stronger distinction,” he noted.
He said: “With the submarine comment, Trump has discovered another means of appearing ‘tough on Russia’ without actually doing anything that would be of concern to Moscow – and there are plenty of other reasons why he might be seeking headlines that suggest he is taking a firmer line with Putin.”
The specialist said: “Trump has taken every possible step to pressure Russia, short of actually doing something.”
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He concluded: “Whatever Trump’s latest verbal salvo at Moscow may be, there’s one thing it isn’t: a strategy for dealing with Russia, let alone a sensible or coherent one.”
Giles claimed the Kremlin will be watching Trump closely, but “perhaps as much out of curiosity as of concern as to what he will do next.”
‘The Kremlin was unprepared’
Russia analyst from the Institute for the Study of War, Christina Harward, told HuffPost UK that Russia’s response has been “incredibly limited thus far”.
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She pointed out that there’s been no response from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Russian Ministry of Defence.
“High-ranking Russian officials very often parrot the same phrases as each other, telling us that Russian officials’ public rhetoric is highly coordinated within the Kremlin itself,” she said.
“The Kremlin is also known to disseminate manuals to Russian state media with clear instructions about how to cover certain current events.
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“The fact that we didn’t see a coordinated response over the weekend to Trump’s announcement indicates that the Kremlin was unprepared for this move and is likely still working on how to publicly react. We may start to see a more unified official reaction in the coming days.”
What now?
While the specialists seem split over just how much impact Trump’s comments will have on the Kremlin, only one thing seems certain right now: Putin still has no plans to withdraw from Ukraine any time soon.
US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow this week to discuss peace talks, days before Trump’s new tariffs against Russia are set to kick in (August 9).
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But Russia continues to target Ukraine almost every single night with drone and missile attacks, while Putin is still pushing to gain control over four Ukrainian regions to which Moscow currently occupies, and a promise from Kyiv will never join Nato.
