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What it takes to win
unconventional wars
Trust your gut | Building the perfect race car driver | Tackling terrorism through social media
WAR ON WASTETackling Australia's throw-away bad habits.
I SPYThe new generation of playground spyware.
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The colours in this ad will determine what colours we choose for contents.
STARTING SALARY
We are pleased to announce that ECU has achieved the highest rating of five stars for teaching quality for eleven consecutive years.This makes us one of just two public universities, and the only one in Western Australia, to have achieved such a consistently high endorsement for the quality of our teaching. We also received five stars for median graduate salary, overall experience, learner engagement, learning resources, student support and skills development. This comes on top of the latest QILT survey results where we were ranked Australia’s top public university for student satisfaction. Overall, a report card that makes us (and our students) very happy indeed.
To find out how you can benefit from our five star quality, visit ecugetready.com.au
ECU. That’s how university should be.
Teaching quality. Five stars. Eleven years.
Contents
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WelcomeUnconventional battles need unconventional thinking, and that’s what we are looking at in EDITH this edition. We are considering some of the unusual fights facing us today — from online robot armies to stockpiles of organic waste in landfill to the impacts of poor diet on our guts. It’s a challenging time but it is also fascinating to see how research is solving the problems of tomorrow.
Professor Steve Chapman Vice-Chancellor
4789101130363738
In BriefYou study what? Dr Viena Puigcorbé LacuevaLife Hacks5 minutes with… Emma MatthewsBig Data: Research by the numbersCommunity: The road to successLightbox EventsAlumni: John StallwoodThe Last Word: Tackling terrorism through social media
Contact134 328 Web: www.ecu.edu.au Facebook: Edith Cowan University (ECU) Twitter: @EdithCowanUni
EdithEditor: Rhys Stacker Writers: Kate Emery, Lisa Shearon, Brad Thompson, Tiffany Fox, Ruth Callaghan, Ben Jones, David Gear and Tori Pree.
Design: 303MullenLowe
Editorial enquiries: Tel: (08) 6304 2131 Email: [email protected]
Edith is published by Edith Cowan University through the Marketing and Communications Service Centre:
Building 1, Joondalup Campus, ECU, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027.
Views expressed in Edith are not necessarily endorsed or approved by the University. Neither the University nor the Editor accepts responsibility for the content or accuracy of information published. Articles or portions of articles may be reproduced with permission of the Editor or as otherwise provided for in the Copyright Act 1968.
Edith is distributed biannually. It is also available via www.ecu.edu.au/edith and at ECU campuses.
22 Inside the internet of toys
12 Unconventional wars
18 Why binning isn’t winning
26 Go with your gut
Teaching quality. Five stars. Eleven years.
Lucy McLeod, Adam Simpson, Professor Steve Chapman and Brennan Irvine at Lathlain Park.
Pop the kettle on to fight diseaseECU researchers have reviewed existing literature on tea and discovered the humble cuppa could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.
“There is strong evidence that tea consumption can lower the levels of beta amyloid B in the brain, the build-up of which can cause Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr Fernando Binosha, from the School of Medical and Health Sciences. Researchers found black, white and green tea seemed most beneficial, but called for more clinical trials to discover the exact amount and type of tea that worked best.
International doors open for music studentsWAAPA music students are the big winners of a new agreement with the world-renowned Royal Northern College of Music. They will have the chance to broaden their horizons by studying in Manchester as well as learning from some of the best teachers in the world when they visit ECU. The agreement will encourage student and staff exchanges, short course and placement opportunities, knowledge sharing, research collaboration and joint performance projects.
In Brief
4
ECU flying high with EaglesECU students will be welcomed into the West Coast Eagles’ inner sanctum to assist with the development of high-performance programs and communications content, thanks to a new 10-year partnership. Under the agreement, facilities at the Lathlain Park training base will be known as the ECU Media and Broadcast Centre and ECU High Performance Centre. There will also be 10 work placements a year for ECU students in fields including broadcasting, journalism, public relations, teaching, and exercise and sports science.
Bachelor of Commerce students will have access to ECU’s new SMART Lab.
ECU’s Mount Lawley Campus.
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New courses for 2018ECU’s new Bachelor of Commerce will guarantee students real world learning in the form of internships, work placements and volunteering. The course has been developed in consultation with industry, recognising that practical experience gives students the chance to develop the skills they need for the next stage of their career. New postgraduate courses in 2018 include the Graduate Diploma of Human Reproduction and the Master of Education.
Good Universities Guide 2018ECU has received a five star rating for teaching quality for a record 11 years in a row in this year’s Good Universities Guide. This makes ECU one of just two public universities – and the only one in WA – to have achieved such a consistently high endorsement for teaching quality.
ECU has been named an Academic Centre of Cyber Security Excellence.
6
New app a game changerA new maths game developed in WA has improved Perth primary school students’ knowledge of fractions by more than 10 per cent over their classmates. The Abydos app was developed by ECU and St Stephen’s School and uses the theme of ancient Egypt to teach students about fractions. Computer Science lecturer Dr Martin Masek said the app responds and adapts to players’ abilities to make sure they’re always learning. “Abydos has artificial intelligence built into the app, which monitors students’ answers to different problems,” he said.
Improving access in the digital ageYou can’t open a café or shop without disability access, but there are thousands of websites that are totally unusable by people with a disability. For her work building the digital equivalent of wheelchair ramps, Dr Vivienne Conway won this year’s WA Technology and Telecommunications Alliance (WAITTA) INCITE Achiever of the Year award. The company she established while undertaking her PhD at ECU, Web Key IT, now employs 10 people to test and analyse webpages.
Training cyber defendersAlmost $1 million in Federal Government funding will help ECU train the thousands of cyber security professionals required to fill a global skills shortage in the industry. The University will be host to one of just two Academic Centres of Cyber Security Excellence in Australia, and the only one in WA. “Unlike industries such as mining and construction which can boom and bust – we’re connecting more devices to the internet and that means more demand for cyber security professionals,” said School of Science Executive Dean Professor Andrew Woodward.
Bike share scheme rolls outThe Urbi bike share scheme was launched in Joondalup in June and ECU now offers three docking stations on its northern campus. The app-based bike sharing scheme allows users to borrow a bike and helmet for 45 minutes for just $3, with daily hire priced at $10. Other Urbi bike stations are located at Joondalup’s train station, Joondalup Health Campus and the nearby Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre.
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Months-long research trips across the world’s oceans are just part of the job for Dr Viena Puigcorbé Lacueva. Ben Jones finds out about the challenges of research on sea ice and glaciers of Antarctica.
Extreme temperatures, rapidly changing weather conditions and incredible isolation make research in Antarctica hugely challenging. But for Dr Viena Puigcorbé Lacueva those challenges are magnified even further.
That’s because the ship she travels on, her clothes, and even the equipment she uses to collect samples can contaminate her data.
Dr Puigcorbé Lacueva’s research examines the chemical processes at work in the world’s oceans and how they are affecting global warming.
The project team is sampling water from sea ice hoping to find out how increased levels of iron in the Southern Ocean could change the way plankton and other microscopic algae are absorbing carbon dioxide.
In collecting samples, they had to be as far away from the research team’s ship as possible to ensure iron particles from the ship’s hull didn’t taint their data.
“This is because the natural levels of iron in the ocean are extremely low and contamination can occur very easily while sampling,” she said.
“We also had to wear special clean suits on top of our polar gear, always use gloves, and the equipment used had to be suitable for trace metal sampling.”
That meant the team’s ice corer was made from titanium, knives from porcelain, and other parts of their equipment coated in Teflon to prevent contamination.
It sounds complicated, but Dr Puigcorbé Lacueva says Antarctica is still an easier place to work than the Arctic – the wildlife is a lot friendlier.
“When we go to the Arctic we have someone constantly on the lookout for polar bears,” she said.
Unsurprisingly Dr Puigcorbé Lacueva’s research involves spending a lot of time out on the ocean – sometimes up to three months.
But being cooped up aboard a research ship for weeks on end isn’t an issue for her.
“It’s really different when you’re out at sea; you don’t have working hours, you have to be ready when there’s work to do,” she said.
“I actually like it when the ship is moving in rough seas as it helps me sleep but you need to be really
careful conducting experiments when the ship is moving.”
The incredibly low concentration of iron in the Southern Ocean limits the ability of plankton and microscopic algae to photosynthesise and absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Dr Puigcorbé Lacueva says the increase in melting sea ice could lead to greater absorption of carbon dioxide, potentially helping to better offset global warming.
“The oceans, just like forests, can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis done by the phytoplankton living in the surface waters,” she said.
“The overall goal of my research is to provide a quantitative estimate of the amount of organic carbon being exported to great depths in the open ocean, where it will remain isolated from the atmosphere for long periods of time.”
Dr Puigcorbé Lacueva was part of a team of scientists travelling on Australia’s icebreaker RSV Aurora Australis. The project was led by Dr Will Hobbs and Dr Delphine Lannuzel and included scientists from the University of Tasmania, the ARC-funded Antarctic Gateway Partnership, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, the Australian Antarctic Division, CSIRO, ECU, and universities from around the world.
Iron in sea ice
You Study What?
88
Life Hacks
Taking a hammer to your hard drive or USB stick is the only way to ensure that data is gone forever, says computer forensics lecturer Patryk Szewczyk. In his research he has been able to recover private information from a host of second hand USBs and hard drives bought online.
Eccentric exercise is any exercise performed when muscles are lengthening, such as walking down stairs, lowering weights or sitting down in a chair. Professor Ken Nosaka’s research has shown eccentric exercise reduces your chances of developing diabetes.
Reading closer than 30cm to
the face is a leading cause of myopia, or short
sightedness, according to public health
expert Professor
Wei Wang.
When cooked potatoes cool, the starch they contain is converted into resistant starch. Dr Claus Christophersen says this is vital to the health of your gut
bacteria, or microbiome, and can reduce your chances of developing
obesity, non-alcoholic liver disease and certain
types of cancer.
Owning a dog is more effective than a house alarm in deterring a would-be burglar, according to criminology researcher Dr Natalie Gately, who interviewed convicted burglars and found a dog would deter 53 per cent from entering a property.
GET A DOG
WALK DOWN
THE STAIRS
INSTEAD OF UP
READ EVERYTHING AT LEAST A RULER’S DISTANCE FROM YOUR FACE
SMASH YOUR HARD DRIVES
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POTATOES COOL DOWN
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Q. You’ve performed with all state opera companies and have been prima soprano, singing with Opera Australia for more than 20 years. Have you a favourite performance?
I have many favourites. I think in my top three would be singing at Covent Garden as the Vixen in The Cunning Little Vixen. It was an incredible experience and the most beautiful place to sing, with wonderful colleagues. It was also incredibly challenging physically. It required lots of crawling and leaping; I’ve never worked so hard in my life!
Another favourite would be the 2001 New Years’ Eve performance at the Sydney Opera House. I was seven and a half months pregnant with my first son, Jack, and singing for the first time Ophelia’s mad scene, from Hamlet, with Simone Young conducting.
WAAPA’s new Head of Classical Voice is returning to the place where her career began to teach performance. She speaks with Tori Pree.
Q. What are you looking forward to most about returning to Perth and your alma mater?
I left WAAPA with the plan of coming back one day. My job interview for my new position was daunting, though, as I had to sing for the panel in the music auditorium. I hadn’t sung in there since my graduating recital and I felt like a student again! To come back now and share my passion for technique, stage craft and the opera repertoire is a huge honour.
Q. How different will it be to go from performer to teacher?
It’s a big change, but one I’ve been doing gradually. I’m not stopping singing, just doing less, so I can focus on my students. I love hearing a voice grow and getting to know the young singers. Singing isn’t just about singing — you need to be able to communicate through your voice and through your physical expression. I’ll be focussing very much on technique with my students, which needs to be mastered before they can become real artists.
Q. What is the one piece of advice you have for WAAPA’s aspiring Classical Voice singers?
Properly focus on all the steps needed to produce beautiful line and tone, and a constant flow of breath. When you’re given a vocalise to learn, learn it. Study languages, be prepared for lessons and be patient — it takes longer for some voice types to get it right. Listen to recordings, and go to as many live performances as possible.
Q. What do you love most about opera?
Opera is the ultimate of art forms. It is profoundly moving, and the voices combined with the orchestra and the visual elements, when done right, are incredibly powerful. People who say they’re not into opera generally haven’t been to a performance or have seen an uninspiring production. Do yourself a favour and open your mind and ears, get off your phones, and go and see one of the fabulous West Australian Opera performances. You’ll be surprised!
5 minutes with...
"Singing isn’t just about singing — you need to be able to communicate through your voice and through your physical expression."
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1. Coventry, LL., Pickles, S., Sin, M., Towell, A., Giles, M., Murray K., Twigg, D. Impact of the Orthopaedic Nurse Practitioner role on acute hospital length of stay and cost-savings for patients with hip fracture: A retrospective cohort study, Journal of Advanced Nursing. Available at http://journalofadvancednursing.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/roger-watson-editor-in-chief-case-for.html
2. Atwood, T., Connolly, R., Almahasheer, H., Carnell, P., Duarte, C., Ewers Lewis, C., Irigoien, X., Kelleway, J., Lavery, P., Macreadie, P., Serrano, O., Sanders, C., Santos, I., Steven, A. and Lovelock, C. (2017). Global patterns in mangrove soil carbon stocks and losses. Nature Climate Change, [online] 7(7), pp.523-528. Available at: https://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v7/n7/full/nclimate3326.html.
3. Sartori, J., Petersen, R,. Coall, D.A., Quinlivan https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85023769373&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&st1=%22edith+cowan+university%22&nlo=&nlr=&nls=&sid=02770E2871D4E2522C48C12B91963511.wsnAw8kcdt7IPYLO0V48gA%3a130&sot=b&sdt=cl&cluster=scopubyr %2c%222017%22%2ct&rr=30&sl=31&s=AFFIL%28%22edith+cowan+university%22%29&relpos=14&citeCnt=0&searchTerm=
4. Masek, M., Boston, J., Lam, C.P., Corcoran, S. (2017) Improving mastery of fractions by blending video games into the Math classroom, Journal of Computing Assisted Learning. Available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12194/full
5. Sartori, J., Petersen, R,. Coall, D.A., Quinlivan, J. (2017) The impact of maternal nausea and vomiting in pregnancy on expectant fathers: findings from the Australian Fathers’ Study, Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0167482X.2017.1344831
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The proportion of expectant fathers who don’t know if their partners experienced nausea or vomiting during pregnancy.
The amount of improvement in primary school student knowledge of fractions after playing the maths app Abydos.
Grandparents who babysit their grandchildren live up to five years longer than those who don’t.
10
Research by the numbersBig Data
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Driving for the distance
It’s why Calan has turned to ECU strength and conditioning expert Professor Tony Blazevich and nutritionist and dietician Dr Therese O’Sullivan, who have been helping the future racing star prepare to compete at the highest level.
While in many sports the physical condition of the athlete takes precedence, in motor racing psychological factors are highly significant, so Blazevich and O’Sullivan have taken a holistic approach.
“Obviously in most sports there’s a psychological element, but we’re generally trying to optimise the physical: go faster, go harder,” Blazevich explains.
“In car racing, it’s not a case of running faster or lifting heavier; it’s a complex motor-control activity.
“Every car is different and every race is different, so the question isn’t ‘how do we train a race car driver’, but instead, ‘how do we understand, from the driver’s perspective, what the task of driving his specific car in his specific class means’.
“What is unique to his class of motor racing right now, and what does that mean for developing him as a driver?”
Balancing the demands of Formula 3 is of particular interest to Dr O’Sullivan, who is working with ECU Master of Nutrition and Dietetics student Tristan Schwartzkopff to optimise Calan’s nutrition and hydration.
“Motor sports are mentally challenging,” Dr O’Sullivan explains.
“With motor and cognitive skills being used at the same time, Calan’s heart
At just 17, Calan Williams is a force to be reckoned with on the Formula 3 circuit. But to achieve his goal of reaching Formula 1, writes Lisa Shearon, he has to be at his best, both on and off the track.
rate goes up extremely high.
“He’s got to stay calm and he’s got to stay focused – not just on what he’s doing, but on what his car is doing and what’s happening on the track. He’s got to move rapidly and precisely and have that brain-muscle connection happening.
“Nutrition and hydration are really important for that.”
Calan has been set a diet that takes his high energy requirements into account, and he is working on ensuring optimal hydration.
“Even as little as one per cent of your bodyweight lost during an event equates to a decrease in work capacity, which will decrease his performance,” Dr O'Sullivan says.
Being a teenager, Calan is still a long way from achieving his peak physical strength, which Blazevich says puts him at a disadvantage on the race track, so this is another area of focus. Strength conditioning helps him avoid fatigue and maintain accuracy.
“In Calan’s class of racing there is a significant physical requirement, particularly in stabilising the head and turning the steering wheel,” Blazevich says.
“The shoulders, arms and neck are a prime area for development, and in young people that is an area of weakness.
“The more force we produce, the more we need to activate our fast-twitch muscle fibres to help us, and these fibres aren’t ideal when we need to be accurate," he says.
“The stronger we can get Calan in certain areas of his body – his legs, for pushing the brake and the clutch,
and his arms, for moving the steering wheel – the less he’ll need the fast-twitch muscle fibres, and the more accurately he can use the clutch, brakes or steering wheel. His physical development should improve his racing ability to drive fast with high accuracy.”
For Calan, the process has been beneficial physically and psychologically.
“Both Therese and Tony have been really good at explaining why and how things work, and how we can make the most of these things,” Calan says.
“The physical gym work has been really important, and I definitely feel like I’m stronger and have more energy.
“I’ve also been a lot more conscious about what I eat. Therese has given me some great nutritious ideas for breakfast and lunch, which are working well, and she’s even recommended a cooking course.
“It’s making a big difference to my performance.”
You can follow Calan’s successes at www.calanwilliamsracing.com
Community
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Wha
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Weaponisation of social media, global cyber disruption, zombie spies: they sound like science fiction but that’s Australia’s new battlefield, in which our IT capability will matter as much as conventional weaponry. Brad Thompson looks at defence in a world of unconventional wars.
Information Warfare Division — the Orwellian name conjures up visions of the military conducting dark deeds in an age of global disruption, where malware and social media are powerful weapons.
And that is exactly the role Australia intends for the cyber warriors being recruited to fill the ranks of this, the latest addition to the country’s armed forces.
The Australian Government made a radical shift in defence strategy this year while public debate was focused on the politics of its $89 billion Naval Shipbuilding Plan.
With discussion concentrated on boats and subs, the formation of the Information Warfare Division in July hardly rated a mention. There was certainly no flag waving for what represented a declaration of cyber warfare by Australia.
Part of the Information Warfare Division’s mission is to develop cyber weaponry to attack Australia’s adversaries.
These attacks could include the Australian military penetrating another country’s IT to disrupt or to deny the enemy access to their systems.
In simple terms, it could mean stopping submarines dead in the water, preventing missile launches and grounding aircraft.
And ransomware attacks such as Petya and WannaCry are a window to what could be unleashed for military purposes.
was certainly no flag waving for what represented a declaration of cyber warfare by Australia.
13
Unconventional wars
A changing theatre of warProfessor Craig Valli, director of ECU’s Security Research Institute, says the cyber battlefield now crosses into every other theatre of war.
“There are five domains of warfare now,” Valli says.
“There is traditional land, there’s sea, there’s air, there’s space and there’s cyber space.
“The fifth domain has a quirk in that all other domains depend on the fifth domain.”
As one military expert puts it, there is much that can be done to “hassle, harass, interdict, subvert, undermine and damage” an adversary in the skirmishing before open conflict.
This includes using social media as a weapon in propaganda, misdirection, recruitment and corrupting political processes.
Australia has been on the cyber defensive for decades, focused on guarding its systems from attack. The formation of the Information Warfare Division under the command of a Major General with a PhD in cyber security and background in the special forces marks a much more aggressive strategy.
The Information Warfare Division, now led by Maj. Gen. Marcus Thompson, is also tasked with developing new defensive weapons, gathering intelligence and protecting military assets.
13
adversary in the skirmishing before open conflict.
14
Conventional investment gets a boostAustralia’s conventional military assets will eventually grow to include the navy’s 12 new offshore patrol boats, nine new frigates and 12 new submarines — all carrying an array of complex IT systems.
West Australian companies have faced an uphill battle in the form of domestic politics to grab a piece of the offshore patrol boat, submarine and frigate construction pie, despite a strong track record in naval shipbuilding.
Henderson-based Austal is the only foreign shipbuilder since the American War of Independence to build warships as a Prime contractor for the US Navy.
On a wet and wild day late in July this year, the company created another little piece of history.
Austal chief executive officer David Singleton watched with pride as apprentice Ricardo De Oliveira helped the Minister for Defence Industry, Christopher Pyne, weld on a small steel plate during the ceremonial keel laying for a Pacific Patrol Boat.
The boat is the first of 19 of the 39.5 metre steel hull vessels Austal is building for Pacific Island nations for delivery between 2018 and 2023.
Australia is providing the vessels under the $306 million Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) Project and it is the first major element of the Naval Shipbuilding Plan.
Singleton says the PPB-R Project is an early indication of the benefits set to flow from the Naval Shipbuilding Plan.
“This project is anticipated to employ more than 200 people directly at Austal and hundreds more through our growing Australian supply chain, providing outstanding career opportunities for both qualified workers and apprentices across the country,” he says.
“We’ve already employed more than 30 new apprentices so far this year and we anticipate having 100 on board by the end of 2017.”
Job creation and the up-skilling of WA’s workforce in trades and in disciplines like engineering and IT are constant themes for Austal and its CEO.
Singleton held senior roles with BAE Systems, one of the world’s leading defence companies, before coming to Australia.
He was also chief executive of Alenia Marconi Systems, a joint venture between BAE Systems and Finmeccanica that employed 7500 people and was a leader in naval warfare and air defence systems.
The former UK Ministry of Defence researcher understands the skills and expertise needed to build modern naval vessels.
The Naval Shipbuilding Plan sets out some of the details of what is required of the vessels as well as the price tags. The plan estimates the future frigate program is worth $35 billion in capital investment.
“By 2035, around half the world’s submarines will be operating in the Indo-Pacific region where Australia’s interests are most engaged,” the plan states.
“The primary purpose of the future frigate is to detect, track and, if required, destroy enemy submarines.”
The frigates will rely on IT systems for their protection and in turn those IT systems are potential targets for cyber attack.
Austal recogises the need for that expertise and for engineers to support what Singleton sees as a national endeavour that will grow Australia’s shipbuilding capability and create cross-generational employment opportunities.
ECU and the company have formed a partnership with the aim of developing a Maritime Research and Education Institute to lead Australia in meeting the needs of the shipbuilding industry.
The partnership involves ECU’s School of Engineering — which will work with Austal on developing a maritime engineering degree – the Security Research Institute and the School of Business and Law.
14
Singleton says the PPB-R Project is an early indication of the benefits set to flow from the Naval Shipbuilding Plan.
“This project is anticipated to employ more than 200 people directly at Austal and hundreds more through our growing Australian supply chain, providing outstanding career opportunities for both qualified workers and apprentices across the country,” he says.
“We’ve already employed more than 30 new apprentices so far this year and we anticipate having 100 on board by the end of 2017.”
15
Unconventional wars
Cyber soldiers prepare for dutyUnofficial reports suggest Australia’s Information Warfare Division will start with about 100 personnel and has plans to recruit 800 more by the end of the decade as it tries to develop cyber weapons and blunt the bots.
Writing in the Defence Force Journal prior to the formation of the Information Warfare Division, Maj. Gen. Thompson proposed a framework for the development of cyber warfare capabilities and highlighted the need for the Australian Defence Force to have attacking options.
“Recognising that it is not good enough for a professional military force to be capable of only ‘taking a punch’, the ADF must also be capable of delivering active cyber effects, particularly to exploit opportunities as part of tactical action in support of local commanders,” he wrote.
“Such effects could include the design and delivery of malware, and extending the reach of the Australian Signals Directorate.
“However, the activity of ADF personnel in cyberspace will inevitably generate national sensitivity, and must occur only within a nationally-sanctioned legal and policy framework.”
But the ADF is already looking to recruit some unconventional soldiers to fight increasingly unconventional battles.
Under the heading “Finding Cyber Warriors”, Maj. Gen. Thompson conceded that finding the right people to prosecute cyber warfare could mean the ADF had to “reconsider its recruiting model, physical entry standards, its pay structure, and traditional corps/speciality structures in order to open any cyber-related trades to both new and existing personnel with the appropriate attributes”.
It's a battlefield ECU is preparing students to enter.
The University is widely acknowledged as among the best in the world in the field of cyber security and one of only two Academic Centres of Cyber Security Excellence in Australia.
Cyber security skills are in high demand with estimates there will be a global shortfall of 1.5 million cyber security professionals by 2020. Valli says top cyber security students at ECU are being recruited on six-figure salaries before they have time to complete their degrees.
“We produce 150 to 200 graduates a year with cyber security as a major or a full degree in cyber security,” he says.
“And it is nowhere near filling the gap.”
Professor Craig Valli (far right), director of ECU's Security Research Institute, says cyber security skills are in high demand.
16
Unconventional wars
The army rolled in early on April 27, and went quickly on the attack. Before long, hundreds of thousands had been affected; some joining the fray, others trying to distance themselves from a fight that seemed terribly familiar.
But this wasn’t a ground invasion or border skirmish, but a coordinated Twitter attack trying to undermine the lead candidate for French elections, now President Emanuel Macron.
Information had been hacked from the Macron campaign and was being leaked and promoted on Twitter, in much the same way that material from Hillary Clinton’s campaign was leaked and promoted during the election that led to Donald Trump.
As researchers from the University of Southern California discovered, by examining more than 350,000 tweets related to #MacronLeaks, around 20,000 robots or Twitter bots were driving the character attack.
The bots represented around 20 per cent of all tweeters, pushing information to human-controlled coordinated accounts that would amplify the message – and then to ordinary people considered likely to kick the story along.
It was a repeat of the Trump campaign, according to the researchers, where roughly the same proportion of bots were used to promote his message and denigrate Clinton.
What’s more, many accounts that had lain dormant since Trump’s election were now surging back into life to attack Macron. These zombies were back, trying desperately, if unsuccessfully, to influence the French vote.
Just a few years ago, few could have predicted that social media could be weaponised in such a way.
But as social media becomes a more powerful source of news, bot armies can now drive conversations, frame news coverage, create fake stories out of nothing and – potentially – change elections.
Coupled with big data analytics that indicate the kind of voter most susceptible to bot messaging, it is a stunning new battlefield on which nations find themselves fighting.
Yet because it sounds the stuff of a Tom Clancy potboiler – zombie accounts, spyware, sleeper cells on Twitter – it risks not being taken seriously.
Professor Craig Valli sees the weaponisation of social media as a natural progression and, he warns, the march of the Twitter bots is just the beginning.
“The only thing that has changed and will continue to change in the negative aspect is the amount of chaos and entropy on the internet,” he says.
“It will be increasingly used as a means of attacking people and trying to subvert and apply soft influence.”
When bots attack
16
Get ready.
One day, your research could make a global impact.
For more information, visit ecugetready.com.au/researchAustralia’s top ranked public university for student satisfaction.QILT rankings April 2017.
As a research student at ECU, you’ll extend your knowledge and have the ability to make a real difference to the lives of others.You’ll be part of our vibrant research community with an extensive training program and highly qualified supervisors. ECU is also excited to have welcomed 15 Professorial Research Fellows to the team who are world leaders in their fields. According to the 2017 International Student Barometer, our Graduate Research School has been ranked amongst the top three in Australia in each year since 2011 with satisfaction of 95% or higher.
ECU aims to support research that complements and contributes to both Australian and State Government identified research priority areas. Our key research areas are:
• Medical, health and sports sciences• Cyber security• Ecology and environment
• Engineering, especially materials engineering, nanophotonics and nanoelectronics
• Business and management
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When it comes to food waste we are, it seems, at crisis point.
Gone are the days of eating everything on our plate; today, an astonishing 20 per cent of all food purchased is thrown away.
In real terms, this means that the average Australian family is throwing away one out of every five bags of groceries purchased, adding up to $1,036 per household.
When you put it like that, it’s not hard to see why it’s time to take action.
“The stats show that collectively we’re throwing away about $8 billion worth of food each year,” Ros Sambell, from ECU’s School of Medical and Health Science, explains.
“The biggest wasters seem to be 18 to 24-year-olds, people who have an income over $100,000, and families with children.”
Add this food wastage up, and you’re looking at enough to fill 450,000 garbage trucks. From an environmental point of view, this is devastating.
Once in landfill, the wasted food rots with other organics and produces methane, an organic gas that is 25 times more potent than the carbon pollution coming from your car’s exhaust. In addition, when you discard food, you’re also wasting the water, fuel and resources it took to get the food to your front door.
So why is the problem so bad?
“We’re becoming somewhat disconnected from food production,” Sambell says.
“Food simply appears on the shelves of our supermarket, without us considering the resources that are used in the production of that food; the time, the hours, the water, the transport, the cold storage, the packaging. If you’re discarding food,
you’re discarding those resources as well.”
Sambell believes food literacy has a huge role to play in changing our attitudes towards wastage.
As the co-lead of the Jamie’s Ministry of Food program sponsored by ECU, she teaches strategies that prioritise the importance of healthy food and promotes skills that give individuals the confidence to plan, shop or grow foods, then cook and eat them in a connected way.
“Our mothers passed on to us how to cook and how to plan, but we’re not all passing this on to our children,” she explains.
“This has seen a decline in cooking skills, as well as meal planning.
“We’re so used to the convenience of thinking, ‘What am I going to have for dinner tonight?’ that we can over-purchase, then do the same thing tomorrow.
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Winning the war on waste
As the rest of the country continues to waste food on a catastrophic level, WA has stepped up to address the issue of food waste head-on. As Lisa Shearon writes, we now have some of the most forward-thinking initiatives in the world.
ECU nutrition and dietetic student Eleanora Stojanoska (left) and senior lecturer of Nutrition and Dietetics Dr Therese O'Sullivan (right) have developed a ground-breaking new food app called ReFood to tackle the issue of food waste.
“It’s the whole gamut of food literacy, from planning, shopping, cooking and even eating that appears to have a reduced priority in our day-to-day living.”
According to Sambell, food-literacy programs give people confidence in cooking from scratch. They encourage people to purchase whole foods and teach them how to plan meals.
“These programs build skills and confidence, so people don’t find it as challenging to make the right choices,” she says.
“There’s certainly a lot of food products that get discarded at that production level because they’re not deemed as attractive for consumers. We want to make these products more acceptable.”
To address the issue of food wastage, Dr Therese O’Sullivan, senior lecturer of Nutrition and Dietetics at ECU, is working with nutrition and dietetic student
Eleanora Stojanoska to develop a ground-breaking new app called ReFood.
“The aim is to establish a food-sharing network, to make it as easy as possible for businesses to offload food that might otherwise be going in the bin,” Dr O'Sullivan says.
“Cafes and restaurants typically produce somewhere between two to seven kilograms of waste per day for each full-time employee they have. Of that, about 30 per cent is food waste.
“Bakeries end up throwing out bags of perfectly edible bread, freshly made that morning, because they’ve got nothing else to do with it.
“The ReFood app will send an alert to your phone, telling you that there’s food nearby that’s available to collect. We’re trying to connect local community groups with local businesses, so that good food is not wasted.”
While the issue is fundamentally centred on wastage, food security is also significant.
“Food security is an issue in WA,” Dr O'Sullivan says.
“Recent research by ECU PhD student Lucy Butcher suggests that there are more people at risk of food insecurity here in WA than we initially thought.
“It seems that with the mining downturn, a lot of people are over-extended. Even though the mining boom is over, the cost of living is still very high. They might not have the same income coming in, but the costs are still the same.”
One organisation leading the war against waste in Western Australia is Food Rescue. Manager Julie Broad works closely with Sambell to stay at the forefront of research and innovation, with the result that Food Rescue is doing something quite extraordinary for both the community and the environment.
“Cafes and restaurants typically produce two to seven kilograms of waste per day for each full-time employee they have. Of that, about 30 per cent is food waste.”- Dr Therese O'Sullivan
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Winning the war on waste
Winning the war on waste
Food Rescue was established in 2011 by Jacqui Jordan, who had a passion for providing fresh, nutritious food to people doing it tough. Today, the organisation rescues 500,000 kilograms of fresh food each year, as well as four cubic metres of plastic each week.
Sambell is now training third-year Community Nutrition students in Food Literacy Education strategies, with these students in turn training agencies who access food from Food Rescue.
The goal is to reduce waste overall and increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
“Food Rescue is leading the way in food waste here in Australia,” Broad explains.
“Not only do we digest all the food on site – the inedible food that we don’t pass over to charities – but we also recycle all the plastics that we inherit from supermarkets.”
When Broad joined Food Rescue in 2014, she saw an opportunity to expand the organisation’s remit, and make a greater environmental impact.
At the beginning of this year, an Orca aerobic digester was introduced to Food Rescue, with the result that all inedible food is digested on site and returned to the waste water stream.
“Fresh food has had a lot of food miles under its belt by the time it gets to us; it’s been grown on the farm, gone to the market, gone to the supermarket, and then come to us,” Broad explains.
“Our food doesn’t continue on any more food miles. We take off all the plastic, pack up the edible food, and then the inedible food – the manky old strawberries and squashed avocadoes – is digested in our warehouse.”
“We’re so used to the convenience of thinking, ‘What am I going to have for dinner tonight?’ that we can over-purchase, then do the same thing tomorrow.“- Ross Sambell
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Winning the war on waste |
Food Rescue Manager Julie Broad (left) and a Food Rescue volunteer with the food carts in Perth's CBD.
In addition to the great work Food Rescue does on site in Balcatta, it also operates two cargo carts, which collect food from the city’s cafes and restaurants.
“With the help of 18 corporates and four schools, we push two carts around the CBD. Volunteers walk around to the 48 cafes, and then one of our vans collects the food and takes it to homeless people and refuges by five o’clock every day," she says.
“Last year we rescued 42,000 items, and connected the community in the process.”
According to the experts, the war against waste begins with us, at home.
“Start writing a meal plan for the week,” Sambell suggests.
“Check what food you already have in your fridge and cupboard before you go shopping.
“Think twice before buying any specials or deals – do you really need it?
“Also look at portion sizes, and make sure you’re not over-consuming, then consider using leftovers for lunch the next day.
“Look at composting food waste you generate at home, or setting up a worm farm. Even better, grow your own fruit, veg and herbs – even a fruit tree. Quite simply: go back to basics.”
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Community groups or businesses interested in being involved in the ReFood pilot project should contact Dr O’Sullivan on 08 6304 3529, or email [email protected]
St Stephen’s School in Carramar is taking great strides to win the war on waste. Inspired by Food Rescue, they’ve built two pushcarts and – with the backing of the school community – are collecting food from cafés in Joondalup and Wanneroo to distribute amongst the marginalised people of the community.
ECU researcher and grandmother Dr Donell Holloway says policies need to be updated to protect children's privacy.
It is the cuddly spy in the cradle and their interactive digital friend. The camera in their bedroom and the gadget that brings their art to life. A springboard for their imagination — and potentially one of the biggest privacy and data security risks facing young children.
Welcome to the internet of toys – an offshoot of the so-called internet of things — in which almost any device can be connected to the internet, enabling children as young as toddlers to send and receive data.
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The internet of toys can transform an ordinary toy into a smart, interactive playtime companion, but this increased connectivity can also carry hidden risks. Tiffany Fox looks at the ethics, security and trends behind the new generation of toys.
For a parent trawling the toy aisles for a new and diverting plaything for a birthday or Christmas, the growing number of smart, interactive playtime companions and learning devices can seem like a dream come true.
But with technology outpacing policy development, this new generation of toys also carry hidden risks surrounding the security of the child’s data and privacy.
In January, it was revealed the popular CloudPets stuffed toys, which allowed kids and their far-away parents to exchange heartfelt messages, had exposed more than 800,000 customer emails and credentials, as well as two million voice recordings, online.
CloudPets were not the only toys targeted by hackers.
A 2015 hack of electronic toy-maker VTech revealed names, birthdays, addresses, chat logs, and photos of more than five million parents and 200,000 children.
In May, an 11-year-old at a security conference was able to ‘weaponise’ a teddy bear by hacking the phone of a participant and using it to manipulate the smart toy’s behaviour.
ECU DECRA fellow and researcher Dr Donell Holloway, who presented a research paper on the Internet of Toys with Professor Lelia Green at the Australian & New Zealand Communication Association conference last year, says research and updated policies are needed to protect children’s privacy.
“In the effort to get on to the market quickly, (developers) have not really thought about privacy by design or privacy by default in the toys they make,” Holloway says.
“Who owns this dossier of children’s data is a legal question that has not been answered yet, and how we can ensure that children and their parents can control and hopefully retain ownership of their data.
“It is not all doom and gloom. There are lots of benefits to these toys
but it is just that the industry has moved along fairly quickly without pausing to think of some of those issues.”
In Germany, a voice recognition-enabled doll called My Friend Cayla was recently banned by the country’s communications watchdog because it was capable of transmitting signals and recorded images or sound without detection.
It prompted a similar warning by the FBI to American consumers.
Holloway said as well as My Friend Cayla, which was available to buy online in Australia, the popular Hello Barbie used voice recognition technology connected to the cloud to analyse, process and respond to children’s conversations and images.
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I spy the Internet of Toys
I spy the I spy the I spy the I spy the I spy the internet I spy the internet I spy the of toys
“It is not all doom and gloom. There are lots of benefits to these toys but it is just that the industry has moved along fairly quickly without pausing to think of some of those issues.”- Dr Donell Holloway
Other internet-connected toys included app-enabled drones, cars and robots such as Star War’s BB-8 Droid, toys-to-life games such as Skylanders, which connected action figures to video games, and puzzle and building games like Osmo, which used a device clipped on to a tablet’s camera to bring objects or art to life on the screen.
Children’s tech wearables, such as smart watches, fitness trackers and sleep monitors, also collected “massive” amounts of data on infants and children.
According to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, parents need to be aware of toys that connected to the internet through Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth and a mobile device, and store collected information on a server or in the cloud.
As children interacted with the toy it could collect data including the child’s name, gender, date of birth, their geolocation, photograph and chat and voice messages.
Holloway says that while some parents may be aware of the security risks, the toys were “flying under the radar” for others.
“Children definitely just see these as just another toy, with special or extra abilities, and they are not necessarily thinking of privacy,” she says.
“For parents, the problem is once they buy the toy, they own the toy, but to get it working they have to go online, connect the toy and tick off all the terms of service.
“In some ways it is not a privacy choice for parents. Once you have bought the toy, you want it to work.”
ECU School of Science Associate Dean for computing and security Paul Haskell-Dowland says one challenge for policy makers and consumers is the global nature of the toy industry.
While manufacturers can meet their legal obligations by providing data processing, storage and privacy statements — which can
often attempt to put the onus back on consumers — the terms and conditions are often not worded in a way easily understood by the average person.
“The manufacturers are typically multinational or global organisations so you are not dealing with an Australian manufacturer for toys targeting the Australian market,” he says.
"As a consequence they are operating in multiple jurisdictions. Even if they were to offer advice, or be clear on what their product is and how it works ... the company will aim for a level of disclosure that meets the minimum standards of wherever they are operating.
“It is unlikely to be in a form aimed at being understood by the end user.”
Haskell-Dowland says while internet-enabled toys are not necessarily a high-value target for exploitation, they potentially provide a poorly secured backdoor into personal home networks.
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“ Children definitely just see these as just another toy, with special or extra abilities, and they are not necessarily thinking of privacy.”
- Dr Donell Holloway
tips for parents preparing for the internet of toys
He says parents can take simple steps, including monitoring their children’s use of the toys, setting up a unique profile for toys that is separate from their personal profiles, and avoiding linking devices to payment information, in order to improve their data security.
“If you have a device that a child interacted with that posted to social media, then somewhere in the system there is a linkage between that device and a social media account,” he says.
“We know the end users will frequently reuse credentials so it may be that we have a route to accessing a set of usernames and passwords that could be used in other services, and if you are daft enough, it could be your online banking account.
“It is about hopping between accounts and devices.”
Educational technologist and ECU School of Education research assistant Zina Cordery says that while information security is a cause for concern, programmable digital toys and apps can have positive outcomes for children when used properly by parents and educators.
She says internet-enabled toys have the potential to teach 21st
century life and work skills, such as coding and sequencing, engineering, building, creating and innovating, and allowed children to develop these skills through free play.
“They also teach students that it is okay to make mistakes, and it is okay to try things out and perhaps do things differently to other people,” she says.
“Unfortunately we are not in a position to say no to any technology, because to be able to function in the world that we live in currently, you have to know how to use the technology and know how it works.
“So long as parents are being responsible and making good decisions with the information they have, I think the benefits outweigh the risks.”
1. Set strong passwords and teach your child not to share passwords with friends.
2. Stay informed about security and software updates.
3. Be aware toys may collect personal information.
4. Check if recording devices can be manually de-activated.
5. Ensure your home network is secured and devices are behind a firewall.
6. Change any default usernames and passwords.
7. Understand what happens to your information. Are there third parties who can access your data?
8. Be your child’s guide online as well as in the real world.
Tips courtesy of the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner.
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I spy the Internet of Toys |
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Go with your gut
It is something polite people do not talk about.
What happens to food after it is eaten is something that makes schoolchildren squeal while most adults do their best not to mention.
Yet the gastrointestinal tract, better known as the gut, is having a moment.
Good bacteria, bad bacteria and, yes, poo, have become a serious part of the health conversation.
Giulia Enders’ book Gut — about “our body’s most underrated organ” — has become an international phenomenon. Michael Mosley, the British doctor behind the wildly
popular 5:2 diet, has now turned his attention to bacteria with The Clever Guts Diet.
Closer to home, Australian celebrity chef and paleo diet spruiker Pete Evans is spruiking The Complete Gut Health Cookbook. Hipster-friendly Perth cafes are doing a brisk trade in turmeric lattes and kombucha brews, both feted for their gut-friendly properties.
The diet industry has been quick to board the bandwagon. Proponents of paleo, sugar-free and gluten free diets, among others, now serve them up with a side promise of good gut health.
If you believe the hype, a healthy
gut can make you skinnier, happier and live longer.
But where do fad diets meet hard science? And exactly how can we target the bad bacteria and encourage the good bugs?
Everyone has bacteria inside them and lots of it: the human gut is teaming with bacteria, parasites, viruses and other bugs, collectively known as the gut microbiome or microbiota.
In a healthy gut, bad bacteria is “kept in check by the good ones,” says pharmacology and toxicology expert Dr Paul Bertrand, who has had more than 70 publications on the workings of the gastrointestinal
What lurks inside your intestines hardly seems a topic for conversation but as Kate Emery writes, waging a war against bad gastrointestinal bacteria could spell a revolution in health.
"The more different types of food you can supply your microbiota with, the more varied your gut community will be."- Dr Paul Bertrand
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tract and its impact on health and disease.
“If the bad bacteria take over, then you get very sick.
“If the gut community is functioning well, it helps to keep your immune system running smoothly, helps to keep your colon healthy and can help provide you with some hard-to-get vitamins and nutrients.”
The idea that a healthy gut means a healthy body is not new.
Hippocrates, popularly regarded as the father of modern medicine, claimed more than 2000 years ago that all disease began in the gut.
What has changed is that science knows a little more about how the gut works and how we can manipulate it.
Many studies have indicated that good gut bacteria reduces the risk of contracting certain chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
The idea of a gut-brain axis has also gained popularity, suggesting gut health could have implications for a range of conditions not obviously linked to digestion, such as Parkinson’s, autism and depression.
It is the link between microbiome and obesity that has the diet industry interested.
Food is one way to help engineer gut microbiome. But what goes in the other end can be just as important.
Faecal microbiota transplants — that’s poo transplants to the layperson — aim to replace good bacteria in an unhealthy gut. Faeces are taken from a healthy donor and transplanted to the recipient via enema, colonoscopy or a tube through the nostril.
What sounds like a crude procedure has proved extremely successful when it comes to treating one particular problem: infections caused by the Clostridium difficile bacterium.
And the medical world is excited by its potential for treating other conditions, from irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue to autism, diabetes and Parkinson’s. So far, however, clinical trials are yet to support its promise in these areas.
Dr Nathan Connelly works for Victoria’s Moonee Valley Specialist Centre, one of the Australian clinics that perform transplants, but has a “healthy scepticism”.
When it comes to treating CDIs transplants are “the ants pants,” he says, but clinical trials are needed to test other claims.
“The question is what else can we treat with it and I think this is where things have gone a bit crazy,” he says.
“I don’t think we’re going to cure everything with this.”
Go with you gut
Your poo or mine?
Gut microbiomeAlso called gut microbiota or gut flora, this is the mix of bacteria, viruses and parasites found in the human gastrointestinal tract.
ProbioticsLive bacteria and yeasts found naturally in fermented foods. There are also many probiotic supplements available on the market.
PrebioticsNon-digestible fibres found in certain fruits and vegetables, including leeks, onions, bananas, wheat and oats, that stimulate the growth of good bacteria.
Faecal Microbiota TransplantProcedure to transplant faeces from a healthy person to an unhealthy person. Successfully used to treat Clostridium difficile colitis but other applications have yet to be proven. Historically used by Bedouin people on their cows and in 4th Century China.
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What the gut?
But the problem with bold claims about how to “fix” or “heal” the gut — and get skinny in the process — is that even the experts are not entirely sure what makes for a perfect gut microbiome.
Professor Tom Riley, Professional Research Fellow at ECU’s School of Medical and Health Science, puts it this way: “What is normal for me isn’t normal for you.”
“Everyone’s gone microbiome mad,” he says.
“This is not the panacea everyone makes it out to be. I think people are getting a bit carried away.”
The gut microbiome changes over a person’s life and can be impacted by diet, environment and the use of things like laxatives and antibiotics.
As anyone who has seen an ad for yoghurt in the past decade will know, probiotics — live bacteria found naturally in certain fermented foods and drinks — may also be able to improve the microbiome.
For this reason fermented foods like kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut are promoted by some diet plans, including proponents of paleo and sugar-free diets.
- A donor is selected and screened for disease. Some practitioners favour relatives. Young vegetarian women often make good donors.
- Faeces are collected.- Faeces are administered to a
patient, usually via colonoscopy, enema or a tube through the nostril and down the throat.
- The good bacteria in the sample replace good bacteria that have been killed off in the patient’s gut, often by antibiotics.
- Most patients recover after only one treatment.
"Everyone’s gone microbiome mad. I think people are getting a bit carried away."
- Professor Tom Riley
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Riley specialises in the study of Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs), a bacterium that can cause potentially fatal diarrhoea.
He is “a big fan of probiotics” to treat recurrent CDIs but says probiotics deserve more scientific scrutiny.
Bertrand also believes the ability of probiotics to cause a general health benefit has been “overstated”.
“Any benefits from probiotics generally need daily intake,” he says.
“Many large clinical trails have failed to find a benefit in healthy people of eating probiotics. If you are unhealthy there may be some short-term benefits from probiotics but a better way to improve gut health is to feed the bacteria that are already there.”
That means “feeding” bacteria with what are known as prebiotics —fibre found in beans, certain vegetables and grains that can
boost the activity of good bacteria.
Bertrand is wary of exclusionary fad diets because they can deprive the gut bacteria of these and other nutrients.
Paleo diets generally advise against eating grains, legumes and sometimes dairy;
gluten-free diets typically mean no pasta or bread and the most extreme interpretation of sugar-free means no fruit.
“Good health is most strongly associated with a large and diverse community of gut microbiota and you need to supply your gut with a variety of fibres and prebiotics foods to support this,” Bertrand says.
“The more different types of food you can supply your microbiota with, the more varied your gut community will be.”
ECU researcher Angela Genoni recently completed a study of 39 women, and found those on a paleo diet were more likely to experience diarrhoea than those following Australian dietary guidelines.
Just why the paleo diet affects the gut is not clear. But one explanation could be that the diet is low in resistance starch, which is found in
potatoes, legumes and some grains and is believed to be good for gut health.
“The area of gut health is really huge at the moment,” Genoni says.
“What we are doing here will help put the pieces of the puzzle together. It just adds to the body of literature.”
Proponents of the paleo diet promote it as good for the gut, she says, but there is a lack of evidence for many of the claims.
“We don’t know. There’s no research on any of it,” she says.
Genoni says the simplest way to improve gut microbiome is to eat more fruit and vegetables.
Bertrand’s message is similarly reminiscent of what health professionals have been saying for years: eat more vegetables, less sugar and reduce portion size.
As for whether healthy people should be trying to manipulate their gut microbiome in the name of better health, the last word goes to Riley.
“All these people that want to do weird things (like) colonic irrigation, they’re going to do more harm than good,” he says.
“One shouldn’t get too hung up on one’s bowels.”
How does a poo transplant work?
Go with you gut |
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Tales of the city
For emerging photographers, photo books still have an important place in the age of Instagram and Facebook.
ECU’s final year photomedia students produce a photographic monograph that may include work they have done during their three years of study as well as exploring new themes and ideas.
The book production gives students an opportunity to really consider what their work is about and what they want to focus on after finishing their studies.
For example, Derren Hall’s book is a direct response to his passion for anything on two wheels, while Ebony Talijancich’s work focuses on ‘girl culture’, feminism and sexuality.
The photographers featured on these pages, as well as their fellow photomedia alumni, are now continuing to develop their style through commercial and personal projects.
Lightbox
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Taylor Bergsma
Taylor Bergsma
Ebony Talijancich
Lightbox
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Derren Hall
Derren Hall
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Ebony Talijancich
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THE WORLD IS NO LONGER ABOUT SURVIVAL OF THE F ITTEST.
IT IS NOW ABOUT SURVIVAL OF THE SMARTEST.
Australia’s top ranked public university for student satisfaction. QILT rankings April 2017.
At ECU, we offer expert postgraduate training, in-cluding specialised masters, internationally accredit-ed courses presented by world-renowned professors, and courses unique to WA.
Register at ecugetready.com.au/postgraduate
• Wednesday, 8 Nov at 6pm, Joondalup Campus• Thursday, 16 Nov at 6pm, Mount Lawley Campus
GET READY TO FUTURE PROOF YOUR CAREER AT ECU’S POSTGRADUATE INFORMATION EVENINGS
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NOVEMBERGIRLS’ PROGRAMMING NETWORK Joondalup Campus | 4 November
This hands-on programming workshop is for high school-aged girls and is taught by female mentors including ECU students and alumni.
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN ECU LECTURE SERIESJoondalup Campus | 22 November
Professor Dawn Penney explores inclusion and gender equity in education, sport and health.
MUSIC UNDER THE STARSJoondalup Campus | 25 November
Be entertained by members of the Perth Symphony Orchestra at our annual alumni concert performing a range of classics and contemporary hits alongside our WAAPA students.
DECEMBERECU SECURITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE SECURITY CONGRESSJoondalup Campus | 5 - 6 December
The SRI Security Congress draws together all areas of security professions and disciplines to advance understanding of contemporary security issues.
OCTOBERALUMNI LEADERSMount Lawley Campus | 3 October
Alumnus and award-winning entrepreneur Marnie LeFevre will share her leadership journey in an inspirational presentation exclusive to ECU alumni.
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN ECU LECTURE SERIESMaker + Co, 75B Victoria Sreet, Bunbury | 18 October
Professor Amanda Devine will explain how ECU is engaging with different community sectors to connect people through food literacy for better health.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITYJoondalup Campus | 26 October
ECU Secondary Education student Jordan Thomas will share his experiences studying at university as a deaf student.
ECU’S RUN FOR IT!Joondalup Campus | 28 October
Race through our stunning Joondalup Campus and straight into Halloween at this spooky fun run, raising money for ECU’s Melanoma Research Group.
Events
For more information on ECU events, visit www.ecu.edu.au
2018 JANUARYCONOCOPHILLIPS SCIENCE EXPERIENCEJoondalup Campus | 16 - 19 January
The three-day ConocoPhillips Science Experience exposes young scientists to the fascinating world of marine biology and environmental science, engineering with motor sport, sport analysis, medical science, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and psychology.
FEBRUARYECU GRADUATION CEREMONIESPerth Convention and Exhibition Centre | 3 - 4 February
The University farewells another batch of successful graduates with the students joining our network of more than 140,000 alumni around the world.
SOUTH WEST GRADUATION CEREMONYBunbury Regional Entertainment Centre | 17 February
With a grand parade through the streets of Bunbury, ECU farewells the South West Campus graduates.
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Alumni
When John Stallwood first tried his hand at home brewing the basic idea was to produce something to get his friends hammered, hence the name of his first beer: Nail Ale.
Twenty-three years later much has changed. Stallwood has taken home a swag of awards and the craft beer market, with an emphasis on quality over quantity, has boomed.
But the name — Stallwood now helms Nail Brewing — has stuck.
It all started with that home brew kit, an ECU marketing degree and a desire for his own brewery.
It was 2000 and WA’s craft beer market was virtually non-existent, with Little Creatures yet to open its doors.
“I was originally brewing in Bobby Dazzlers in the CBD,” Stallwood says.
“I would give people beer and some people would say ‘this doesn’t taste like beer; you make money selling this?’ Luckily some people started to go ‘oh this is different’ but there was no craft beer, it was tough trying to get it on tap.
“Now the craft beer market is booming.”
Stallwood’s life and career took an abrupt turn in 2004 when he intervened in a fight and was badly injured.
He spent ten days in a coma, three weeks in intensive care and a couple of years getting back on his feet.
“I’m lucky to be alive but unfortunately it kind of ruined my life,” Stallwood says candidly of the attack.
“My parents saved us from going bankrupt and I sold my equipment to the Monk Brewery in Fremantle and had to shut down operations to concentrate on my health.”
By the time Stallwood had recovered it was boom-time in WA and the Swan Valley site he had hoped would become his brewery was too expensive.
Slowly he rebuilt, using other people’s facilities, including ECU’s Joondalup campus.
He also put his marketing nous to good use, making international headlines with Antarctic Nail Ale — a one-off batch made from Antarctic ice to raise money for the Sea Shepherd.
One bottle, sold for $1850, was believed to be the most expensive beer ever sold.
“It went viral… so that was great,” he says.
Stallwood achieved the dream of his own brewery in 2012 when Nail Brewing and friendly rival Feral Brewing joined forces to set up operations in Bassendean.
In 2017 Stallwood is looking forward.
“The craft beer market’s still little so it’s still got to grow a lot but at the moment there are more craft breweries than there are craft tap points, which makes the competition on the wholesale very good,” he says.
“The problem with wholesale beer is you need to sell lots of beer to be able to make money... so it’s been a long process. I’m still probably three, five years away from being able to get to that level and it’s hard but getting easier every year.”
For more information on the benefits available to ECU alumni,
see www.ecu.edu.au/alumni
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Social media companies need to work with security agencies to tackle terrorism, writes Dr Robyn Torok.
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The Last Word
Facebook is considered a hotbed for terrorist recruitment, incitement, propaganda and the spreading of radical thinking. Twitter, YouTube and encrypted services such as WhatsApp and Telegram are also implicated.
And governments from Australia to Britain have called on social media companies to do more to crack down on extremist material.
But addressing the extent of such content on social media requires international cooperation both from large and from encrypted services.
Some of that work is already underway, with Facebook’s rules on this recently leaked. Twitter says that in one six-month period it has suspended 376,890 accounts related to the promotion of terrorism.
Yet more can be done, if we focus on disruption, encryption, recruitment and creating counter-narratives.
Disruption starts by removing content and breaking the cycleThis involves reporting and taking down radical elements and threats or actual violence, whether that be by radical accounts or posted content that breaches community safety and standards.
Removing extreme content breaks the flow-on effect while someone is in the process of being recruited by extremists.
But taking down accounts and content is difficult as there is often a large volume of content to remove. Sometimes it is not removed as quickly as needed. In addition, extremists typically have multiple accounts and can operate under various aliases at the same time.
Encryption needs to allow security authority accessWhen Islamic extremists use encrypted channels, it makes
the fight against terrorism much harder. Extremists readily shift from public forums to encrypted areas, and often work in both simultaneously.
Encrypted networks are a problem because of messages are rapidly destroyed and extremists can communicate mostly undetected.
Operations to attack and kill members of the public in the West have been propagated on these encrypted networks.
Authorities – including intelligence agencies and federal police – require access to encrypted networks to do their work more effectively, with access to servers to obtain vital information to help thwart possible attacks on home soil.
This access will need to be granted in consultation with the companies that offer these services but such access could be challenging and there could also be a backlash from privacy groups.
Deterring recruitment requires finding and following key wordsIt was once thought the process of recruitment occurred over extended periods of time and this is still true in some instances. But what makes the process of recruitment quicker is the neurolinguistic programming or NLP method used by terrorists to influence behaviour.
Extremists use this form of psychological manipulation across multiple platforms and are quick to usher their recruits into encrypted chats.
But there are key terms always used alongside NLP, such as “in the heart of green birds” (which is used in reference to martyrdom), “Istishhad” (operational heroism of loving death more than the West love life), “martyrdom” and “Shaheed” (becoming a martyr).
If social media companies know and understand these key terms, they can help by removing any reference to them on their platforms. This is being done by some platforms to a degree, but in many cases social media operators still rely heavily on users reporting inappropriate material.
Banning alone won’t work and counter-narratives are neededSince there are so many social media applications, each with a high volume of material that is both very dynamic and fluid, any attempts to deal with extremism must accept the limitations and challenges involved.
Shutting sites, channels, and web pages is just one approach. But counter-narratives are also essential, as these deconstruct radical ideologies and expose their flaws in reasoning.
Counter-narratives need to be more sophisticated given the ability of extremists to manipulate arguments and appeal to emotions, especially by using horrific images.
This is particularly important for those on the social fringe, who may feel a sense of alienation, to realise that such feelings can be addressed within the context of mainstream Islam without resorting to radical ideologies that leave them open to exploitation by experienced recruiters.
Ultimately, there are ways around all procedures that attempt to tackle the problem of terrorist extremism on social media. But steps are slowly being taken to reduce the risk and spread of radical ideologies.
Dr Robyn Torok is a researcher with ECU’s Security Research Institute. This article was first published on www.theconversation.com/au
Tackling terrorism through social media
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Meeting cyber security challengesWith our reliance on internet-based technology, there’s never been a greater need to protect Australian businesses, government and the community. ECU’s Security Research Institute (ECUSRI) offers world-class teaching and research in Cyber Security, Critical Infrastructure Security, Digital Forensics and Human Security, and has a history of delivering successful research projects for Federal and Defence agencies. Two of the ECU Cyber teams are Interpol Cybercrime experts. We also incorporate teaching from research collaborations with security industry partners.
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