gshc2020.com

Air conditioning is great, and it's good for more than just cooling the air. Unfortunately, the refrigerants used in automotive applications of these systems have a long history of being environmentally unfriendly. The original compound, R12, worked quite well, but contained chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that contributed to holes in the ozone layer, according to the EPA. As a result, R-12 was banned in the 1990s and replaced with R-134a, a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) that we were told would solve all the problems.

While R134a (also known as HFC-134a) does not poke holes in the ozone layer, it's turned out to be a major greenhouse gas. Automotive use of R-134a accounts for 24% of all HFC use and is the most common HFC currently in the atmosphere. Whoops. As is often the case these days, Europe, rather than the US, took the lead on addressing the problem of replacing the replacement. It phased out R-134a in 2017, and R-1234yf rose to take its place.

Keeping us cool but contributing chemicals

Yusuke Ide/Getty Images

R-1234yf is a hydrofluoroolefin (HFO), rather than an HFC, that was supposed to address the shortcomings of both automotive refrigerants that came before it. It does not affect the ozone layer, and it is not a greenhouse gas. Problem solved, right?

Not so fast. A study by the University of Bristol has revealed that while R-1234yf (also known as HFO-1234yf) does provide these benefits, it is also becoming a major source of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the atmosphere. According to ChemTrust, TFA is a "forever chemical" that can harm liver function and reproductive functions, including unborn children. R-134a has also been found to pollute TFAs, but not at nearly as high a rate as its replacement does. 

On a global scale, while R-134a emissions are about 22 times higher due to its long period of use since the 1990s, R-1234yf may already be generating three-quarters as many TFAs, despite only having been in use since 2017. Hotspots for current TFA emissions overlap parts of Europe with high vehicle emissions, where R-1234yf has seen greater use for a longer time than elsewhere in the world. It may be a sign of things to come.

Phys.org adds that while R-1234yf is not itself a greenhouse gas, it can break down into rather powerful greenhouse gases like carbon tetrafluoride, which has a global warming potential several times higher than R-134a, and HFC-23, which has an even stronger global warming potential than the old R-12 refrigerant. On top of all that, it costs more than three times as much as R-134a, contributing to the record-high prices of new cars. So it's more expensive, pollutes larger amounts of TFAs, and makes global warming worse than R-134a instead of better, like it was supposed to. Is it time to go back to what my mom called "4/40 air conditioning," which was four windows down and driving 40 mph? It would be a great excuse to bring back vent windows. %!s()

Logo text

Dancing With the Stars is getting ready to welcome the addition of a new professional dancer at the end of Next Pro. 

The spinoff stars a group of 12 dancers who must compete in weekly challenges for a shot at becoming the next pro dancer on season 35 of Dancing With the Stars. Only time will tell who will win the series, securing a spot in the main series’ recurring cast. 

With new episodes airing Mondays, The Hollywood Reporter is breaking down all the details on the cast of dancers, who was eliminated each week, the judges and mentors.

• Robert Irwin

  

  Season 34 champion Robert Irwin serves as the host of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro. 

• Mark Ballas

  

  Three-time Mirrorball Champion Mark Ballas is one of two permanent judges on Next Pro. He joined Dancing With the Stars’ season five cast as a pro, and has become a mainstay on the recurring pro cast. 

• Shirley Ballas

  

  Shirley Ballas, mother to Mark, is the second recurring Next Pro judge. She is a staple in the ballroom dance world, and also serves as the head judge of Strictly Come Dancing. 

• Derek Hough

  

  Dancing With the Stars judge and six-time Mirrorball Champion Derek Hough was the first Next Pro guest judge. He taught the dancers jive and samba numbers, where judging technique was at the forefront of the premiere week. 

• Briar Nolet

  

  AGE 27

  FROM Los Angeles 

  SPECIALITY Commercial dance.

  Briar Nolet was eliminated during the first episode of Next Pro.

• Jake Monreal

  

  AGE 22

  FROM Miami

  SPECIALITY Latin

  Jake Monreal was eliminated during the first episode of Next Pro. Before appearing on the show, Jake joined the Dancing With the Stars family as a junior pro dancer on the Juniors spinoff, where he was mentored by Sasha Farber.

• Adele Zaikman

  

  AGE 24

  FROM Los Angeles

  SPECIALITY Latin

• AJ Pritchard

  

  AGE 31

  FROM London

  SPECIALITY Ballroom/Latin

  AJ Pritchard is the brother to Love Island alum Curtis Pritchard.

• Allen Genkin

  

  AGE 36

  FROM San Jose, California 

  SPECIALITY Latin

• Benjamin Castro

  

  AGE 25

  FROM Miami

  SPECIALITY Latin/Commercial Dance

• Erik Linder

  

  AGE 26

  FROM Tampa, Florida 

  SPECIALITY Latin

• Natalie Jolley

  

  AGE 20

  FROM New York, New York

  SPECIALITY Ballroom

• Nina Mayster

  

  AGE 28

  FROM Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

  SPECIALITY Latin

• Selena Hamilton

  

  AGE 21

  FROM Los Angeles

  SPECIALITY Commercial

• Stephani Sosa

  

  AGE 26

  FROM Los Angeles

  SPECIALITY Ballroom/Latin

  Stephani Sosa was part of Dancing With the Stars’ season 33 troupe. She is also the sister to pro dancer Ezra Sosa.

• Tristen Sanders

  

  AGE 28

  FROM Atlanta, Georgia

  SPECIALITY Ballroom/Hip-hop

  Dancing With the Stars: The Next Proairs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC, with episodes available to stream Tuesdays on Disney+ and Hulu.

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

Subscribe Sign Up

A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology offers a possible answer. Researchers in Spain explored what makes crystals so appealing by studying how chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives, respond to them. Their experiments suggest that the attraction to crystals may have deep evolutionary origins that predate modern humans.

"We show that enculturated chimpanzees can distinguish crystals from other stones," said lead author Prof Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, an Ikerbasque Research Professor on crystallography at the Donostia International Physics Center in San Sebastián. "We were pleasantly surprised by how strong and seemingly natural the chimpanzees' attraction to crystals was. This suggests that sensitivity to such objects may have deep evolutionary roots."

Chimpanzees Show an Unexpected Attraction to Crystals

Humans and chimpanzees split from a common ancestor between six and seven million years ago, and the two species still share many behavioral and genetic traits. To investigate whether an attraction to crystals might be one of them, researchers gave two groups of enculturated chimpanzees at the Rainfer Foundation access to crystals. The first group included Manuela, Guillermo, Yvan, Yaki, and Toti. The second group included Gombe, Lulú, Pascual, and Sandy.

In the first experiment, the researchers placed a large crystal, known as the monolith, beside a regular rock of similar size. Both objects initially caught the chimpanzees' attention, but the crystal quickly became the clear favorite while the ordinary rock was largely ignored.

After taking the crystal from the platform, the chimpanzees carefully examined it, rotating and tilting it to view it from different angles. One chimpanzee, Yvan, eventually picked up the crystal and deliberately carried it back to the dormitories.

The researchers found that the animals' curiosity was strongest immediately after they encountered the crystal and slowly faded over time, a pattern similar to the way novelty wears off in humans. Caretakers later had to trade bananas and yogurt to persuade the chimpanzees to return the crystal.

Chimps Quickly Picked Out Crystals From Ordinary Stones

A second experiment tested whether the chimpanzees could recognize smaller quartz crystals similar in size to those collected by ancient hominins. Mixed into a pile of 20 rounded pebbles, the crystals were selected within seconds.

Even after the researchers added pyrite and calcite crystals, each with different shapes from quartz, the chimpanzees still recognized and selected the crystal type stones.

"The chimpanzees began to study the crystals' transparency with extreme curiosity, holding them up to eye level and looking through them," García-Ruiz said.

The animals continued examining the crystals for hours.

One chimpanzee named Sandy displayed particularly interesting behavior. She carried both pebbles and crystals in her mouth to a wooden platform, where she sorted them into separate groups.

"She separated the three crystal types, which themselves differed in transparency, symmetry, and luster, from all the pebbles. This ability to recognize crystals despite their differences amazed us," García-Ruiz said.

Chimpanzees do not normally transport objects in their mouths, so the researchers suggest Sandy may have been concealing the crystals, behavior that could indicate she regarded them as valuable.

What Crystals May Have Meant to Early Humans

The study did not investigate whether certain chimpanzees were naturally more interested in crystals than others, although the researchers say future work should consider differences in personality.

"There are Don Quixotes and Sanchos: idealists and pragmatists. Some may find the transparency of crystals fascinating, while others are interested in their smell and whether they're edible," García-Ruiz pointed out.

The researchers also noted that the chimpanzees in this study are accustomed to living around humans and regularly encounter objects that do not exist in the wild. They say similar experiments should eventually be carried out with less enculturated apes, ideally wild populations.

By combining the observations from both experiments, the team concluded that transparency and geometric shape appear to be the features that make crystals especially attractive. Those same qualities may also explain why early humans chose to collect them.

Unlike trees, mountains, rivers, clouds, and animals, which are dominated by curved and branching forms, crystals stand out because of their flat surfaces and straight edges. They are the only naturally occurring polyhedral solids, making them unlike almost anything else in the natural landscape. The researchers suggest that these unusual patterns may have captured the attention of early humans as they tried to understand the world around them.

"Our work helps explain our fascination with crystals and contributes to the understanding of the evolutionary roots of aesthetics and worldview," concluded García-Ruiz. "We now know that we've had crystals in our minds for at least six million years." %!s()

Yuki Saito, who previously directed “Unmet: A Neurosurgeon’s Diary,” helms the series from a script by Junya Ikegami (“The Queen of Villains”). Netflix and the creative team spent months researching Japan’s cosmetic surgery world firsthand ahead of production. That research extended to the makeup department, where special effects artist Amazing JIRO (“Straight to Hell”) led a team that crafted a distinct “before,” “downtime” and “after” progression for every patient character featured across the cast.

The series unfolds against Japan’s ongoing debate over beauty standards – a culture growing more open to diverse appearances even as its cosmetic surgery sector remains one of its fastest-growing industries. That tension plays out through two doctors with opposing views on transformation: Fumi Numata, a gifted physician forced out of her hospital after an emergency operation, and Rin Tohyama, a celebrity surgeon who sees beauty as a source of healing. When Fumi takes a job at Rin’s clinic planning to expose its darker side, their standoff drives the series, with the story more interested in what pushes people toward transformation than in the surgeries themselves.

Matsuoka (“Shoplifters”) plays Fumi, a doctor whose principles are put to the test once she enters a profession with its own set of rules. Naka (“Alice in Borderland”) plays Rin, the clinic’s public face and its most committed defender against Fumi’s efforts to take it down.

Also joining the cast are Shotaro Mamiya as Rui Komiya, the clinic’s second-in-command; Minami Tanaka as head nurse Nanami Todoroki; Hiromi Nagasaku as Fumi’s mother, Taeko Numata; and Atsuro Watabe as Arata Tohyama, an influential figure in the industry. Rounding out the ensemble are Riku Hagiwara, Mijika Nagai, Daichi Watanabe, Reiji of comedy duo Nakagawake, Kavka Shishido, Yu Shirota, Naosumi Masuko, Sosei Takeda, Rika Izumi, Kentaro Tamura, Eisuke Sasai, Hana Amano, Hina Kagei, Naoko Ken, Kayo Noro, Rin Furukawa, Yumi Adachi, Shunsuke Kazama and Kōki.

Harue Miyake and Katsuhito Mogi produce, with Shin-ichi Kudo serving as planning producer. K2 Pictures produces the series for Netflix.

History offers many examples, from the renaming of German-derived words in Britain during the First World War to recent restrictions on Russian-language print media in Ukraine. This pattern suggests that tracking the acceptance or rejection of foreign loanwords could serve as a window into exclusionary nationalism across countries and eras.

Japan's writing system offers a test

Prewar Japan offers an especially advantageous case for testing this idea because the Japanese writing system makes it easy to tell foreign loanwords apart from native words. Japanese is written with three sets of characters: Foreign-language words are usually transcribed in katakana, whereas traditional Japanese words use hiragana and kanji. For a foreign place name, writers could therefore choose either a katakana loanword or a kanji-based transliteration known as ateji.

This built-in choice gives researchers a clear linguistic signal with which to observe shifting attitudes toward both allies and enemies before and after Japan entered the war in December 1941. The years leading up to the war were marked by several political events associated with rising nationalist sentiment in Japan.

These included coup attempts by members of the Japanese military in 1932 and 1936, Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1933, the enactment of the National Mobilization Law in 1938 and the signing of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1940.

Turning language into a measure

Given that exclusionary nationalism can either contribute to war or emerge in response to it, Associate Professor Tomoko Matsumoto from the Institute of Arts and Sciences at Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan; Visiting Associate Professor Yutaka Shimada of TUS and Saitama University, Japan; and former student Hiroyuki Hirate and Professor Tohru Ikeguchi, both from TUS, wondered whether shifts in nationalism could be traced through changes in language use.

They developed a statistical approach to track changes associated with exclusionary nationalism in newspapers and examine how these changes evolved before and after Japan entered the war in 1941.

Their findings, published in the journal PLOS One, suggest that changes in how foreign place names were written may reveal shifting attitudes toward foreign countries.

"This method makes it possible to quantitatively grasp the time-series changes in nationalism and perceptions of foreign countries from linguistic data, such as newspapers and social media, even in eras and regions where public opinion polls do not exist. Therefore, it is expected to be applicable to the early detection of international conflicts and social divisions in modern society," says project team member Matsumoto.

Signals shifted with political events

To track the emergence of exclusionary nationalism, the researchers analyzed how foreign place names were written in 300,110 newspaper articles published by 54 Japanese newspapers between 1912 and 1943.

The Japanese language commonly uses katakana to phonetically represent foreign words, but foreign locations can also be written using kanji-based transliterations known as ateji. The researchers hypothesized that shifting away from foreign-sounding katakana and toward ateji could reflect growing exclusionary attitudes toward foreign countries.

Using a statistical method called singular spectrum transformation, the team tracked month-by-month changes in the use of ateji and katakana for foreign place names, focusing on the United States and the United Kingdom, which later became Japan's enemies, and Germany and Italy, which became allies.

The findings revealed that exclusionary nationalism in Japan did not steadily rise before the Pacific War but fluctuated over time. The researchers identified notable turning points in 1924, 1927, 1936 and 1938 that coincided with key political events.

The use of katakana increased after 1924, coinciding with the appointment of Foreign Minister Kijūrō Shidehara, who promoted international cooperation. However, this trend slowed after his resignation in 1927 and shifted further following the February 26 coup attempt in 1936, a period associated with growing militarization.

Notably, katakana remained more common for German and Italian place names, highlighting differences in how Japan viewed future allies and enemies long before the war began.

Language patterns may flag tensions

In a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical tensions, understanding the forces that drive conflict is more important than ever. The researchers suggest that their method could help detect early signs of international conflict and social division by analyzing patterns in language use.

"This study deepens our understanding of the role of exclusionary nationalism in conflicts, highlighting its nuanced nature in shaping friend-enemy distinctions during wartime," note the researchers.

Publication details

Tomoko Matsumoto et al, Identifying surge of exclusionary nationalism: A case study of prewar Japan, PLOS One (2026). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0349895

Who's behind this story?

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

Citation: When words signal conflict: Measuring exclusionary nationalism in prewar Japan (2026, July 14) retrieved 17 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-words-conflict-exclusionary-nationalism-prewar.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. %!s()