Facebook addiction Image: Amazedio.com

Yes, social network junkies really do exist, and the time they spend on Facebook can seriously distract them from whatever it is that they need to achieve in a day, whether it be work or studying.

Are you a Facebook addict?

How do you determine if you may be a Facebook addict? Well the six point exercise compiled by the researchers is a good place to start. The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale measures dependency on the social networking site. There are six basic questions which ask users to assess how closely their behaviour mirrors the possible answers.

Here are six basic statement to which you need to answer from the following scale: 1 = Very rarely; 2 = Rarely; 3 = Sometimes; 4 = Often and 5 = Very often.

You spend a lot of time thinking about Facebook or plan use of Facebook.

You feel an urge to use Facebook more and more.

You use Facebook in order to forget about personal problems.

You have tried to cut down on the use of Facebook without success.

You become restless or troubled if you are prohibited from using Facebook.

You use Facebook so much that it has had a negative impact on your job/studies.
So what is your Facebook addiction level? Well, if you score 4 (often) or 5 (always) on at least four of these six questions, then according to the researchers you could be deemed to be addicted to Facebook.
According to the journal Psychological Reports the questions were based on the same six core elements of addiction that are used by doctors to identify alcoholics and drug addicts.

Younger people more likely to be Facebook addicts

The results from the 423 student volunteers suggest that ‘Facebook addiction’ was more common among younger adults, and women in particular.

The Norwegian researchers also claim that the addiction is more prevalent among those who are ‘anxious and socially insecure’. This, according to lead researcher Dr Cecilie Schou Andreassen, of the University of Bergen’s Faculty of Psychology, may be due to anxious people finding it easier to communicate through the means of social media than speaking in person.

Additionally she states that people who go to bed late and get up late (those with ‘delayed sleep wake rhythm’) may be more likely to be addicts.
Ambitious people are less likely to become addicts as they tend to be more in control of their usage of the website, using it more for work and networking purposes rather then just entertainment.
Addiction and Facebook is not a new concept. Last August a fascinating study was revealed which questioned whether Facebook was creating a new generation of teenage narcissists.

Another study showed how the number of Facebook friends one has can be linked to brain structure.
Meanwhile there is increasing evidence of addiction to smartphones.

With Facebook ‘we are dealing with a subdivision of internet addiction connected to social media’ said Dr Andreassen.

The message is clear. Facebook can be as addictive as any drug. Like with so many things, the distinction is whether you control the substance or the technology, or whether it controls you.

Facebook is clearly having a profound social impact, no all of it benign.

Frog with Chytridiomycosis

Scientists from Ghent University have demonstrated this in a new study recently published in the journal PLoS ONE. They tested 397 geese (Canada geese and domesticated geese) from 6 different wildlife areas in Belgium, and found that 76 birds were carrying the fungus on their toes. Laboratory tests showed that the fungus can adhere to and even proliferate on the keratinous toe scales. A similar result was found on a dead whooper swan and two dead Muscovy ducks. The fungus thrives in water or moist environments, but the research proved that it could persist in the dry conditions of the toe scales for thirty minutes – long enough for the geese to fly thirty kilometres. Although geese and amphibians may not come into direct contact that often, as the birds flock to lakes, rivers and wetlands rather than ponds, where they do mix the feet of the geese may help to transmit the fungus and allow it to persist outside its natural host.

Some of the oldest fungi in the world

The fungus was first described in 1999, one of a number of types of fungus called chytrids, some of the oldest fungi in the world. There are over one thousand different species of chytrids, but the new species, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, is the only one that is a parasite of a vertebrate animal. Infection of this particular species of fungus causes development of the disease chytridiomycosis, responsible for amphibian declines throughout the world.

The fungus infects the cells of the outer skin layers of amphibians that contain large amounts of keratin, which make the skin tough and protected from injury. Infection makes the skin very thick, dangerous to amphibians because it is through the skin that they absorb water and vital electrolytes such as potassium and sodium. With abnormal levels of electrolytes, the heart cannot function and stops beating. Some amphibians such as lungless salamanders suffocate if infected with the disease because they use their skin to breathe. Infected animals have discoloured skin, display abnormal postures such as holding the skin of their belly away from the ground, and excessively shed their skin. Unnatural behaviour e.g. a nocturnal species becoming active during the day may also result, and they may suffer from seizures.

The exact origin of the fungus is not known, although Japan, Africa and eastern North America are all candidates. This deadly disease has spread across the globe, threatening amphibians already struggling to cope with habitat loss, and causing rapid population declines and the elimination of rare, specialised and endemic species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has described it as “the worst infectious disease ever recorded among invertebrates, in terms of number of species impacted and it’s propensity to drive them to extinction.” It can only be hoped that more research can answer the question of how to curb the spread of the fungus and prevent further losses of amphibians.

The Disease

Little brown bat with White Nose Syndrome

White nose syndrome (WNS) was only discovered to be caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans late last year. It invades the skin and gives affected bats a white muzzle but also grows on their wings sometimes resulting in them becoming too damaged to fly. The disease only affects hibernating, insect-eating bats, which under normal circumstances endure 200 days in winter without food, relying entirely on fat reserves. Bats with WNS however, wake up more frequently during winter, possibly due to water loss from the damaged tissue. The bats burn up large amounts of fat reserves and, as there are no insects for them to eat in the cold months, they starve to death. Erratic behaviour, such as bats gathering near the entrances of hibernation caves and flying outside during the day in freezing temperatures, are also signs that they are suffering from WNS.

The Spread

WNS was first identified in February 2006, when a caver photographed hibernating bats with a white muzzle, and several dead bats, at a cave near Albany, New York. The following winter, biologists found hundreds of dead bats in several caves, and since then more and more reports of the disease have been documented. Three new states have recently been added to the list of those with WNS – Delaware, Alabama, and it has now jumped the Mississippi River to Missouri. In the USA, more than half of the 45 bat species rely on hibernation for survival. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, eleven cave-hibernating bats are already affected or potentially at risk from WNS, including endangered species or subspecies such as the Indiana bat, the gray bat, the Virginia big-eared bat and Ozarks big-eared bat. In some caves, 90 to 100 per cent of bats have died, and the total estimate of the death toll is between 5.7 and 6.7 million animals. The rapid spread of WNS through populations makes estimating deaths difficult, because many bats are lost before pre-disease population estimates have been made. Also, affected species such as the little brown bat were once common, so have not been the primary focus of seasonal population counts as endangered species were the priority.

The Source

The fungus responsible for WNS in North America exists in Europe, but bats there rarely die from it. This fact prompted a recent study, led by University of Winnipeg scientists, in which two hypotheses were tested – either the fungus has just recently spread from Europe, or mutations in North America have created a new, more virulent strain. North American bats were exposed to isolates of the fungus from New York and Germany and the effects on the animals were compared. The same symptoms and mortality was caused by both isolates, strongly suggesting that the fungus has arrived in the continent recently from Europe. This proves that bats in North America are faced with a new pathogen they have never experienced before, whereas European bats have co-evolved with the fungus and developed a level of resistance to it. It is believed that humans introduced the disease, carried on equipment, shoes or clothes, as the original cave where WNS was discovered is popular with tourists. Conservation efforts therefore must be focused on restricting human access, cave closures and strict decontamination procedures in order to limit the spread, and this new research can help identify other bat populations that may be at risk.

The Importance of Bats

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is leading the network of organisations, institutions, tribes, individuals and officials that are working together to develop management strategies to tackle the spread and minimise the impacts of the disease, aided by eight grants totalling $1.6 million allocated in March this year. With bats dying in such large numbers, there may be serious consequences for society. Bats provide vital services in the areas in which they live. A single bat can eat thousands of insects in one night, making them a natural pest control for farms and forests, and they control the insects that can spread disease to people. One recent study found that the value of the pest control services they provide in the USA ranges from $3.7 billion to $53 billion per year.

Rebound?

There is hope for the future survival of bats – just last week it was announced that the number of little brown bats in three hibernation caves in New York State, where the disease was first detected, has actually increased. In the largest of these caves, individuals rose from 1,496 last year to 2,402 this winter. There is cautious optimism about the possibility for bats to adapt to the disease, the long term hope of scientists, however it will take a few more years of observation before we can be sure that this is the start of a trend.

It is essential that remaining populations are protected, and the impact of WNS is minimised, not just because of the important services bats provide but because, as the agents of the introduction of WNS, we humans have a responsibility to do so. With millions of bats already dead and the disease’s relentless spread, this is surely one of the worst environmental catastrophes in North America’s history.

Stonehenge: were acoustics an important part of its original purpose? Photo: Mactographer

Dr Bruno Fazenda of the University of Salford said that the research would allow a “more holistic” view of Stonehenge’s past. “It is as if we can travel back in time and experience the space in a more holistic way” he said.

Acoustic science

By studying the sound quality of ancient buildings, archaeoacoustics has shed some light on how songs, rituals or sacrificial offerings may have sounded in Stonehenge in its prime.

As the origins of Stonehenge are still shrouded in mystery, Fazenda said that their research “would add an element of archaeology that so far hasn’t been looked at. It’s a new area of acoustic science and it could be very helpful in the archaeological interpretation of important buildings and heritage sites, some of which may not exist in their original form, such as in the case of Stonehenge.”

Full-size replica

This was the main problem facing the research team – the fact that Stonehenge is just a relic. There are just too many missing pieces for proper tests of echoes, reverberations and whispering gallery effects to be undertaken. But their luck was in thanks to a full-sized concrete replica of the ancient monument built in Maryhill, Washington DC in 1929 as a memorial to US soldiers killed in the First World War.

So the team travelled to Maryland to make proper acoustic measurements.

But the results were not striking enough to conclude that the site was a forerunner of Greek or Roman theatres.

Speaking of the subsequent creation of a full 3D recreation of the space using 64 audio channels, Dr Fazenda said: “This type of research is important because now we can not only see ourselves surrounded by the stones using virtual reality, but we can also listen how the stone structure would have enveloped people in a sonic experience.”

Dr Fazenda believes that as this discipline becomes more robust, it will be included in a lot of archaeological studies in the next ten years.

Another part has just been added to the mysterious jigsaw puzzle about what exactly the purpose behind the construction of Stonehenge was, and why it was built in exactly the way it was. Perhaps it will always remain a mystery, but we will never stop trying to work it out – ancient Britain still stirs our collective soul.

Calcutta: a long way from home

The technology may have been the means to reunite Saroo with his mother, but it was his dedication and absolute determination that were the key.

Fateful train journey

Saroo’s story as a 5 year old is the stuff of nightmares. A 5 year old boy accompanied his 8 year old brother, Guddu, to the local railway station in India. His brother went off, but he always came back, and the exhausted Saroo fell asleep. He awoke after midnight on a deserted platform, and confused saw a train in front of him – his brother must be on the train, so 5 year old Saroo got on the train hoping to find his brother, and fell asleep.

That decision by a confused 5 year old was forever changed his life. The little boy slept his way through the plains of Madhya Pradesh, and arrived in Calcutta of all places. Howrah Station in Calcutta would have to be just about the most intimidating place imaginable for a 5 year old to turn up in.

A five year old boy who could just say his name, with a few words of Hindi, arriving in the Bengali speaking metropolis of Calcutta.

Sitting in Hobart now, Saroo describes the experience as very scary.

“I didn’t know the city I was from, I didn’t even know how to count to five, I didn’t know left from right” he said.

Saroo could not read the platform signs or understand any of the names on the public address system sounded familiar.

For days he caught train after train in the hope that one would take him home – but of course they did not.

No one helped him – just another hungry street boy – and yet the little boy managed to survive for weeks sleeping rough and begging for food. Twice he nearly drowned in the Ganges, and once he was effectively held captive by a man.

The five year old was well and truly lost.

Adoption in Australia

Eventually he found his way into a sanctuary for lost children, and then to an orphanage. He could not tell anyone any of the most basic information about himself.

The young boy was subsequently adopted by the Brierley family from Hobart, Tasmania in Australia, and he began his life as an Australian.

Haunting memories of home

But for 20 years the image of his lost mother haunted Saroo.

”I was determined to keep all those memories I had. For some reason, I believed that I would need them at one time. All those things [that happened] when I was little kept the streets alive in my head for such a long time.”

With the advent of modern technology and the satellite images, Saroo Brierly spent endless hours exploring Indian railway lines on Google Earth studying timetables and using basic arithmetic to determine where that fateful train may have originated but it ”was like finding a needle in a haystack”.

But he narrowed it down on the basis that he had probably ridden that fateful train for about 17 hours, at about 80 kilometres an hour. His home was, he concluded, probably about 1400 kilometres from Calcutta.

”For four years I searched [on Google Earth], looking up and down, [then] I started looking from [Calcutta] train station and following the railroad back. But there were so many rail tracks it was sending me absolutely crazy.”

He examined image upon image, and then one day: bang. The picture that “just looked right, that was the spitting image of what was in my head”. Saroo instinctively knew, from the fragmented memories of his early childhood, that he had found his home.

Khandwa was 1484 kilometres from Calcutta. He saw the dam he used to swim in as a child, and a bridge he also remembered, too.

“’That’s where I was born” he thought to himself.

Mother and child reunion

The next step was to return to Ganesh Talai in Khandwa, a foreigner in his own land. He arrived in the village and went to the door that was his former home. It was locked. Many Indians gathered to watch and help. One told him to wait there for a few minutes. Five minutes later he returned and said:

“I’m now going to take you to your mother” and then Saroo Brierley was led towards his mother’s new house.

Word of Saroo’s arrival spread quickly and at the same time his mother was being led towards her son.

Saroo turned the corner into his mother’s narrow street. She saw him, and in that moment she knew that her boy had come home.

”I recognised him immediately. He was my son. I recognised him from the mark on his forehead [where a horse had kicked him when he was very young], and he has the same chin as his brothers.”

A mother and child reunion – a triumph for the indefatigable nature of the human spirit.

Fatima Bi, Saroo’s mother, later said:

“My only prayer was that God would fulfil my wish to meet my son before I die. I always pray to God that I will meet my son one day, and all of the happiness I will have.”

Speaking of the reunion she added:

“I was so happy, the happiness in my heart was as deep as the sea. I experienced heaven on this earth when my son met me”.

Recalling the moment, Saroo spoke of those moments leading to the encounter with a mother who was now 64 years old, whom he had last seen as a 34 year old. But the human spirit can instantly see past such superficial matters and see straight through to what it is that makes us each unique.

The mother’s English is limited, as is Saroo’s Hindi. But just the sound of the other’s voice is enough right now.

The story is a triumph of technology certainly, but a far greater triumph of human determination to survive and find a way home. It may have taken Saroo Brierley 25 years to find his way home, but find his way home he most certainly did.

The Cane Toad

The cane toad: now a serious threat to Australia’s unique biodiversity

Cane toads are very large, weighing in at an average of 1.8kg (4lbs). The females, significantly bigger than the males, measure 10-15cm (3.9-5.9in). They are native to Central and South America, found naturally in subtropical forests. In Australia however, they show a distinct preference for areas developed by people, for example gardens and drainage ditches. Their diet is varied, including invertebrates, reptiles, birds, small rodents and birds. The skin of the cane toad is toxic, and glands behind the eyes and across the back secrete a fluid called bufotoxin when threatened. Primarily affecting the functioning of the heart, it is this toxin that is responsible for the death of many native animals, as well as pets and even some humans. A hugely successful invasive species, the cane toad has become established in over 15 countries within the past 150 years.

Environmental Impacts

The Australian government placed cane toads on the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as a “key threatening process” as the effects of cane toads on the environment are felt in every area they have invaded. Predators in Australia are not adapted to dealing with the toxin. As this is their main defense mechanism, cane toads do not usually hide from predators, so are easily targeted by naïve native species which are then poisoned and die. The huge number of toads also means that they are depleting species that compete with them for food (insectivores such as skinks, for example) and reducing populations of species that the toads themselves consume. Declines in populations of northern quoll, goanna and snakes have all been observed after cane toads have invaded an area. It does appear, however, that the one species the cane toads are definitely not affecting is the cane beetle they were intended to control.

Controlling the Cane Toad

Cane toads migrate at an average rate of 40km (25miles) per year. With no natural predators in Australia, their range has expanded throughout Queensland, reaching the border with the Northern Territory and signs indicate they have spread into New South Wales. Scientific efforts to control the toads have largely failed. Physical trapping is not always effective as removal of some toads means that conditions are more favourable for untrapped toads as there is less competition, and with such a high rate of migration, the area is quickly reinvaded. So, volunteers are now trying to halt their relentless takeover. In north Queensland the 29^th of March is Toad Day Out, an event held every year that allows local people to catch as many toads as possible. Prizes are handed out to individuals who capture the heaviest toad and the heaviest total weight of toads, and to the school that catches the highest number of toads. However, they must be caught alive and unharmed – they are killed later by officials.

The complete eradication of the cane toad from Australia is unlikely, but efforts from scientists and volunteers to slow down their spread are vital to limiting the impact of this highly successful invasive toad on Australia’s vulnerable native species.

Internet start up sensation

If you’ve recently seen a Polaroid-style sepia picture of one of your friends on Twitter or Facebook, it’s almost certainly thanks to Instagram.

Photo sharing reinvented

Instagram is a photo sharing application that allows users to take photos, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, and then share it on Instagram or a number of other social networking services.

As the Instagr.am website says ‘it’s a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family. It’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing reinvented.’

Above all the service is free, and it has become widely used by celebrities.

Instagram’s 26 year old co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have now joined the ranks of the super rich, and the company’s 13 employees are each sharing in a $100 million windfall.

Instagram’s fans are not all especially pleased. The app has a certain appeal for ‘hip smartphone users’, and Facebook has a history of buying up rival start-ups only to effectively shut them down.

The app will not be ‘swallowed up’

Mark Zuckerberg has gone out of his way to reassure the app’s fans that they have nothing to worry about.

“We’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently… We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook,” said Zuckerberg.

Systrom had the same message: “The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love. You’ll still have all the same people you follow and that follow you.You’ll still be able to share to other social network.”

Zuckerberg added:
‘For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.’

Internet increasingly going mobile

It is the word ‘mobile’ that is the most significant. With smartphones now everywhere we are beginning to see a shift in the nature of the internet.

On holiday now, people want to share their photos immediately via their smartphone. They don’t want to wait to get home, or bother to go into an internet café. Immediacy is what people now want, and increasingly expect. These people do not really need the traditional web any more, and that is a huge evolution which threatens the very fabric of Facebook.

Mobile apps like Foursquare which allows users to share their location and which has gained almost 15 million members, have become self-contained social worlds that exist almost uniquely on mobile phones.

Instagram’s website (Instagr.am) is little more than an offer to download the app for free. Its social network function is pretty much all mobile.

So the model is changing. Social networks are starting up almost exclusively on mobile devices, and the old model of establishing a web presence and then downsizing it to mobiles is rapidly going out of date.

Talking to the world is no longer about bashing away on something that looks like a typewriter. The interface has moved on, and the future to be embraced is likely to be more creative and fluid.

Alice in Wonderland economics

$1 billion for a company which makes no money and which gives its product away for free is yet another wonderful example of the ‘economics of free’ – what has in some instances been dubbed Alice In Wonderland economics.

The pace of change in the world today appears to be growing rapidly and the Instagram deal could turn out to be a watershed in the history of the internet.

Research by the ExtremeTech website has discovered that a massive 30 per cent of all internet traffic is pornography. The revelation is remarkable – but is it any surprise?

4.4 billion page views of pornography a month on just one website

30% of computer servers are dedicated to pornography!

The biggest porn site on the web, Xvideos, clocks in with 4.4 billion page views and 350 million unique visits each month. Yes you read that correctly, 4.4 billion page views each month.

Pornography website is the 54th biggest in the world

To put that in context, that site’s Alexa ranking is number 54.

An Alexa ranking determines a site’s popularity based on the number of visitors. So naturally the top 10 is the who’s who of the internet: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, Baidu, Wikipedia and so the list goes on before reaching the likes of Twitter and Amazon. After that comes a list including Google India, Yahoo Japan, MSN, Google Hong Kong, Google Germany, eBay, Google Japan, Google UK, Google France, Bing, Microsoft, Google Brazil, Apple, Craigslist, Flickr, the BBC and then in at number 54 is Xvideos.

Xvideos comes in ahead of Google Mexico, Google Canada, ESPN, CNN Interactive, Aol, eBay International and Google Turkey. Then at number 77 is another massive pornography and video site, Pornhub.

By way of comparison the well-known Reddit is number 124 and it is estimated that Xvideo’s traffic is about double that of Reddit.

So how big exactly is pornography on the web?

The report uncovered the viewing figures for Xvideos from Google’s DoubleClick Ad Planner. This system uses cookies to gather information about users. These figures were then taken and used in conjunction with the third biggest porn site, YouPorn, to extrapolate how much data is being transferred out of Xvideos’ servers.

35 to 40 PB of pornography transferred monthly

The report estimated that around 29 petabytes (PB) of pornography is being transferred a month, or 50 gigabytes per second assuming an average length of time on the site of 15 minutes (the average time spent on a porn site is between 15 and 20 minutes whereas on a news site the average visit is between three and six minutes which is enough time to read a couple of stories) and further assuming that a low resolution video was being streamed. But this estimated was increased to 35 to 40 PB per month after the research discovered that YouPorn hosts over 100 TB of porn, receives 100 million page views and transfers 950 terabytes per day.

The report states that at peak time, Xvideos might burst to 1,000 Gbps (1Tbps) or more and ‘to put this into perspective, there’s only about 15 Tbps of connectivity between London and New York.’

Pornography no longer just on the top shelves

One of the subjects that fascinates the Random Fact is just how much the internet is changing the world we live in. There are countless examples, and here is another one. In the past men would need to get this thrill by going to the top shelf of a newsagents and furtively getting one of those magazines in a plastic cover and then trying to hide it as they nonchalantly went to the cashiers to pay for it. At least they would try to be nonchalant, and pretend that this purchase was just another magazine.

Now there is so much pornography on the internet that nobody need go through this embarrassment again. All the pornography you could possibly need is there at your fingertips, from home, and much of it can be accessed completely free.

So if the internet is a reflection of our collective consciousness, what does the sheer quantity of pornography that is available on the internet say about humanity?

The obvious answer is that we are all obsessed by pornography – or at least men are. It is easy ammunition for women to hurl at men – that we are all rather seedy pathetic creatures. This may or may not be true, but human sexuality is rather more complex than such simple statements would indicate.

Tantra

A basic study of tantra makes one thing very clear: men are primarily aroused sexually by visual stimulus, and women are primarily aroused by touch and the kinaesthetic.

When every little whim of ours can be so easily satisfied, what price self-control and discipline? Is pornography something to be embraced or something very harmful? Certainly there are studies that have claimed that too much watching of pornography on the internet can actually dull people’s real emotions and make them less able fully to embrace the physical love of another.

Freedom of expression, and the ability for humanity easily to express this, and then to monitor it sheds light on our true nature.

Everyone is doing it!

The conclusion seems to be that a lot of us (for that read men) are doing it – statistics don’t lie. But who will own up to it?

Changing diet

KFC in Beijing Photo: Dave Straub

The inhabitants of the world’s second largest economy are moving from a diet based on rice and pork, to one that includes more dairy, wheat, grains and white and red meat. This forms part of the inflationary pressure on world food prices.

According to the report, the four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are expected to make up four of the top five grocery markets by 2015.
Despite the relative slowdown in the expansion of the Chinese economy, Chinese domestic demand is being stimulated, with higher wages and disposable income, and this brings a significant opportunity for retailers.

Growth market for retailers

“China’s grocery growth story is phenomenal,” said IGD’s chief executive, Joanne Denney-Finch.

“Despite its various logistical and bureaucratic challenges, China is a crucial growth market for many of the world’s largest grocery retailers. Even beyond the major cities there are huge opportunities: forecasts suggest there will be over 200 Chinese cities with a population of over a million by 2025.”

The boom will change eating habits. Obesity is growing amongst the young in the bigger cities with more people eating convenience fast foods – in stark contrast to some of the malnutrition being experienced in rural areas. The growing demand for animal protein is also bringing its own pressures to bear.

Foxconn employee Photo: Rico Shen

The ethical question relating to the working conditions of Chinese factory workers is now firmly under the spotlight after Apple’s watershed decision to permit the largest investigation ever undertaken into an American company’s overseas operations. The   issue was highlighted in the press during the media’s assessment of Steve Jobs’ legacy following his recent death. Whilst Jobs was lauded for his genius, some critical attention was given to his apparent ignoring of the working conditions of the Chinese labourers who assembled the Apple products.

Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook recently visited Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant as part of this process. Just the very fact of this visit taking place at all is highly significant.

Foxconn in breach of labour laws

The Foxconn chairman, Terry Gou, in promising to reduce hours and improve pay after publication of the FLA audit, has tacitly acknowledged that multiple labour laws had been violated at Foxconn’s factories.

Foxconn  which is part of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, is China’s largest private-sector employer with some 1.2 million workers. The practices of Foxconn, which is believed to make about half of the world’s consumer electronics, became very much public property following a spate of suicides at some of its factories. The sight of nets under the windows at the company’s factories is a sad comment on the state of world capitalism.

The report revealed that employees often worked more than 76 hours a week (the limit set by Chinese law) and 11 days in a row – this is well in excess of the company’s stated standard of 60 working hours a week and over the 36 hour maximum of overtime permitted in any month.

Work ethic

China has a thriving work ethic. Sunday is much like a normal day in China, and China’s perception is that Europe by contrast is bloated and lazy.

China is pretty much the world producer of absolutely everything. The sheer scale of it is extraordinary. A visit to any of the major cities where factories have outlets reveal the staggering size of China’s manufacturing capacity. I recently visited one city, small by Chinese standards, where one area of town had over a hundred ‘shops’ which were factory outlets just for Christmas decorations. Other parts of town were devoted to other industries.

But is China’s premier position as world producer of absolutely everything now under threat?

Or is the time rapidly approaching when the big brands have to sacrifice some of their profits in order to overcome the perception that their products are built off the back of abused Chinese workers?

Are Western consumers willing to pay more for their gadgets as part of a realisation of the interconnectedness of the world that can no longer tolerate mistreating and abusing labour on the other side of the world?