Why public funding of the arts should always be temporary
May 16, 2016 23:54 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
Last Friday, the Australia Council announced what it called a $112 million investment over four years to focus on small and medium sized arts companies. Lets skip past the misleading polly-speak use of the word investment...
Reading for moral self-improvement or therapy can occasionally feel a little grim
May 16, 2016 13:12 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
This weeks Sydney Writers Festival not only celebrates the art of writing, but the art of reading. Of course, it is difficult not to worry that this might be because the art of reading that is, deep, critical,...
How dogs find their way home (without a GPS)
May 16, 2016 12:52 pm UTC| Life
Animals ability to navigate long distances has long been shrouded in mystery. From the skill of racing pigeons to find their way home, to the seasonal breeding migration of the humpback whale, a huge range of creatures are...
Moving house can make you healthier, happier – and greener, too
May 13, 2016 11:02 am UTC| Life
The vast majority of people in the UK still commute to work by car rather than by using public transport or cycling. Obviously this has serious consequences for the environment: cars are a major source of greenhouse gas...
Good tests make children fail – here's why
May 13, 2016 10:24 am UTC| Health Life
Many parents and teachers are critical of the Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs) that have recently been taken by primary school children. One common complaint is that they are too hard. Teachers at my sons school sent...
The Manchester terror drill – and why we must stop linking Arabic with fanatics
May 13, 2016 10:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
Greater Manchester Police staged a mock attack featuring a suicide bomber late on the night of Monday May 9. It began at the Trafford Centre shopping complex when a man in black walked into the centre of the main foyer and...

Sheffield is on a quest to be the fairest city of them all – here's how it's doing
May 11, 2016 02:23 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
Fairness has become one of the most important ideas in contemporary politics. Its a concept leveraged by both sides of the political spectrum, to attack or support decisions about who gets what, and how particularly when...