Why are our 15 year olds falling behind in reading and writing?
Dec 15, 2015 07:36 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
Our 15 year olds are continuing to fall behind in literacy, according to latest figures from the national testing scheme NAPLAN. So far, the solutions devised by our politicians have been useless. First the Labor...

The rise of the whiny air passenger
Dec 14, 2015 18:10 pm UTC| Life
Decades ago, airline travel was considered a glamorous and exciting mode of transport, reserved for the rich and elite. Yet while air travel has become more democratic and affordable, industry research shows that people...

The solution to London's airport capacity crisis? Do nothing
Dec 11, 2015 14:44 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
Londons Heathrow airport is currently operating at 98% capacity and the rest of Londons airports are set to be full by 2040. The debate over how to address this problem has been raging for years but a workable solution...

What's behind Japan's moss obsession?
Dec 10, 2015 11:27 am UTC| Life
Its the latest craze in a country known for its eccentric tastes and quirky obsessions. The Japanese have gone gaga for…moss? In 2011, Hisako Fujii published a book titled Mosses, My Dear Friends. It went on...

Young Londoners are packing their bags for Beijing - here's why
Dec 08, 2015 20:54 pm UTC| Life
The silent stashing of sleek laptops marks the shift from day to night in hipster hubs across the world: from Dalston (in London), to Williamsburg (New York) by way of Kreuzberg (Berlin), and Fitzroy (Melbourne). But now,...

TripAdvisor Announces Travelers’ Choice Destinations on the Rise for 2016
Dec 08, 2015 11:00 am UTC| Life
Gatlinburg, Tennessee #1 in the U.S; Tulum, Mexico Tops in the World Worlds Largest Travel Site Identifies Top Spots Growing in PopularityAccording to Feedback From Millions of Travelers TripAdvisor, the worlds...
Sex is neither good nor bad, but writing makes it so
Dec 03, 2015 09:38 am UTC| Life Health
Bad sex. Isnt it enough to have had it without having to read it as well? A poorly written sex scene can be viscerally dreadful. While porn is fundamentally unrealistic, bad sex in prose thats not explicit can be...