Why caution is called for when analysing South Africa's matric results
Jan 05, 2017 10:44 am UTC| Life
South Africans are poring over the latest set of matric results which show how the countrys school leavers performed in their final exams after 12 years of formal schooling. Nearly 718 000 people wrote the exams and 72.5%...
Too many tabs – why some people can multitask online and others can't
Jan 05, 2017 07:41 am UTC| Life
The internet may be the most comprehensive source of information ever created but its also the biggest distraction. Set out to find an answer on the web and its all too easy to find yourself flitting between multiple tabs,...
Enough's enough: buying more stuff isn't always the answer to happiness
Jan 03, 2017 23:56 pm UTC| Life
The average German household contains 10,000 items. Thats according to a study cited by Frank Trentmann in his sweeping history of consumption, Empire of Things. Were bursting, he says, with the amount of stuff that we...

The gap between rich and poor students going to university has reached record levels
Jan 03, 2017 13:30 pm UTC| Life
The news that Bristol university plans to lower entry grades for disadvantaged students living in the city, comes as new figures show the gap between rich and poor children winning degree places has reached record...

Why the rise of wearable tech to monitor employees is worrying
Jan 03, 2017 12:41 pm UTC| Technology Life
An increasing number of companies are beginning to digitally monitor their employees. While employers have always scrutinised their workers performance, the rise of wearable technology to keep tabs has more of a dystopian...
Why don't people get it? Seven ways that communicating risk can fail
Jan 03, 2017 00:40 am UTC| Life Politics
Many public conversations we have about science-related issues involve communicating risks: describing them, comparing them and trying to inspire action to avoid or mitigate them. Just think about the ongoing stream of...

Now that Christmas is over, what are you going to do with your tree?
Jan 02, 2017 11:20 am UTC| Life
How time flies. But as the festive season draws to a close there is one thing left to sort out: what to do with the Christmas tree? Do we recycle it or just throw it away? The tradition of decorating Christmas trees is...