Why do our friends want us to drink and dislike it when we don't?

Dec 29, 2016 11:14 am UTC| Life

Anyone who has ever tried to give up drinking, or goes somewhere and says theyre not drinking, knows people encourage us to drink and are unhappy when we dont. Why is this? Is it uniquely Australian? What can we do about...

When media use pictures of drunk girls in alcohol stories, we're being misled

Dec 28, 2016 15:24 pm UTC| Life

When the English artist William Hogarth produced his infamous engravings of prosperous Beer Street and chaotic Gin Lane in the mid-18th century, it reflected efforts to control Londons supposed gin crisis. Gin consumption...

How crowdfunding can connect people to their heritage and community

Dec 28, 2016 01:47 am UTC| Insights & Views Business Life

The glistening white sails of Sydney Opera House and the red brick and bluestone of Geelongs industrial mills have little in common at first glance. But for both these places crowdfunding has led people to connect with...

Dear Hillary... a philosopher's guide to coping with disappointment

Dec 28, 2016 01:36 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Dear Hillary, Wow, what a year youve had! First the FBI investigations, then the health scare, and then to cap it all, after years of waiting and hoping, and despite all expectations, you lost your best chance at...

From creepy clowns to the dancing plague – when phobias are contagious

Dec 26, 2016 00:45 am UTC| Life

Most of us have something we say were afraid of, whether it be spiders, needles, or something more unusual like zombies. But when push comes to shove, we get rid of eight-legged beasts, will have that injection, or manage...

Why girls are put off studying computer science

Dec 25, 2016 04:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Life

Despite the phenomenal rise in computing over the last 50 years, the birth of the internet, and our ever increasing reliance on technology, women are still not engaging with computer science at the same rate as...

What the magi had in common with scientists

Dec 25, 2016 04:13 am UTC| Life

Picturesque and exotic, with their crowns and camels, the three kings regularly appear on Christmas cards and in nativity scenes. But how much is original, and how much is later addition for the sake of a good...