Five ways to spend with more social purpose this Christmas
Dec 06, 2016 06:30 am UTC| Life
Its the season of giving and spending. While the common adage is that money cant buy happiness, others have suggested that if your money isnt buying you happiness, then you are spending it in the wrong way. Research is...
What changes when Pope Francis grants all priests the authority to forgive abortions
Dec 05, 2016 05:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
The Roman Catholic Church will allow priests all over the world to grant forgiveness for abortion. This announcement came from Pope Francis at the end of the Jubilee of Mercy a holy year dedicated to forgiveness. When...
Why don't more people volunteer? Misconceptions don't help
Dec 05, 2016 05:06 am UTC| Life
Volunteers in Australia are essential to the provision of a range of services. This includes emergency services, hospitals and schools and volunteers also support the social and cultural life of many communities. Yet...
Governments need to look beyond education rankings and focus on inequities in the system
Dec 05, 2016 04:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
The latest Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) results will be released around the world on December 6. And as usual, there will be a flurry in the news media. Australia will likely have dropped further...
Should we do away with exams altogether? No, but we need to rethink their design and purpose
Dec 04, 2016 23:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
Over the past two decades there have been frequent calls to abandon exams. The major criticisms of exams in schools and universities tend to relate to either the misuse or overuse of exams, and not to the sensible use...
How a serial killer used social media to attract his victims – and why we should all take note
Dec 04, 2016 23:15 pm UTC| Health Life
Stephen Port, a 41-year-old chef living in east London, has been given a whole-of-life prison sentence after being found guilty of the murder of four young men who he lured to his flat before drugging and raping them...

Imitation game: how copies can solve our cultural heritage crises
Dec 04, 2016 19:23 pm UTC| Life
Visitors to the Otsuka Museum in Japan are offered the chance to see through time. Two life-sized copies of Leonardo da Vincis Last Supper are hung on opposing walls, one showing it before the major 1999 restoration, and...