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Vannevar Bush, author of the influential 1945 essay As We May Think. Associated Press Many years ago, long before the internet or artificial intelligence, an American engineer called Vannevar Bush was trying to solve a problem. He could see how difficult it had become for professionals to...

Thurtell/Getty Images Australia’s lung cancer screening program launched on July 1, and marks real progress and opportunity. It aims to reduce the number of people dying from lung cancer by offering regular low-dose CT scans to people who smoke, and those who have quit. The aim is to detect...

The offer pops up in your social media feed. The website is professional and the imagery illustrates an Australian coastal region, or chic inner-CBD scene. The brand name indicates this exclusive fashion retailer is based in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, or an exclusive enclave such as Double...

Michele Ursi/Getty Images Walk through any trendy suburb and you might find a new “wellness” studio offering ice baths or “contrast therapy” (a sauna and ice bath combo). Scroll social media, and you’re likely to come across influencers preaching the cold plunge gospel with cult-like zeal...

Moor Studio / Getty Images Last week, Australian airline Qantas announced cyber attackers had accessed personal data about some of its customers. The company later confirmed that 5.7 million customer records were involved. The attackers targeted an offshore IT call centre, which enabled them...

Tada Images There’s a certain feeling I get in the pit of my stomach when I’m waiting for an important call to come through. You know the type – maybe a call from your boss, a potential new employer or news of a loved one who’s due to give birth. In these situations, I usually stare at my...

ViDCan/Shutterstock Have you ever gone to toss something into the recycling bin – a jam jar, a pizza box, a takeaway container encrusted with yesterday’s lunch – and wondered if you’re doing it right? Perhaps you asked yourself: should I scrub the jar with hot water? Scrape the mozzarella off...

Milan Kundera opens his novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting with a scene from the winter of 1948. Klement Gottwald, leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, is giving a speech to the masses from a palace balcony, surrounded by fellow party members. Comrade Vladimir Clementis...

Image source: KieferPix/Shutterstock. If you’re feeling like the news is particularly bad at the moment, you’re not alone. But many of us can’t look away – and don’t want to. Engaging with news can help us make sense of what’s going on and, for many of us, is an ethical stance. So, how can...

Australia is spending more than ever on disability services – and yet many people with disability still aren’t receiving the support they need. Since the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) began in 2013, it has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of disabled Australians and...

Image source: NoSystem images / Getty. Occupational therapists (OTs) have been in the spotlight this month after the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) froze NDIS payments for these services at $193.99 per hour for the sixth year. The NDIA also cut travel payments for OTs who visit...

In 2022, humans produced an estimated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste – enough to fill more than 1.5 million garbage trucks. This was up 82% from 2010 and is expected to rise to 82 million tonnes in 2030. This e-waste includes old laptops and phones, which contain precious materials such...

Image source: cottonbro / Pexels. Every year on our birthdays, Uncle Martin and Auntie Stella would drive to our concrete house behind the carpet factory and gift me and my brother a book. They brought me Haffertee Hamster and Haffertee’s First Easter. They brought Alex Betsy Glowworm Shines...

For centuries, humans have searched for ways to extend life. Alchemists never found the philosopher’s stone, but scientists have consistently shown that a longer life can be attained by eating less – at least in certain lab animals. But can we find a way to live longer while still enjoying our...

Soon, more than 15 million Australians should be lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office in the hope of receiving at least a small refund. About 60% of taxpayers use an accountant to prepare their tax return while the other 40% lodge their returns via their MyGov account. This...

The weather is getting cooler and many of us are turning to hot showers and baths to warm up and wind down. But what actually happens to your skin when you have really hot showers or baths? Your largest organ Your skin is your largest organ, and has two distinct parts: the epidermis on the...

Winter is here, along with cold days and the inevitable seasonal surge in respiratory viruses. But it’s not only the sniffles we need to worry about. Heart attacks and strokes also tend to rise during the winter months. In new research out this week we show one reason why. Our study shows...

Composite image: Arrington Watkins Architects / AI avatar: YouTube/StaceyWales, CC BY In November 2021, in the city of Chandler, Arizona, Chris Pelkey was shot and killed by Gabriel Horcasitas in a road rage altercation. Horcasitas was tried and convicted of reckless manslaughter. When it...

A sprinkle of cinnamon on your porridge, a pinch of turmeric in your curry, or a dash of ginger in your biscuits – these popular spices are kitchen staples around the world. For centuries, spices haven’t just been used to flavour food but also valued in traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine...

The “memoir boom” of the past few decades has brought an extraordinary expansion in the kinds of work written in the first person. Some offer new approaches, focusing on aspects or phases of the author’s life or feelings. Alongside these, a kind of hybrid form has developed in which authors...