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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...

Older adults generally have a good sense of their own financial abilities – unless they have dementia. shapecharge/E+ via Getty Images Older adults diagnosed with dementia lose their ability to assess how well they manage their finances, according to a recent study I co-authored in The...

As winter settles over Australia, it’s not just the drop in temperature we notice – there’s also a sharp rise in respiratory illnesses. Most of us are familiar with the usual winter players such as COVID, influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), which often dominate news headlines and...

We all want homes that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer, without breaking the bank. However, Australian homes built before 2003 have a low average energy rating of 1.8 stars out of 10. This means they’re often uncomfortable to live in and expensive to run. There’s a strong case for a...

Revenue for Australia’s charity and not-for-profit sector has reached record highs, and total donations have grown. But the story isn’t the same everywhere, and some smaller charities may be struggling. That’s according to the latest edition of the Australian Charities Report from the...

As part of its resource management reforms, the government will soon allow “super-sized granny flats” to be built without consent – potentially adding 13,000 dwellings over the next decade to provide “families with more housing options”. This represents genuine progress in reducing regulatory...

Image source: Wbmul/Shutterstock The Coroners Court of Victoria is undertaking an inquest into the deaths of eight aged care residents across six facilities, over a nine-month period in 2021. Each death occurred after an interaction between residents, known as resident-to-resident aggression...

Older adults are often faced with lifestyle changes that can disrupt their sense of place and purpose. It may be the loss of a partner, downsizing their home, or moving to residential aged care. And these changes can come with loss of identity, uncertainty, disconnect and isolation. But what if...

Image source: Linaimages/Shutterstock “This video is not available in your location”. It’s a message familiar to many people trying to watch global content online. But beneath this frustration lies a deeper question – how do we navigate digital borders safely and ethically? As our digital...

vchal/shutterstock, The Conversation Head lice, fleas and tapeworms have been humanity’s companions throughout our evolutionary history. Yet, the greatest parasite of the modern age is no blood-sucking invertebrate. It is sleek, glass-fronted and addictive by design. Its host? Every human on...

Once again, large parts of New South Wales have been devastated by floods. It’s estimated 10,000 homes and businesses may have been damaged or destroyed and the Insurance Council of Australia reports more than 6,000 insurance claims have been received for the Mid North Coast and Hunter region...

As we enter the colder months in Australia, COVID is making headlines again, this time due to the emergence of a new variant: NB.1.8.1. Last week, the World Health Organization designated NB.1.8.1 as a “variant under monitoring”, owing to its growing global spread and some notable...