• Saving lives with AI screening

    Ben Knight     |      October 10, 2022

    Machine learning algorithms could prove more accurate and reliable than conventional methods of identifying people at risk of suicide.

  • Higher living costs could increase homelessness

    Ben Knight     |      August 28, 2022

    While we wait for a national housing plan, inflation and higher rents threaten to squeeze more households out of their homes and onto the streets.

  • Citizen science

    Ben Knight     |      August 18, 2022

    We can all channel our inner amateur researcher and make a valuable contribution to science with our eyes – and smart phones.

  • Murder houses

    Ben Knight     |      August 12, 2022

    What do real estate agents and vendors have to disclose about a house with a chequered – or even bloody – history?

  • Shoot to kill – why we love violent video games

    Ben Knight     |      August 3, 2022

    In news that will surprise nobody, researchers have concluded that people like to play violent video games because they allow us to build status, compare our abilities and overcome our fears in a safe environment.

  • Drive fast, die young

    Ben Knight     |      July 4, 2022

    New research led by UNSW Sydney reveals traffic-related fatalities and injuries are the biggest killers of young people worldwide ­– causing more deaths than communicable and non-communicable diseases or self-harm.

  • Overcoming our fear of rejection

    Ben Knight     |      June 23, 2022

    Humans once relied on tribal and family groups for their survival, and so we’re programmed on an evolutionary level to fear social rejection, but we can learn to deal with it when it happens in the modern world.

  • Multiverse madness

    Ben Knight     |      June 14, 2022

    Fans of Michael Moorcock are well acquainted with the concept of a ‘multiverse’, but a quantum mechanics interpretation can help the less literary inclined comprehend the hypothetical existence of many worlds.

  • The rise of eco-anxiety

    Ben Knight     |      June 9, 2022

    Feeling anxious about the future isn’t particularly new, but the challenges posed by climate change can raise intense feelings of uncertainty and perhaps impact our long term mental health.

  • Community services under COVID strain

    Ben Knight     |      December 22, 2021

    A national survey of community organisation staff reveals the sector is struggling to meet the increasing demand for services in the latest wave of COVID-19 infections.

  • The value of creativity

    Ben Knight     |      October 16, 2021

    What is creativity, and why is it essential in our lives?

  • The ghost of pandemics past

    Ben Knight     |      October 1, 2021

    How do responses to infectious diseases throughout history stack up to the measures being taken today against the delta strain of coronavirus?