Seize the world

In 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal crossed the Alps against the advice of his men, who claimed it was impossible. “Aut inveniam viam, aut faciam,” Hannibal is said to have replied: “I shall either find a way, or make one” – a motto which could be adopted by the tech entrepreneurs of today.

A line in the news

Strategies to reduce the road toll have largely focused on speeding, distractions and enforcement gaps, such as roadside drug testing but hidden in these statistics is a lesser-known, deeply troubling reality: some of these crashes are not unintentional at all.

Quantifying ‘life satisfaction’

Data on almost 57,000 people from 65 countries suggests that a widely used research tool – the Satisfaction With Life Scale – holds up well when applied across diverse groups of people, underscoring its potential value in research and policymaking.

The price of life

What does a human life cost – and is it ethical to price it? Jenny Kleeman asked a hitman, philanthropists and a life insurer to find out.

Waiting for grading

Former year 12 students around the country nervously awaiting their HSC results, but there are some proven coping strategies which can tamp down the anxiety.

Superstition can be super sometimes

Superstitions are by definition irrational in themselves, but they can also increase confidence in achieve a goal, improve our performance in different tasks, and alleviate anxiety by giving us a sense of control.

To live

Japan, like Australia, has an ageing population so what can we learn from the ways that Japanese men and women handle the changes and transitions of later life?

Home, sweet home

New research from America suggests that people are still spending an hour less outside their homes every day compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reading together

Research suggests that reading groups, in which people from all walks of life meet regularly to read and discuss literature, can provide the kind of meaningful social connections which alleviate loneliness, particularly as we age.

Gambling fast and slow

Just as there is ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ thinking, so there are ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ ways to gamble and, unsurprisingly, it’s the adrenaline hits delivered by poker machines and sports betting which are most likely to lead gamblers into trouble.

Pigface stir-fry and chips

University of Melbourne researchers have released a new cookbook to help demystify native ingredients and empower Australia’s home cooks to grow and incorporate Indigenous food into their everyday meals.

Friends for life

In news that should surprise no-one, scientists have found that peer acceptance in young teenagers, and close friendships in older teenagers, predict low social anxiety and high life satisfaction in young adults.