Over 50,000 years ago, humans started speaking and we’ve not shut up since. Sometimes, though, we struggle to remember the name of an object, a place, or a person we want to talk about. The technical term for this phenomenon is “lethologica”. While severe word-finding difficulties can be due to serious neurological issues, such as […] … learn more→

Most adults never have to take an IQ test. But tests for assessing students’ cognitive abilities, such as the cognitive ability test (Cat), are used in schools around the world. These tests are very similar to IQ tests. Taking them may be a pain for kids. Possibly, it’s an even bigger pain for parents. Just for a […] … learn more→

Many parents are worried about how much their children use social media and what content they might encounter while using it. Amid proposals to ban teenagers under 16yrs from social media and calls to better educate them about being safe online, how can you tell if your child’s social media use is already a problem? And what steps can take to […] … learn more→

The end of the school year is coming. No more early mornings and cramming for exams. No more stress about receiving grades, comparing them with classmates and teaching them at home. The start of the holidays means the end of one of the main sources of stress for teenage boys and girls. Although feeling stressed […] … learn more→

Roblox is an online platform that allows users to create games and play those designed by others. A self-described “ultimate virtual universe,” it is hard to pinpoint exactly what Roblox is: Is it a game? Is it social media? Is it a place to create content or consume media? Is it a place to shop […] … learn more→

Whether you’re left, right or ambidextrous, “handedness” is part of our identity. But a lot of people don’t realise that we have other biases too and they are not unique to humans. My colleagues and I have published a new study that shows aligning our biases in the same way as other people may have social benefits. […] … learn more→

A war has erupted around young people’s use social media and it is messy. In the United States, surgeon general Vivek Murthy has recommended cigarette packet-like warnings for platforms like Instagram to remind teens and parents social media “has not proved safe”. In Australia, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he would ban social media for those under 16 within […] … learn more→

Your spacecraft is spiralling out of control, and you will hit planet Arakis unless you fire up the thermal after-boosters. Which of the two buttons below would help you fire up the boosters on time? Would you be more likely to survive if the cockpit designer had installed the button on the left or the […] … learn more→

Based on respect for animal life and its rights, as well as ethical, environmental and health considerations, veganism is distinguished from vegetarianism by excluding from the diet not only meat but also products derived from animals, such as dairy products, eggs, honey or leather… Even if the promotion of a non-meat diet is not new (as shown […] … learn more→

This week, about 50 female students from Victoria’s Bacchus Marsh Grammar School had fake, sexually explicit images of them shared without their consent on Instagram and Snapchat. Images of their faces, purportedly obtained from social media, were stitched onto pornographic images using artificial intelligence (AI). Deepfake porn, or what our team calls “AI-generated image-based sexual abuse”, involves the use […] … learn more→