Des Moines food pantries face spiking demand as the Iowa region’s SNAP enrollment declines
A volunteer loads food into a bag at the Des Moines Area Religious Council food pantry in 2020. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall As part of its drive to cut federal spending, the Trump administration has paused over US$500...
US-China trade war leaves NZ worse off, but still well placed to weather the storm – new modelling
Getty Images Forecasting the potential impact of Donald Trumps turbulent tariff policies is a fraught business and fraught for business. The United States president has changed, paused and exempted various categories of...
TikTok’s cookie challenge: Why some children share and others don’t
Children need to use several of their developing social and cognitive reasoning skills to share during the cookie challenge. (Shutterstock) The cookie challenge is one of the latest trends to go viral on TikTok. In the...

Half way through the campaign, how are the major party leaders faring?
More than two weeks in, we know one thing for sure. This time, the election campaign does matter. In decades past, when voters were more loyally rusted on to the major parties, news cycles more sedate, policy platforms...
No kidding: goats prove brainier than sheep and alpacas
shutterstock Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock When we think about intelligent animals, farm species arent usually the first to spring to mind. We may picture tool-using primates or puzzle-solving crows. But my recent research...
The role of carbon dioxide in airborne disease transmission: a hidden key to safer indoor spaces
Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock Weve long known that environmental factors from humidity and temperature to trace chemical vapours can influence how pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria and fungi, behave once released into the...
How mobility assistance dogs can improve quality of life in children with cerebral palsy
Young girl hugging labrador dog Children with cerebral palsy often have difficulty walking, which can affect their relationships with peers and overall quality of life. People with visual impairment can experience similar...