Can books be bad for you? Only if you’re a ‘bad reader’ like Don Quixote

| Insights & Views

An illustration from an edition of Don Quixote where the eponymous protagonist goes mad from reading. Wikimedia, CC BY Books as a backdrop in a portrait or an interview lend gravitas. They stand for literacy, for...

The animal alliances reshaping our understanding of intelligence

| Insights & Views

Cleaner wrasse form unlikely alliances with other fish Azrael3141/Shutterstock In nature, interactions between species are often framed in terms of survival those that hunt and those that are hunted. But research is...

England’s national curriculum is up for review – lessons from abroad show how it could work better for everyone

| Insights & Views

arrowsmith2/Shutterstock A review of the English school curriculum is currently underway. The reviews recently released interim report makes clear that the current education system is not working well for all young people ...

My team discovered ‘dark oxygen’ on the seafloor – now we’re trying to understand how it was made

| Insights & Views

Love Employee/Shutterstock Children are always asking Why? As they experience things for the first time, its natural to want to find out more. But as children grow into adults, they often dismiss something new that...

The viability of some charities could rest on how they’re taxed – we should be cautious about changing the rules

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Ground Picture/Shutterstock There have long been calls for New Zealands charity-linked businesses to lose their tax exemption status. Under the current rules, companies such as Sanitarium, which is wholly owned by the...

This anniversary wasn’t meant to be easy: Malcolm Fraser and the modern Liberal Party

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Fifty years ago, Liberal MPs chose Malcolm Fraser as their leader. Eight months later, he led them into power in extraordinary some might say reprehensible circumstances. He governed for seven and a half years, and...

Antarctic bases are hotbeds of stress and violence. Space stations could face the same challenges

| Insights & Views

The South African National Antarctic Expedition research base, SANAE IV, at Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. Dr Ross Hofmeyr/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA Earlier this week, reports emerged that a scientist at South...