The Best of The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand
20+ most popular The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand articles, as voted by our community.
Independent news from the sharpest academic minds. Read: http://theconversation.com/au Subscribe for free: http://bit.ly/46zgcyz Donate: http://bit.ly/3JKj16a
New this Week
These are fresh off the press.
Who will write the rules for AI? How nations are racing to regulate artificial intelligence
How can the world regulate AI? Europe’s comprehensive approach, China’s tightly targeted laws, and America’s dramatic executive order hint at three ways forward.
Trending
These are currently making the rounds on Refind.
How loneliness changes the way our brains process the world
Humans are social beings so it’s no wonder that feeling isolated can affect the way we think
«These results suggest that feeling lonely may be associated with thinking of fictional characters in a way similar to real-world friends.»
How often do you lie? Deception researchers investigate how the recipient and the medium affect telling the truth
Researchers are interested in whether who you’re communicating with and how you’re interacting affect how likely you are to lie.
Friendship research is getting an update – and that’s key for dealing with the loneliness epidemic
Psychology researchers have focused on the idea that people form friendships with those who are similar, familiar and nearby. But how do individual people pick those who will become their friends?
«there are preferences for friends who help you solve specific kinds of problems and are generous and caring with you instead of others»
How to solve our mental health crisis
Investing in people’s future mental health, based on the key socioeconomic factors underlying it, is the only way to address this rising problem.
Ukraine war: Australian-made cardboard drones used to attack Russian airfield show how innovation is key to modern warfare
The drones are light, cheap, easy to transport and have proved to be highly effective as a weapon of war.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on ADHD
Strategies and life hacks to help anyone with ADHD and those who struggle without a diagnosis
Although medication and therapy can be effective treatments for ADHD, they’re not the only way to manage the disorder or its symptoms. Creating a daily routine is critical too.
ADHD looks different in adults. Here are 4 signs to watch for
By adulthood, ADHD symptoms may be more internalised but they can also cause grown up problems.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Diet
Diet can influence mood, behavior and more. A neuroscientist explains
Diets high in fat, sugar and processed foods are associated with higher calorie intake, poorer memory and lower cognitive function.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Electric Vehicles
If all the vehicles in the world were to convert to electric, would it be quieter?
Noise pollution is a serious problem, and cars make a lot of it. But roads are also a factor.
How climate-friendly is an electric car? It all comes down to where you live
Even if all passenger vehicles sold today were electric, it would take more than ten years for the Australian road fleet to be fully electric.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Health
Depression is probably not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain
A new shows there’s no clear evidence that depression is caused by abnormally low levels of serotonin in the brain.
«drug trials show that antidepressants are barely distinguishable from a placebo (dummy pill) when it comes to treating depression.»
Am I too old to build muscle? What science says about sarcopenia and building strength later in life
It’s never too late to start.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Jesus
The long history of how Jesus came to resemble a white European
Recent protests on racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.
What did Jesus wear?
We may imagine Jesus in long robes with baggy sleeves, but this is far from how he would have dressed.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Medicine
Unregulated ‘innovation’: India’s medicine problem
India’s drug regulation is loose and results in dangerous medicines being sold at home and abroad.
Cancer evolution is mathematical – how random processes and epigenetics can explain why tumor cells shape-shift, metastasize and…
An epigenetic model of cancer that incorporates the concept of stochasticity could also explain why cancer risk increases with age and how biological development can be reversible.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Nature
Did life evolve more than once? Researchers are closing in on an answer
Current scientific consensus is that life emerged from non-living molecules in a process called abiogenesis. But if life emerged once, why not more times?
Bees can learn, remember, think and make decisions
Scientists are learning amazing things about bees’ sensory perception and mental capabilities.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Physics
Great Mysteries of Physics 1: is time an illusion?
Physics makes a lot of assumptions about time that may be getting in the way of understanding the fourth dimension.
Life: modern physics can’t explain it – but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might
The key to understanding why life is not explainable in current physics may be to reconsider our notions of time and information.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Quantum Computing
Quantum computers in 2023: how they work, what they do, and where they’re heading
After decades of hype, quantum computers are on the verge of becoming useful. Here’s a refresher on why they’re such a big deal
Quantum mechanics: how the future might influence the past
If we accepted that the future could influence the past, we could get rid of many counter-intuitive aspects of quantum mechanics.
The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand on Space
The length of Earth’s days has been mysteriously increasing, and scientists don’t know why
The length of a day has critical impacts on our technologies, navigation, and more.
How do you build a mirror for one of the world’s biggest telescopes?
The laws of physics dictate that to pick out ever fainter objects from space and see them more sharply, we’re going to need a bigger telescope. And that means we need massive mirrors.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
How to break unhealthy habits: Stop obsessing over willpower and focus on routines
Understanding and changing the environment in which habits form is a critical step when it comes to breaking unwanted behaviors and forming healthy ones.
«Another path to habit change involves friction: in other words, making it difficult to act on undesirable habits and easy to act on desirable ones.»
How mindfulness and dance can stimulate a part of the brain that can improve mental health
The brain’s somatosensory cortex may help enrich our emotional experiences and improve our mental health. Mindfulness and dance movement therapy may be effective ways to activate it.
«Those factors can enhance overall self-awareness, which contributes to improvement of mental health through potential reorganization of the somatosensory cortex.»
Why do mass shooters kill? It’s about more than having a grievance
Is there ever a satisfactory answer to questions about what motivated a mass shooter? There is, but it’s not what you think.
«at the hands of some real or imagined culprits»
Why can’t you remember being born, learning to walk or saying your first words? What scientists know…
Psychologists know babies can form memories soon after birth. So why can’t people remember anything that happened to them before around age 2? A child development expert describes possible reasons.
Cognitive biases and brain biology help explain why facts don’t change minds
Here are some reasons for the natural human tendency to avoid or reject new information that runs counter to what you already know – and some tips on how to do better.
«confirmation bias. It’s the natural tendency to seek out information or interpret things in a way that supports your existing beliefs.»
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. is one of more than 10k sources we monitor.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets the most relevant links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, mark as read, read later, «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
300k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.