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Editor's note
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How did you sleep last night? If you had anything other than eight interrupted hours of peaceful, restful sleep then guess what? It’s not that bad – it’s actually pretty normal.
This week we asked five sleep researchers if everyone needs eight hours of sleep a night and they all said no. In fact, only about one quarter of us report getting eight or more hours of sleep.
In today’s sleep-themed episode of The Conversation podcast Trust Me, I’m An Expert, Roger Wilkins explains what one of Australia’s biggest surveys shows about who in Australia is getting the best and worst sleep.
And sleep expert Melinda Jackson explains that in pre-industrial times, it was considered normal to wake for a few hours in the middle of the night. People would do work, chat with their bed partner, or even socialise with neighbours before going back to sleep. Could we ever do that again? Dr Jackson unpacks the science of sleep and reveals what promising research is on the horizon for those of us who struggle to get enough z’s.
Trust Me, I’m An Expert is out at the start of every month, and you can find it in Apple Podcasts, Pockets Casts or on our podcast page here.
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Sunanda Creagh
Head of Digital Storytelling
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Podcast
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You know you’re not supposed to do this – but you do.
Shutterstock
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Dilpreet Kaur, The Conversation
Only about one quarter Australians report getting eight or more hours of sleep. And in pre-industrial times, it was seen as normal to wake for a few hours in the middle of the night and chat or work.
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Interact
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Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
Australia is becoming more diverse, but these charts show we are still predominantly an Anglo society with strained relations with other cultures, particularly Indigenous and Muslim Australians.
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Politics + Society
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Denis Muller, University of Melbourne
As recent events show, we might get better media reporting if journalists questioned authorities more closely on the relevance of ethnicity and religion in crime reporting.
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Alfred Allan, Edith Cowan University; Aimee-Rose Wrightson-Hester, Edith Cowan University; Maria Allan, Edith Cowan University
Nightclub-goers often regard the sort of sexually aggressive behaviour they witness as unacceptable, but they put up with it because it seems like lots of people – especially men – are doing it.
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Science + Technology
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Carlo Kopp, Monash University; Kevin Korb, Monash University
We used game theory to show you only need a small amount of fake news to disrupt any group discussion. But we also found a way you can fight back.
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Rob Nicholls, UNSW
It probably won't surprise you that if you ask Alexa to give you the best price on a product, the assistant will usually offer the price that's available on Amazon.
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Business + Economy
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Adam Triggs, Australian National University
All talk, no action? The G20 turns out to be a surprisingly productive international exercise.
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Richard Holden, UNSW
The best time to shut down negative gearing is when few people are taking it up. That time is now.
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Health + Medicine
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Cameron Webb, University of Sydney
It's tempting to ditch the mozzie creams and sprays, and switch to clothing that has its own “built in” bug repellent instead. But the technology isn't quite there yet.
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Kristin Diemer, University of Melbourne; Anastasia Powell, RMIT University; Kim Webster, University of Melbourne
Australians are more aware of domestic violence and sexual assault than before. But a worrying proportion blame victims for abuse, think women are lying, and don't believe consent is always necessary.
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Cities
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Neil Sipe, The University of Queensland; Dorina Pojani, The University of Queensland
Investment is pouring into urban technology, much of it into innovative ventures that aim to transform how we get around our cities.
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Hussein Dia, Swinburne University of Technology
To cut emissions within the 12 years or so we have left to avoid disastrous global warming, we will need to change our old transport habits, using a combination of strategies to achieve this.
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Environment + Energy
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Aleesha Rodriguez, Queensland University of Technology
A year ago, the world's largest lithium-ion battery began dispatching power to South Australia's grid. It has been a remarkable success but there are some concerns that have so far escaped scrutiny
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Catherine Ganter, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
The summer forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology predicts a hot, dry summer.
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Education
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Kristelle Hudry, La Trobe University; Cathy Bent, La Trobe University
A recent study has shown educators can include and teach children on the spectrum in mainstream childcare, alongside their non-autistic peers.
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Arts + Culture
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Christine Judith Nicholls, Flinders University
Petyarre, who won the Telstra prize for Indigenous art in 1996, has died in Alice Springs.
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Susan Bradley Smith, Curtin University
Writerly acts of confession are garish, they are vulgar and dazzling, but they are the only form of disobedience at many a woman writer’s disposal.
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Featured jobs
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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James Cook University — Townsville City, Queensland
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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La Trobe University — Melbourne, Victoria
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Featured events
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The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia — University of Sydney
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The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia — University of Sydney
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Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street , Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Monash University
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Deakin Downtown, Level 12, Tower 2 Collins Square, 727 Collins Street, , Docklands, Victoria, 3008, Australia — Deakin University
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