What might heaven be like?

Editor's note

Up until the 17th century, Heaven was all about God - and a lofty view down to those suffering eternal damnation. But as the enlightenment progressed, Heaven soon became rather more personal, and you could expect to find family, friends, lovers and pets joining you, and you wouldn’t have to worry about the screams coming from Hell either. Philip Almond writes in our Friday Essay on how our view of Heaven keeps shifting.

And finally, thank you to the 4,400+ of you who generously donated to our annual reader campaign. Your tax-deductible donation has directly supported knowledge-based, ethical journalism. We think that matters now more than ever. Thank you.

James Whitmore

Deputy Editor: Arts + Culture

Top story

Surrounded by Angels, by Carl Schweninger der Jungere, 1912. Wikimedia Commons

Friday essay: what might heaven be like?

Philip Almond, The University of Queensland

Notions of heaven have changed through the ages, from an eternity centred on God to a more secular place where loved ones will reunite.

Arts + Culture

Bernard Herrmann’s music for the final scene in Psycho fragments and breaks down, echoing the psychotic episode experienced by the character Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Graphics: Emil Jeyaratnam/The Conversation; Image: Still from 'Psycho' (1960)

The great movie scenes: Hitchcock's Psycho and the power of jarring music

Bruce Isaacs, University of Sydney

In this episode of Close-up, Bruce Isaacs contrasts the unsettling musical score from Hitchcock’s Psycho with Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.

Education

Politicians meddling in the history curriculum is nothing new, and it holds back progress in how history is taught. Peter Rae/AAP

'Western civilisation'? History teaching has moved on, and so should those who champion it

Rebecca Cairns, Deakin University

Australia has been having the same disagreement about what and how history should be taught. We need to move on and listen to the evidence so our children have the best history education possible.

In short, less advantaged students require significant additional supports, well beyond acknowledging their diverse pathways for entry into a degree program. Alan Porritt/AAP

ANU's new entrance criteria won't do much to improve equity

Shane Duggan, RMIT University

From 2020, ANU will require students to meet co-curricular requirements alongside ATAR. This significant policy shift is meant to improve equity of access, but won't change much.

Energy + Environment

Small aircraft carry scientists high above the Southern Alps to survey glacier changes. Hamish McCormick/NIWA

A bird’s eye view of New Zealand's changing glaciers

Andrew Lorrey, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Andrew Mackintosh, Victoria University of Wellington; brian.anderson@vuw.ac.nz, Victoria University of Wellington

Forty years of continuous end-of-summer snowline monitoring of New Zealand's glaciers brings the issue of human-induced climate change into tight focus.

IVAN MCDONNELL/AAP

Is Australia's current drought caused by climate change? It's complicated

Andrew King, University of Melbourne; Anna Ukkola, Australian National University; Ben Henley, University of Melbourne

Southern Australia's debate may be exacerbated by climate change, but it's not that simple.

Health + Medicine

Most people will experience feelings of deep loss and distress after a long-term relationship breakup. from www.shutterstock.com

Why breakups are so hard and how to cope with them

Gery Karantzas, Deakin University

The only way to get through a breakup is to experience your emotions, but not brood on them.

Balgo artists: Miriam Baadjo (b. 1957),Tossie Baadjo (b. 1958), Jane Gimme (b. 1958), Gracie Mosquito (b. 1955), Helen Nagomara (b. 1953), Ann Frances Nowee (b. 1964) and Imelda Yukenbarri (b. 1954). Bush medicine: a collaborative work by women from Wirrimanu (Balgo), 2018, acrylic on linen, 120×180cm, MHM2018.32, © Warlayirti Artists; Medical History Museum

The art of healing: five medicinal plants used by Aboriginal Australians

Beth Gott, Monash University

At least half the food eaten by the first Australians came from plants. And in terms of medicines, many different parts of plants were used.

Politcs + Society

“Aitch” or “Haitch”? It’s long been a point of contestation among English speakers. Felicity Burke/The Conversastion with apologies to Dr. Suess

Haitch or aitch? How a humble letter was held hostage by historical haughtiness

Kate Burridge, Monash University; Catherine McBride, Chinese University of Hong Kong

An unspoken class war has long been waged around the pronounciation of the letter "h" - is it haitch or aitch? Despite a snobbish leaning to the latter, haitch makes more sense.

With, for now, three Senate votes as her bargaining chips, Hanson’s impact – on government policy or on the major parties’ electoral strategy – is still being felt. AAP/Peter Mathew

Twenty years on, One Nation is still chaotic, controversial and influential

Chris Salisbury, The University of Queensland

Despite its dysfunction and often inconsistent policy positions, the party has cemented an influential place in the federal arena, albeit a status that’s on the verge of diminishing drastically.

Cities

Cities are growing vertically as well as horizontally, so infrastructure needs to ensure people can move up and down as well as across the city. Alpha/Flickr

Growing cities face challenges of keeping the masses moving up, down and across

Andrea Connor, Western Sydney University; Donald McNeill, Western Sydney University

Cities are expanding upwards and downwards, as well as outwards. With urban density also increasing, moving people efficiently around the city, often using ageing infrastructure, is quite a challenge.

Businesses are weighing up the costs of queuing and using innovative ways to do away with queues, or at least make the perceptions of waiting less painful. Michal Parzuchowski/Unsplash

Fed up with always being in the slow queue? That's why queues are being 'designed out'

Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology; Louise Grimmer, University of Tasmania

Businesses are weighing up the costs of queuing and using innovative ways to minimise these costs by doing away with queues.

Business + Economy

Argentina is just one of a handful of crisis-stricken nations asking the International Monetary Fund for help. David Fernandez/EPA

The world’s economic crisis-fighting mechanisms are dangerously inadequate

Adam Triggs, Australian National University

Some US$4.6 trillion has been made available to stave off financial crises across the world. The problem is that much of this funding is now spoken for, and the list of stricken nations is growing.

Will there be fewer of these on Australian doorsteps? Ink Drop/Shutterstock.com

Fear not, shoppers: Amazon's Australian geoblock won't cramp your style

Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology

Amazon has barred Australian shoppers from its US site, rather than contend with new GST rules on overseas purchases. But don't expect a stampede at your local branch of Harvey Norman as a result.

Science + Technology

Bees live in complex environments, and make lots of decisions every day that are crucial for survival. from www.shutterstock.com

Bees join an elite group of species that understands the concept of zero as a number

Scarlett Howard, RMIT University; Adrian Dyer, RMIT University; Aurore Avarguès-Weber, Université de Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier

The Romans may not have had a symbol for zero, but bees understand what it means beyond just the simple assumption "there's nothing there".

We need a simple system for categorising data privacy settings, similar to the way Creative Commons specifies how work can be legally shared. Shutterstock

Here's what a privacy policy that's easy to understand could look like

Alexander Krumpholz, CSIRO; Raj Gaire, CSIRO

Imagine if we could specify our general privacy preferences in our devices, have them check privacy policies when we sign up for apps, and warn us if the agreements overstep.