|
|
|
Editor's note
|
|
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about whether the use of emoji in digital communication is contributing to the demise of proper language. But new research suggests the way we use emoji in our digital messages is similar to the way we use gestures when we talk. As Lauren Gawne writes, some gestures and emoji have full meaning on their own – think thumbs up 👍, the OK sign 👌 and good luck 🤞. Others help show your intentions behind what
you’re saying – whether that’s amused 😂 or ambivalent 🙃. So, rather than ruining online communication, emoji could be enhancing it.
Meanwhile, with the new parliament sitting for the first time this week, much attention has been focused on two members of the Coalition’s former ministry – Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop – and whether their new positions are in breach of ministerial standards. Yee-Fui Ng explains the rules around post-ministerial work and argues that neither of these new jobs pass the “pub test.”
Finally, in Australia, full-time workers spend almost six hours travelling to and from their job. A recent study found the distance you travel and how you get there affects your well-being and productivity. Liang Ma explains that cyclists and walkers, for instance, perform better at work than drivers, and those who travel further tend to take more days off.
|
Shelley Hepworth
Section Editor: Technology
|
|
|
Top story
|
Gestures and emoji don’t break down into smaller parts, nor do they easily combine into larger words or sentences.
Shutterstock
Lauren Gawne, La Trobe University
Instead of worrying that emoji is replacing competent language use, we can celebrate that emoji are creating a richer form of online communication that returns the features of gesture to language.
|
Questions have been raised about the new private-sector roles of former ministers Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop.
Lukas Coch/Mick Tsikas/AAP
Yee-Fui Ng, Monash University
One in four former ministers go on to take lucrative roles with special interest groups after leaving politics. Our current standards regulating this practice aren't being enforced adequately.
|
The stress of commuting by car can affect workers’ well-being and productivity.
Flamingo Images/Shutterstock
Liang Ma, RMIT University; Runing Ye, University of Melbourne
Workers with long commutes are more likely to become sick. They also receive less net income (after deducting travel costs) and less leisure time.
|
Jacqui Lambie celebrates the passing of the $158 billion tax cuts with Centre Alliance senators.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The first week of the new parliament ends on a high for the government, with its $158 billion tax cut package passed, and the first stage of tax relief ready to flow in a week or so.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Bill John Swannie, Victoria University
Under an archaic law, people can still be punished for 'scandalising the court' or publicly criticising a judge's ruling. It's time for this law to be revisited.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Andrew Carey, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute
Caffeine may be able to increase the function of what we call 'brown fat'. But we shouldn't immediately scramble for the closest long black or flat white and expect to see the kilos drop.
-
Julaine Allan, Charles Sturt University; Alice Munro, UNSW; Susan Collings, University of Sydney
Residential drug rehab programs usually last for around eight weeks and include everything from counselling sessions to household chores, which help build connections and support between residents.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Kelly Dombroski
Vanuatu has banned them outright, while many Chinese families use just one every 24 hours. So why are Australians still sending millions of dirty nappies to landfill every single day?
-
Manu Saunders, University of New England
Tiny fairy wasps are so small they can lay their eggs inside other insects eggs, but they punch above their weight when it comes to keeping pests down.
-
Andrea Carson, La Trobe University; Lawrie Zion, La Trobe University
The Washington Post's weather editor explains how digital media changed the way we connect to the weather, and why it's wrong for weather editors to leave climate change out of the discussion.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Leon Gettler, RMIT University
A newspaper paying its journalists bonuses to chase page views has big implications for its role in a democracy.
-
Richard Holden, UNSW
Donald Trump has had four of his nominations for the US Federal Reserve rejected. Now he has another two.
-
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The government's election centrepiece – its $158 billion, three-stage tax package – is set to pass into law, as the key vote of crossbencher Senator Jacqui Lambie is confirmed.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Mitch Goodwin, University of Melbourne
50 years after Apollo 11, a new exhibition considers artistic responses to our celestial neighbour. As we retreat from human space exploration, our relationship to the moon has become virtual.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Elinor Hortle, University of Sydney
The idea of CRISPR as scissors ignores an entire ecosystem of moving parts that are crucial for understanding the awe-inspiring, crazy thing scientists are trying to do when they attempt gene editing.
|
|
| |
Featured jobs
|
|
Charles Sturt University — Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
|
|
La Trobe University — Bundoora, Victoria
|
|
RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
|
|
University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
|
|
|
|
Featured events
|
|
Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Monash University
|
|
124 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — RMIT University
|
|
G06 Theatre, Ground Floor, Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Spencer Road, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia — University of Melbourne
|
|
Leighton Hall, John Niland Scientia Building, Library Road, UNSW Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia — UNSW
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
