Editor's note
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Do you get a pang of anxiety when you realise you’ve forgotten your phone, or a rush of excitement when you hear your alerts ping? Well, you’re not alone. An average user spends around five hours on their phone each day; half of this time is spent texting and on social media. But are we addicted to them?
As Andrew Campbell writes, most people’s phone obsession doesn’t constitute an addiction because it can be broken without severe or long-lasting withdrawal effects. But for a small proportion of people, the pull of social media and other smartphone functions can go from from obsession to addiction.
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Fron Jackson-Webb
Senior Health + Medicine Editor/Deputy Chief of Staff
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Health + Medicine
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The average smartphone user checks their device 85 times a day.
Mikaela Shannon
Andrew Campbell, University of Sydney
Clinically speaking, you can't become addicted to a device, but you can develop behavioural addictions to smartphone functions.
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Grey’s Anatomy’s portrayal of trauma experiences is far more dramatic than in real life.
IMDb/Shondaland, The Mark Gordon Company, Touchstone Television (2005-2007), ABC Studios
Deborah Lupton, University of Canberra
A new study compared fictional patient experiences in Grey's Anatomy with real trauma cases. It concluded patients who are fans of the show might have unrealistic expectations of medical care.
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Winter Olympics
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The main objective for most sporting event organising committees is to deliver an efficient and safe event.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Tracey J Dickson, University of Canberra
Future Olympics will be required to report on their legacies for up to five years after the event under the IOC’s new framework.
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American skiier Gus Kenworthy is one of many openly gay athletes competing in Pyeongchang.
Head & Shoulders
Keith Parry, Western Sydney University; Emma Kavanagh, Bournemouth University; Ryan Storr, Western Sydney University
A country with a questionable stance on LGBTI+ rights is again hosting the Winter Olympics.
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Cities
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Functional, yes. Possibly clean, too. But most of our public toilets aren’t inviting.
Kgbo/Wikimedia Commons
Christian Tietz, UNSW
Public toilets are an essential amenity, but most of them aren't places we'd want to go to unless we have to. What does the failure to provide more restful and inviting places say about us?
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Retrofitting older homes to ‘green’ the nation’s housing stock involves much more than installing rooftop solar panels.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Ralph Horne, RMIT University; Emma Baker, University of Adelaide; Francisco Azpitarte, University of Melbourne; Gordon Walker, Lancaster University; Nicola Willand, RMIT University; Trivess Moore, RMIT University
While new buildings may be the glamorous eco-home pinups, retrofitting existing homes is the main game when it comes to creating energy-efficient, comfortable housing stock for all Australians.
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Education
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While current interventions offer broad protocols for children and young people, specific guidelines for teenage girls are missing.
Shutterstock
Roberta Thompson, Griffith University
Because teenage boys and girls behave differently online, girls are more at risk for cyberbullying, and intervention needs to take this into account.
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Principals report the stress of an overwhelming workload as the stress that contributes most to diminishing health and wellbeing.
Shutterstock
Scott Imig, University of Newcastle
Statistics on the number of principals receiving verbal threats of violence, being victims of bullying or physical violence have all seen an uptick in the past year.
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Arts + Culture
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A fragment of a wall painting showing two lovers in bed from the House of L Caecilius Jucundus in Pompeii, now at Naples National Archaeological Museum.
Wikimedia Commons
Craig Barker, University of Sydney
From phallus-shaped wind chimes to explicit erotica on lamps and cups, sex is everywhere in ancient Greek and Roman art. But our interpretations of these images say much about our own culture.
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A forensic photograph featured in the film Unnatural Deaths.
courtesy NSW Police
Kate Rossmanith, Macquarie University; Hugh Dillon, UNSW; Jane Mowll, UNSW
Bereaved families strive to comprehend that there is nothing they could have done to prevent the death of their loved one. Viewing the crime-and-accident scene images can offer a path to healing.
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Politics + Society
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Malcolm Turnbull announces changes to the Ministerial Code of Conduct in the wake of the Barnaby Joyce affair.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Carol Johnson, University of Adelaide
Malcolm Turnbull’s acknowledgement of gendered power imbalances in parliament reveals that the gendered nature of politics is under challenge.
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The evidence behind Nick Xenophon’s proposed gambling reforms in South Australia is reasonably strong.
AAP/Morgan Sette
Charles Livingstone, Monash University
Nick Xenophon says the proposals encapsulated in his party’s gambling policy for the South Australian election are just the start of a wider push for reform.
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FactCheck
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Poker machine reform is at the centre of the upcoming Tasmanian state election.
Dan Peled/AAP
Fabrizio Carmignani, Griffith University
The Tasmanian Liberal party is promoting gaming industry estimates that 'around 5,000 jobs' would be at risk if poker machines were removed from pubs and clubs in Tasmania. Are the estimates correct?
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Business + Economy
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E-books, downloaded music and other digital products aren’t covered by Australian consumer law.
Shutterstock
Benjamin Hayward, Monash University
The digital world moves fast, and when it comes to digital products, Australia's consumer laws haven't kept up.
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Lenders will soon have more data on your accounts and cash flow.
Shutterstock
Andrew Grant, University of Sydney
Australia's credit reporting system is about to be updated, and new research shows it's past due. The current system simply doesn't provide either lenders or borrowers with enough information.
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Environment + Energy
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Researchers studied reef sands at Heron Island, Hawaii, Bermuda and Tetiaroa. In this photo, white areas show the predominance of sand on reefs.
Southern Cross University
Bradley Eyre, Southern Cross University
Ocean acidification poses an increasing threat to the sediments that form the framework of coral reefs - within around 30 years, these carbonate sands may no longer be able to form.
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Seagulls travel together in groups, but prefer to be alone when they feel sick.
bertknot/flickr
Grainne Cleary, Deakin University
Birds can usually sense when they are not feeling well and like many other creatures, seem to seek out-of-the-way places to be alone.
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Science + Technology
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The use of the whip on Australian horse racing is still legal, but is it necessary?
AAP Image/Mal Fairclough
Paul McGreevy, University of Sydney; Anne Fawcett, University of Sydney
Banning the whip in Australian horse racing would only deter a minority of race enthusiasts from gambling or watching any events.
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The 2014 film Ex Machina explored a dystopian vision of what could happen in a world where humans empathise with robots.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Dan Crimston, The University of Queensland
When we include someone (or something) in our moral circle we feel a sense of moral obligation for their treatment. But the factors determining who is in or out are more complicated than you may think.
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Podcast
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Marchers at the 1978 Mardi Gras parade.
Sally Colechin/The Pride History Group
Mark Gillespie, University of Sydney
On a cold Saturday night in Sydney on June 24, 1978, a number of gay men, lesbians and transgender people marched into the pages of Australian social history. I was one of them.
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Featured jobs
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La Trobe University — Shepparton, Victoria
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RMIT University — Bundoora, Victoria
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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Deakin University — Warrnambool, Victoria
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Featured events
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M263, 35 Stirling Hwy, CRAWLEY, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia — University of Western Australia
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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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Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh , Sydney, New South Wales, 2015, Australia — UNSW
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New Law School Foyer, Level 2, Sydney Law School, Eastern Avenue, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia — University of Sydney
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