Scorching playgrounds need a rethink by designers

Editor's note

Commonly used materials in children’s play areas, such as “soft fall” and Astroturf, can heat up to a dangerously high 80-100 degrees on a sunny day, a new study shows.

And with 50-degree days looming for Australian cities, Abby Lopes and her fellow researchers say designers must be accountable for their long-lasting decisions.

John Watson

Section Editor: Cities + Policy

Top story

‘Soft fall’ surfaces are widely used in play areas where children might fall, but can also get very hot in the sun, which undermines this safety benefit. Brisbane City Council/Flickr

Materials that make heat worse for our kids demand a rethink by designers

Abby Mellick Lopes, Western Sydney University; Matthew Blick, Western Sydney University; Sebastian Pfautsch, Western Sydney University

Commonly used surfaces in play areas, such as "soft fall" materials and Astroturf, can heat up to 80-100°C in the sun. This makes them a hazardous design choice, especially as the climate gets hotter.

Arts + Culture

Provocative, political, speculative: your guide to the 2018 Stella shortlist

Camilla Nelson, University of Notre Dame Australia

A Stella winner is a book that challenges its readers; it attempts to do a bit of work in the world. And this year’s shortlist doesn’t disappoint.
In The Magpie, Monet found all the colour in a snowy day

Ted Snell, University of Western Australia

Claude Monet painted The Magpie in winter 1868, turning his interest in colour on the blank canvass of snow.

Business + Economy

That contract your computer made could get you in a legal bind

Mark Giancaspro, University of Adelaide

Law presumes that commercial contracts are intended to be legally binding, even where computers play a part in the bargain.
Shorten's plan to triple anti-dumping penalties misunderstands the law

Weihuan Zhou, UNSW

Bill Shorten has proposed tripling penalties for dumping cheap overseas products like steel into the Australian market. But this proposal suggests a failure to understand dumping and its regulation.
The many ways Australia isn't as pro-trade as we claim

Gabriele Gratton, UNSW

To really show its pro-trade colours, Australia's government should stop flirting with Trump's new anti-trade wave.

Environment + Energy
Australia's history of live exports is more than two centuries old Nancy Cushing, University of Newcastle Footage of sheep transport conditions have shocked many, but live export has a long history in Australia. Why does some tap water taste weird? Ian Wright, Western Sydney University Every year councils around Australia compete to prove they have the best-tasting tap water in the country.

Politics + Society

When it comes to China's influence on Australia, beware of sweeping statements and conflated ideas

Andrew Chubb, Princeton University

China scholars disagree on the extent of Chinese influence on Australian politics – but it may be there are more points of agreement than most scholars realise.
Political interventions have undermined the parole system's effectiveness and independence

Arie Freiberg, Monash University; Lorana Bartels, University of Canberra; Robin Fitzgerald, The University of Queensland; Shannon Dodd, The University of Queensland

Government and judicial interventions into the decisions of parole boards display a progressive loss of faith in these independent bodies.

Science + Technology

Target Earth: how asteroids made an impact on Australia

Andrew Glikson, Australian National University

Large asteroids have hit Australia over many millions of years and the evidence is in the landscape, if you know where to look.
Curious Kids: How does glow in the dark paint work?

Thorsten Trupke, UNSW

You can see glow-in-the dark paint, but if you touch it, it is just as cold as the bedroom wall. So the glowing of the paint is different to the glowing of a light bulb.
Banning MPs from private messaging apps is a simplistic response to a complex problem

Bruce Baer Arnold, University of Canberra

The ban on Queensland Members of Parliament using encrypted messaging apps for government business should be accompanied by a willingness to strengthen official accountability across the board.

Health + Medicine

Do athletes really need protein supplements?

Evangeline Mantzioris, University of South Australia

Most Australians have double the recommended intake of protein already, meaning protein shakes are probably superfluous for most.
What is hepatitis A and how can you get it from eating frozen fruit?

Benjamin Cowie, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity; Nicole Romero, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity

Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver. Symptoms usually take 15-50 days to develop after initial infection and typically last for several weeks or sometimes longer.

Education
Autism advocacy and research misses the mark if autistic people are left out Liz Pellicano, Macquarie University When non-autistic people take the lead on autism research, support and advocacy without input from autistic people, we risk of getting the message wrong and missing key parts of the picture.

Commonwealth Games 2018
Should the Commonwealth Games come with a health warning? Keith Parry, Western Sydney University; Emma George Previous Olympics and Commonwealth Games have not led to an increase in sports participation. In fact, there could be a negative impact on health from watching more television.