Editor's note

Nau mai haere mai - and welcome to your latest New Zealand newsletter.

First, some exciting news. The Conversation is looking for a deputy editor in New Zealand! If you know someone who might be interested, please spread the word and share the position description.

And now to this week’s stories. Who would want to live forever? Some people have gone as far as cryogenic freezing after death in the hope that, one day, science will have advanced enough to resurrect them. AUT virtual reality researcher David Evans Bailey writes that, in lieu of technology to keep the body alive, others are searching for a route to immortality in the digital realm.

More down to earth, in Climate Explained this week, Motu policy fellow Catherine Leining explains how New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme works, who pays for what and where all the money goes.

And brands are capitalising on the press attention following Alan Jones’ sock-shoving comments, visibly and loudly disassociating themselves from the Australian commentator’s radio show. But is this more than clever marketing? You’ll have to read the article by marketing lecturers Amanda Spry, at RMIT University, and Jessica Vredenburg, at AUT.

There are many more articles in this newsletter and on the New Zealand page, all contributed by experts in their respective fields. You’ll also find a selection of the latest articles published across The Conversation’s international editions, including a fascinating piece about the role New York’s Union Square played in the American free speech movement, written by Victoria University of Wellington professor of architecture Joanna Merwood-Salisbury.

Many thanks for reading. If you enjoy this newsletter, pass it on to friends and colleagues so they can subscribe. E noho ora mai, he mihi maioha ki a koutou.

Veronika Meduna

New Zealand Editor

Top stories

If it were possible to download the neural networks of a human brain, could we preserve a computer simulation of that person? from www.shutterstock.com

The digital human: the cyber version of humanity’s quest for immortality

David Evans Bailey, Auckland University of Technology

The quest for immortality is as old as humanity itself, but the prospect of being able to copy the neural networks of a person's brain shifts the pursuit of perpetual life into the digital world.

Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions forces us to face at least some of the environmental cost of what we produce and consume. from www.shutterstock.com

Climate explained: how emissions trading schemes work and they can help us shift to a zero carbon future

Catherine Leining, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research

Traditional market transactions ignore the costs of greenhouse gas emissions. An emissions trading scheme is a tool to put a price on emissions and to influence us to choose lower-emission options.

More than 50 advertisers have so far withdrawn from Alan Jones’ 2GB radio show, buoyed by social media campaigns naming and shaming those who remain. AAP/Paul Braven

Shoving a sock in it is not the answer. Have advertisers called time on Alan Jones?

Amanda Spry, RMIT University; Jessica Vredenburg, Auckland University of Technology

The advertising boycott of Alan Jones' radio show highlights which companies advertised on it, but ironically, pulling out now could enhance their brand more than if they had never supported the show.

Rather than encouraging people to become better citizens, rewards and fines can actually reduce peoples’ natural tendencies to do the right thing by others. from www.shutterstock.com

Voter turnout at New Zealand local elections keeps falling, but paying people to vote could backfire

Julia Talbot-Jones, Victoria University of Wellington

The idea that a small payment could motivate more people to vote resurfaces regularly, but this ignores evidence that monetary incentives to induce pro-social behaviour can be counterproductive.

Union Square: contentious political rallies helped progressive social reformers argue for the protection of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington DC, USA

How New York’s Union Square helped shape free speech in the US

Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, Victoria University of Wellington

New York's Union Square is an important site in American labor history. One scholar's research illustrates the shifting meanings and inherent tensions of public space as an epicenter of civic life.

A parent’s attention is gold to a child, and even negative attention is better than none. pathompong24/Shutterstock

Time out shouldn’t be your go-to parenting tool but can be useful if it’s well planned

Melanie Woodfield, University of Auckland

Research shows if time out is used occasionally, briefly and the child understands the process, it can be a useful parenting tool for kids aged two to eight.

From The Conversation's international editions

Twenty years after independence, Timor-Leste continues its epic struggle

Sara Niner, Monash University

Timor-Leste has had a long and violent history of struggle for self-determination, and while there is much to celebrate, there is also still much to do.

Guide to the classics: The Great Gatsby

Sascha Morrell, Monash University

Status anxiety and conspicuous consumption generate a dazzling, often surreal poetry in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. But Gatsby’s rise and fall exposes deep fissures underlying the American Dream.

Star laws: what happens if you commit a crime in space?

Danielle Ireland-Piper, Bond University

NASA is reportedly investigating the first alleged crime in space. But criminal jurisdiction aboard the International Space Station is much more straightforward than it would be for space tourists.

3 ways China benefits from the Hong Kong protests

Deana Rohlinger, Florida State University

Why doesn't China put down the protests in Hong Kong? Maybe it doesn't want to.

A rose-tinted cure: the myth of coloured overlays and dyslexia

Jeremy Law, University of Glasgow

Based on the current body of evidence, the use of coloured filters should not be recommended as a dyslexia treatment, nor be provided through publicly funded bodies.

Beer has a sexism problem and it goes much deeper than chauvinistic marketing

Chris Land, Anglia Ruskin University

Beers with sexist names and labels were banned from the Great British Beer Festival this summer.

Nagasaki’s shadows: European citizens facing nuclear weapons

Benoît Pelopidas, Sciences Po – USPC; Fabrício M. Fialho, Sciences Po – USPC

With the risk of a nuclear conflict seeming higher than ever, how much do EU citizens really know about nuclear weapons and their use? A new survey provides striking answers.

Development for all: a better solution for Papua

Asmiati Malik, Universitas Bakrie

Adopting an inclusive development approach to the well-being of Papuans is the best solution to solve Papuan problems.

Indigenous ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline would safeguard the environment

Harrie Vredenburg, University of Calgary

Project Reconciliation is a direct response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls that Indigenous communities 'gain long-term sustainable benefits from economic development projects.'

The crisis of anti-Black racism in schools persists across generations

Carl James, York University, Canada

Decades of inadequate teaching material and resources to support Black students in Ontario means they are severely underserved by their schools.