Boys play like girls, and a refugee tale like no other

Editor's note

In late 2015, 200,000 refugees a month were making a perilous sea journey to the small Greek island of Lesvos. Fishermen helped guide them to shore, diving into the water to rescue people. Local women handed out food and looked after the children.

Greek photographer Tasos Markou went there to document the refugees’ plight but ended up joining the locals in helping out. “I decided it wasn’t enough to just be a good person,” he says. “You have to act.” In our Friday essay, Cameron Muir tells the story of Markou and the extraordinary hospitality he witnessed.

And new research has found until the age of 12 boys and girls are equally good at sport. Strength, flexibility, reaction times, and more than 100 other measures were taken to find boys and girls should be on the same team. Marnee McKay and Joshua Burns say this takes the sting out of the old insult: ‘you play like a girl’.

Suzy Freeman-Greene

Arts and Culture Editor

Top story

An aerial shot of discarded life jackets on the Greek island of Lesvos. Tasos Markou

Friday essay: the photographer, the island and half a million lifejackets

Cameron Muir, University of Sydney

In late 2015, 200,000 refugees a month were arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos. Tasos Markou went there to photograph their plight - and ended up joining the locals to help the new arrivals.

Health + Medicine

When it comes to sport, boys 'play like a girl'

Marnee McKay, University of Sydney; Joshua Burns, University of Sydney

Girls in primary school are just as physically capable as their male classmates, our research shows.
Weekly Dose: methylprednisolone, a drug for treating inflammation but not rare kidney disease

Nial Wheate, University of Sydney

A trial of methylprednisolone in kidney patients was halted recently because of safety concerns. But this doesn't affect people taking the drug for asthma, arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.

Politics + Society

The right to bare arms: the history of Australian sex worker activism

Eurydice Aroney, University of Technology Sydney

Full decriminalisation of sex work is advocated by many health and human rights organisations around the world. Sex workers in New South Wales kick-started the process 40 years ago.
Grattan on Friday: Marriage on the rocks in divided Liberal Party

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Even acknowledging that Australia is lagging internationally and that same-sex marriage should have been delivered yesterday, the implosion around the issue is extraordinary.
Australia has ignored black viewpoints before – why would a constitutional 'voice' be any different?

Colin Tatz, Australian National University

Bodies established around the world to hear 'black' voices have an enduring problem: they advise, but are rarely – if ever – heard.
Stigma and stereotypes about sex work hinder regulatory reform

Paul Maginn, University of Western Australia; Emily Cooper, University of Central Lancashire

Consensual sex work, like non-commercial sex, mostly happens behind closed doors. Yet stigma toward and ignorance about sex workers makes people panic when we try to talk about reform.
Politics podcast: Tiernan Brady on same-sex marriage showdown

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Tiernan Brady, a leader of the successful 'Yes' campaign on same-sex marriage in Ireland, has been working with activists in Australia to get marriage equality over the line.

Science + Technology

How do you know that what you know is true? That's epistemology

Peter Ellerton, The University of Queensland

It's not what you think you know, but how you can justify your knowledge that is most important.
Human embryo CRISPR advances science but let's focus on ethics, not world firsts

Hannah Brown, University of Adelaide

A world first study shows CRISPR can remove a target gene from early stage human embryos. But with the advance in science come weighty ethical dilemmas.

Business + Economy
Computer says no: robo-advice is growing but we still don't trust it Andrew Reeson, CSIRO; Andreas Duenser Robo-advice might prove most useful to those who need it the most, making them feel more competent and in control.

Cities
As a coastal defence, the Great Barrier Reef’s value to communities goes way beyond tourism Mark Gibbs, Queensland University of Technology Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef could lead to increased vulnerability of Queensland coastal cities and towns, and not only through its impacts on the tourism industry.

Education
To empower students with effective writing skills, handwriting matters Anabela Malpique, Murdoch University; Deborah Pino-Pasternak, Murdoch University Writing is a fundamental outcome indicator of learning across subjects and grades. The latest NAPLAN results tell us we need to do more to empower children with these skills.

Arts + Culture
Diana revived the monarchy – and airing old tapes won't change a thing Giselle Bastin, Flinders University In the 20 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the monarchy has been remade largely in her own image.

Environment + Energy
Turnbull to tell power companies: do better by customers Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra Malcolm Turnbull has summoned the chiefs of major power companies to a meeting on Wednesday to discuss how customers can be given more relief through better deals on electricity prices.

Columnists

A mash-up of sex and art and yearning and anomie with a little Springsteen and Sinéad Lauren Rosewarne

New formats for investigative reports can generate considerable audience engagement Axel Bruns

Our community standards still apply and will be enforced, so please keep it nice. Molly Glassey