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Editor's note
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If you’re reading this article in your office, chances are the air conditioning is set to around 22°C. Setting the temperature to 25°C could cut your office’s daily air-conditioning energy consumption by 18%, drive down electricity bills and help save the planet.
But would it be too hot to think? Not according to a recent study, which found that office workers’ “cognitive load” - the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory - was not significantly affected by a little temperature boost.
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Sunanda Creagh
Head of Digital Storytelling
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Top story
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The study showed that boosting the office temperature a little can save energy and keep office workers comfortable without sacrificing their cognitive performance.
Mami Kempe / The Conversation
Dian Tjondronegoro, Southern Cross University; Christhina Candido, University of Sydney; Fan Zhang, Griffith University; Shamila Haddad, University of Sydney
Our study found that office workers performed just the same, whether the air conditioning was set at 22°C or 25°C. But making that tweak can cut energy use by 18%.
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Business + Economy
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Annabelle Lukin, Macquarie University
A corporate apology is always connected to the benefits it brings to the company. It is not a personal apology, it is a form of institutional positioning.
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Environment + Energy
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Albert Van Dijk, Australian National University; Madeleine Cahill, CSIRO
An annual assessment of the health of Australia's environment shows mostly stable conditions in 2017, but ecosystems on land and at sea suffered ever higher temperatures.
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Politics + Society
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Michael O'Keefe, La Trobe University
The reports are speculative at best, but that hasn't stopped a torrent of over-wrought commentary on Chinese military expansion and the potential threat to Australia.
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James Sweeney, Lancaster University
The legal standards for military intervention are complicated and highly specific. It's not clear an attack on Syria would meet them.
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Susan Hutchinson, Australian National University
Talks should include barriers to women’s participation in peace and security institutions, countering violent extremism, foreign fighters, sexual violence in conflict, and the Rohingya crisis.
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Dominic Kelly, La Trobe University
Tony Abbott's supporters are derided as delusional conservatives, but they have immense political impact and are determined to bring down Malcolm Turnbull.
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Adrian Beaumont, University of Melbourne
Despite the government's 30th Newspoll loss under Malcolm Turnbull, this week's polls have been a mixed bag for both sides.
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Science + Technology
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Adam Brumm, Griffith University
Archaeologists have dug deeper at an old dig site on an Indonesian island, revealing more stone tools made by the ancient inhabitants of the place. But who they were remains a mystery.
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Jim Palfreyman, University of Tasmania
Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars and some of them are know to have a "glitch", and astronomers have captured one as it hapened.
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Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology; Louise Grimmer, University of Tasmania
We're not going to stop wandering through shopping centres anytime soon, but mobile, micro-location and voice technologies are set to transform the retail experience.
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Arts + Culture
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Scott Davie, University of Sydney
The last movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony gave us 'Ode to Joy', one of the most famous tunes of all time. But the composer initially thought he'd made a grave mistake with it.
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Emily Brayshaw, University of Technology Sydney
Sewers with attitude are tackling fast fashion one stitch at a time.
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Commonwealth Games 2018
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Mark Connick, The University of Queensland
There are many factors that set elite runners apart from other runners, including training volume, physiology, tendon function and running technique.
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Jack Hynes, Victoria University; Ramon Spaaij, Victoria University
Recent injuries are symptoms of a belief that athletes should stop at nothing to achieve success.
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Health + Medicine
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Clare Collins, University of Newcastle
A recent study was reported to have found that eating pasta wouldn't make you put on weight, This is actually true, so long as you're following a low GI diet.
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Nicholas Huntington, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Immunotherapy drugs work by increasing the patient's own immune response. The most successful examples of immunotherapies are drugs that act as antibodies, of which Keytruda is one.
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Education
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Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University
Twitter provides a low-cost, easy to access platform for teachers to connect with other teachers, gain support and find resources that fit their specific professional development needs.
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Cities
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David Kelly, Deakin University
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