| Read time: 8 minute(s)

Debate this: Can we turn back time by banning phones? End ‘phone-based childhood’ now say experts

In the last decade, something astonishing has happened. Young people’s reading abilities have come down across the board and across the world. In the same time period, students’ mental health plummeted. Loneliness, anxiety and depression are all at record highs. Some pin the blame on the little box in your hand. But can we do […]
| Read time: 4 minute(s)

The mystical power of a white bear dreaming.

Is it a sign? This picture has won a top photography prize — but it owes its effect as much to its symbolism as it does to a good eye and technical expertise. An amateur photographer from the UK has won a prestigious Wildlife Photographer Of The Year award with this emotive shot of a […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

DEBATE OF THE WEEK:Are his ideas hurting men?

IN THE NEWS: Andrew Tate portrays himself as the saviour of lost young men. But experts think he is really just milking them for all they are worth.  Cults tend to arise at times of insecurity. During the decline of the Roman Empire, many joined the secretive cult of Mithras. As the Industrial Revolution turned […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

DEBATE OF THE DAY:Should we all be more wacky?

IN THE NEWS: A bizarre story from the American midwest has some dwelling on what we have lost. They think a slightly madder world would be a happier place.  One bright Wednesday morning, 911 operators in the US state of Nebraska received a strange phone call. The caller told them there was a car driving […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

Debate Of The Day: Is God back?

THE NEWS: It is almost 150 years since German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche declared that “God is dead”. Now some believe young people are leading a religious revival. Thomas the Apostle was often late to the party. He was the last of the apostles to accept the resurrection of Jesus, earning him the name Doubting Thomas. […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Do monsters keep us sane?

THE NEWS: This month, volunteers from across the world will flock to Loch Ness to try to spot an ancient beast. Some think they might just be on to something.   In 565 AD, a monk named Saint Columba, travelling through Scotland, came across some locals burying a man by the River Ness.The man, they explained, […]
| Read time: 4 minute(s)

An otter in Santa Cruz is hassling surfers — and stealing their boards

An aggressive sea otter in California is hassling locals by riding boards she stole from surfers in the lineup. Steamer Lane is a legendary point break nestled along the rocky shores of Santa Cruz, home to swaths of experienced surfers, as well as a 5-year-old female sea otter with a growing reputation for repeatedly confronting […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

DEBATE OF THE DAY: Is predicting the future a skill we can learn?

IN THE NEWS: Is predicting the future a skill we can learn? Another disaster has shaken some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Some think we can use science to predict and prevent them. On Friday 3 February, a Dutch researcher, Frank Hoogerbeets, tweeted out a map of southern Turkey. In the caption he wrote: […]
| Read time: 5 minute(s)

Could human’s teleport?

What if you could instantly transport yourself from one place to another? Instead of circling the same old neighborhood, you could walk the streets of Shanghai, China. Instead of eating the same old takeout for dinner, you could dine in Paris, France. You could even visit the moon or the rings of Saturn. Science fiction […]
| Read time: 4 minute(s)

The Status Game

A new book says we live in a culture obsessed with status and competition, from school to work and sport. So is it time to opt out and view life another way? You are at a fork in the road. If you turn left, you start the story of your life. You love and learn. […]