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Are young people smarter than older adults? My research shows cognitive differences between generations are diminishing

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-badham-1531316">Stephen Badham</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/nottingham-trent-university-1338">Nottingham Trent University</a></em></p> <p>We often assume young people are smarter, or at least quicker, than older people. For example, we’ve all heard that scientists, and even more so mathematicians, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2014/08/07/who-says-scientists-peak-by-age-50/">carry out their most important work</a> when they’re comparatively young.</p> <p>But my new research, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027322972400008X#:%7E:text=Highlights&text=Three%20review%20studies%20measure%20secular,%2C%20education%2C%20and%20overall%20health.">published in Developmental Review</a>, suggests that cognitive differences between the old and young are tapering off over time. This is hugely important as stereotypes about the intelligence of people in their sixties or older may be holding them back – in the workplace and beyond.</p> <p>Cognitive ageing is often measured by comparing young adults, aged 18-30, to older adults, aged 65 and over. There are a variety of tasks that older adults do not perform well on compared to young adults, such as memory, spatial ability and speed of processing, which often form the basis of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428">IQ tests</a>. That said, there are a few tasks that older people do better at than younger people, such as reading comprehension and vocabulary.</p> <p>Declines in cognition are driven by a process called <a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/cbjacdabdf">cognitive ageing</a>, which happens to everyone. Surprisingly, age-related cognitive deficits start very early in adulthood, and declines in cognition have been measured as dropping in adults as young as just 25.</p> <p>Often, it is only when people reach older age that these effects add up to a noticeable amount. Common complaints consist of walking into a room and forgetting why you entered, as well as difficulty remembering names and struggling to drive in the dark.</p> <h2>The trouble with comparison</h2> <p>Sometimes, comparing young adults to older adults can be misleading though. The two generations were brought up in different times, with different levels of education, healthcare and nutrition. They also lead different daily lives, with some older people having lived though a world war while the youngest generation is growing up with the internet.</p> <p>Most of these factors favour the younger generation, and this can explain a proportion of their advantage in cognitive tasks.</p> <p>Indeed, much existing research shows that <a href="https://theconversation.com/iq-tests-are-humans-getting-smarter-158837">IQ has been improving</a> globally throughout the 20th century. This means that later-born generations are more cognitively able than those born earlier. This is even found when both generations are tested in the same way at the same age.</p> <p>Currently, there is growing evidence that <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1718793115">increases in IQ are levelling off,</a> such that, in the most recent couple of decades, young adults are no more cognitively able than young adults born shortly beforehand.</p> <p>Together, these factors may underlie the current result, namely that cognitive differences between young and older adults are diminishing over time.</p> <h2>New results</h2> <p>My research began when my team started getting strange results in our lab. We found that often the age differences we were getting between young and older adults was smaller or absent, compared to prior research from early 2000s.</p> <p>This prompted me to start looking at trends in age differences across the psychological literature in this area. I uncovered a variety of data that compared young and older adults from the 1960s up to the current day. I plotted this data against year of publication, and found that age deficits have been getting smaller over the last six decades.</p> <p>Next, I assessed if the average increases in cognitive ability over time seen across all individuals was a result that also applied to older adults specifically. Many large databases exist where groups of individuals are recruited every few years to take part in the same tests. I analysed studies using these data sets to look at older adults.</p> <p>I found that, just like younger people, older adults were indeed becoming more cognitively able with each cohort. But if differences are disappearing, does that mean younger people’s improvements in cognitive ability have slowed down or that older people’s have increased?</p> <p>I analysed data from my own laboratory that I had gathered over a seven-year period to find out. Here, I was able to dissociate the performance of the young from the performance of the older. I found that each cohort of young adults was performing to a similar extent across this seven-year period, but that older adults were showing improvements in both processing speed and vocabulary scores.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/591482/original/file-20240501-24-esxcic.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="The figure shows data for a speed-based task where higher scores represent better performance." /><figcaption><span class="caption">The figure shows data for a speed-based task where higher scores represent better performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p>I believe the older adults of today are benefiting from many of the factors previously most applicable to young adults. For example, the number of children who went to school <a href="https://education-uk.org/history/chapter12.html">increased significantly</a> in the 1960s – with the system being more similar to what it is today than what it was at the start of the 20th century.</p> <p>This is being reflected in that cohort’s increased scores today, now they are older adults. At the same time, young adults have hit a ceiling and are no longer improving as much with each cohort.</p> <p>It is not entirely clear why the young generations have stopped improving so much. Some research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2016.10.002">explored maternal age, mental health and even evolutionary trends</a>. I favour the opinion that there is just a natural ceiling – a limit to how much factors such as education, nutrition and health can improve cognitive performance.</p> <p>These data have important implications for research into dementia. For example, it is possible that a modern older adult in the early stages of dementia might pass a dementia test that was designed 20 or 30 years ago for the general population at that time.</p> <p>Therefore, as older adults are performing better in general than previous generations, it may be necessary to revise definitions of dementia that depend on an individuals’ expected level of ability.</p> <p>Ultimately, we need to rethink what it means to become older. And there’s finally some good news. Ultimately, we can expect to be more cognitively able than our grandparents were when we reach their age.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229132/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-badham-1531316">Stephen Badham</a>, Professor of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/nottingham-trent-university-1338">Nottingham Trent University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-young-people-smarter-than-older-adults-my-research-shows-cognitive-differences-between-generations-are-diminishing-229132">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

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‘Girl math’ may not be smart financial advice, but it could help women feel more empowered with money

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ylva-baeckstrom-1463175">Ylva Baeckstrom</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kings-college-london-1196">King's College London</a></em></p> <p>If you’ve ever calculated cost per wear to justify the price of an expensive dress, or felt like you’ve made a profit after returning an ill-fitting pair of jeans, you might be an expert in <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/girl-maths-tiktok-trend-its-basically-free-b1100504.html">“girl math”</a>. With videos about the topic going viral on social media, girl math might seem like a silly (<a href="https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/girl-math-womens-spending-taken-seriously">or even sexist</a>) trend, but it actually tells us a lot about the relationship between gender, money and emotions.</p> <p>Girl math introduces a spend classification system: purchases below a certain value, or made in cash, don’t “count”. Psychologically, this makes low-value spending feel safe and emphasises the importance of the long-term value derived from more expensive items. For example, girl math tells us that buying an expensive dress is only “worth it” if you can wear it to multiple events.</p> <p>This approach has similarities to <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/modernportfoliotheory.asp">portfolio theory</a> – a method of choosing investments to maximise expected returns and minimise risk. By evaluating how each purchase contributes to the shopping portfolio, girl math shoppers essentially become shopping portfolio managers.</p> <h2>Money and emotions</h2> <p>People of all genders, rich or poor, feel anxious when dealing with their personal finances. Many people in the UK do not understand pensions or saving enough to <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/workplacepensions/articles/pensionparticipationatrecordhighbutcontributionsclusteratminimumlevels/2018-05-04">afford their retirement</a>. Without motivation to learn, people avoid dealing with money altogether. One way to find this motivation, as girl math shows, is by having an emotional and tangible connection to our finances.</p> <p>On the surface, it may seem that women are being ridiculed and encouraged to overspend by using girl math. From a different perspective, it hints at something critical: for a person to really care about something as seemingly abstract as personal finance, they need to feel that they can relate to it.</p> <p>Thinking about money in terms of the value of purchases can help create an <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/every-time-i-use-my-card-my-phone-buzzes-and-that-stops-me-shopping-ps0fjx6nj">emotional relationship</a> to finance, making it something people want to look after.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GPzA7B6dcxc?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The girl math we need</h2> <p>Women are a consumer force to be reckoned with, controlling <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetbrennan/2015/01/21/top-10-things-everyone-should-know-about-women-consumers/#7679f9d6a8b4">up to 80%</a> of consumer spending globally. The girl math trend is a demonstration of women’s mastery at applying portfolio theory to their shopping, making them investment powerhouses whose potential is overlooked by the financial services industry.</p> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/28/women-paid-less-than-men-over-careers-gender-pay-gap-report">Women are disadvantaged</a> when it comes to money and finance. Women in the UK earn on average £260,000 less than men during their careers and the retirement income of men is twice as high as women’s.</p> <p>As I’ve found in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gender-and-Finance-Addressing-Inequality-in-the-Financial-Services-Industry/Baeckstrom/p/book/9781032055572">my research</a> on gender and finance, women have lower financial self-efficacy (belief in their own abilities) compared to men. This is not helped by women feeling patronised when seeking financial advice.</p> <p>Because the world of finance was created by men for men, its language and culture are <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gender-and-Finance-Addressing-Inequality-in-the-Financial-Services-Industry/Baeckstrom/p/book/9781032055572">intrinsically male</a>. Only in the mid-1970s did women in the UK gain the legal right to open a bank account without a male signature and it was not until 1980 that they could apply for credit independently. With the law now more (<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2023/03/02/pace-of-reform-toward-equal-rights-for-women-falls-to-20-year-low">but not fully</a>) gender equal, the financial services industry has failed to connect with women.</p> <p>Studies show that 49% of women are <a href="https://www.ellevest.com/magazine/disrupt-money/ellevest-financial-wellness-survey">anxious about their finances</a>. However they have not bought into patronising offers and <a href="https://www.fa-mag.com/news/gender-roles-block-female-financial-experience--ubs-says-73531.html">mansplaining by financial advisers</a>. This outdated approach suggests that it is women, rather than the malfunctioning financial system, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/16/women-are-not-financially-illiterate-they-need-more-than-condescending-advice">who need fixing</a>.</p> <p>Women continue to feel that they do not belong to or are able to trust the world of finance. And why would women trust an industry with a <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2019">gender pay gap</a> of up to 59% and a severe lack of women in senior positions?</p> <p>Girl math on its own isn’t necessarily good financial advice, but if it helps even a handful of women feel more empowered to manage and understand their finances, it should not be dismissed.</p> <p></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ylva-baeckstrom-1463175">Ylva Baeckstrom</a>, Senior Lecturer in Finance, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kings-college-london-1196">King's College London</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/girl-math-may-not-be-smart-financial-advice-but-it-could-help-women-feel-more-empowered-with-money-211780">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Money & Banking

These 10 smart grocery swaps can help reverse diabetes

<p><strong>Diagnosis diabetes</strong></p> <p>It can feel daunting to be faced with the need to make a major lifestyle change. You enjoy food, and you should. At Reader’s Digest, we like to think nature designed nutrition to taste delicious so it can be a source of pleasure in your day that’s fun to look forward to.</p> <p>If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, this diagnosis doesn’t have to take over your whole identity and all the things that bring you joy. There are ways to adapt some of your favourite foods so you can still have them!</p> <p>Registered dietitian Jackie Newgent lists interesting meal swaps you can make so that classic dishes can be healthier, while still plenty pleasurable.</p> <p>With some wisdom and dedication, it can be possible to turn your condition around and feel great for good.</p> <p><strong>Pair starchy with non-starchy veggies</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one kilo potatoes</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> 500g kilo potatoes plus 500g cauliflower</p> <p>This mashed potato hack keeps your total carbs in check without forgoing flavour. Whip equal parts boiled potatoes together with roasted or boiled cauliflower. </p> <p>The results of this dynamic duo may help you better manage your blood glucose, since they’re carb-friendlier than a huge bowl of mashed potatoes alone: 100 grams of cooked potatoes without skin provides 22 grams of total carbohydrates, versus 13 grams total carbohydrate in the 100 gram combination of cooked potatoes and cauliflower.</p> <p><strong>Pick fruit you can chew</strong></p> <div> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one litre apple juice</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one bag of apples</p> <p>Enjoy whole fruit rather than just the juice whenever possible to get all the fibre of the naturally sweet fruit with its edible peel…plus chewing satisfaction. One medium apple contains 4.4 grams of fibre while a 200ml glass or juice box of 100-percent apple juice has 0.4 grams of fibre. </p> <p>The soluble fibre in apples can help slow down absorption of sugars. Polyphenols in apples may have powerful antioxidant properties.</p> <p><strong>Grill a better burger</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> 500g 85% lean ground beef patties</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> 500g ground chicken breast</p> <p>Gram for gram, chicken breast has significantly less saturated fat than the marbly beef of classic burgers. Specifically, an 85g cooked 85% lean ground beef patty has five grams of saturated fat compared to 0.6 grams of saturated fat for a cooked patty made from 85g of chicken breast meat.</p> <p>Keeping saturated fat intake low is especially important when you have diabetes to help keep your heart healthy. Pro-tip: make chicken burgers juicier and tastier by combining ground chicken breast with a little plain yogurt, rolled oats, and herbs and spices before cooking.</p> <p><strong>Look for live cultures in the dairy section</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one container regular cottage cheese</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one container plain low-fat Greek yogurt or cultured cottage cheese</p> <p>Probiotics are “good” bacteria that help keep your gut healthy. For people with type 2 diabetes, research published in Advances in Nutrition suggested that probiotics may also have glucose-lowering potential. So, pop products with live active cultures (probiotics) into your cart while strolling by the dairy aisle. Choose plain low-fat Greek yogurt or cultured cottage cheese.</p> <p>Be sure to read the nutrition labels, since probiotics aren’t in all dairy foods. And, for the lower-sodium pick, stick with yogurt.</p> <p><strong>Choose healthier-sized grain portions </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> 1/2 dozen bakery-style plain bagels</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one package of wholegrain English muffins</p> <p>Swapping wholegrain in place of refined grain products helps kick up fibre and other plant nutrients. Studies suggests this is linked to lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Also, opting for healthier-sized varieties, such as wholegrain English muffins rather than big bakery-style plain bagels helps cut kilojoules (and carbs) – not enjoyment – while promoting a healthier weight. In fact, you’ll slash over 1000 kilojoules by enjoying a whole-wheat English muffin instead of that oversized 140g bagel.</p> <p><strong>Get your munchies with benefits </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one bag of potato chips</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one jar or bulk-bin container of roasted peanuts</p> <p>It’s a no-brainer: a small handful of nuts is a better bet than potato chips. Peanuts, for instance, offer a triple whammy of dietary fibre, plant protein and healthy fat, which can boost satiety. Greater satisfaction means a greater chance you’ll keep mealtime portions right-sized.</p> <p>When peanuts or other nuts are eaten along with carb-rich foods, they can help slow down the blood sugar response. Plus, a Mediterranean study found that higher nut consumption may be associated with better metabolic status.</p> <p><strong>Dress a salad smartly </strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one bottle of fat-free salad dressing</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one small bottle olive oil plus one small bottle balsamic or red wine vinegar</p> <p>Some bottled salad dressings can trick you. For instance, “fat-free” salad dressing may be loaded with added sugars. (For reference: four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon.)</p> <p>So, read salad dressing labels carefully for sneaky ingredients, especially excess salt (over 250 milligrams of sodium per two-tablespoon serving) or added sugars (more than five grams added sugars per two-tablespoon serving). Better yet, keep it simple and make your own vinaigrette using 2-3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar.</p> <p><strong>Select less salty soup</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one can/carton of vegetable- or bean-based soup</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one can/carton of low-sodium vegetable- or bean-based soup</p> <p>When compared to people without diabetes, sodium levels were higher in patients with type 2 diabetes, based on a meta-analysis published in European Journal of Nutrition. Curbing sodium intake is beneficial for people with diabetes since too much may increase your risk for high blood pressure.</p> <p>So, slurp up soup that’s low in sodium. And kick up flavour with a splash of cider vinegar, grated citrus zest, herbs, spices, or a dash of hot sauce.</p> <p><strong>Go for "naked" fish</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> Breaded fish sticks</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> Frozen salmon fillets</p> <p>Cut salmon into large cubes, season, and grill on skewers. Or make fish sticks by simply cutting into skinny fillets, season and roast. Why? Research published in Diabetes Care finds that eating oily fish may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Non-oily fish, like the whitefish in fish sticks, didn’t show this link.</p> <p>Salmon is an oily fish and a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, a heart-friendly fat. Plus: when you make your own salmon skewers or sticks, you won’t have extra carbs from breading.</p> <p><strong>Do dip with a punch of protein</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Instead of:</em></span> one container of sour cream & onion dip</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>Buy:</em></span> one container of pulse-based dip, like hummus</p> <p>Wise snacking can be helpful for managing blood glucose. It can also be delicious. Dunk veggies or wholegrain pita wedges into pulse-based dip, like hummus, black bean dip, or lentil dip. </p> <p>Check this out: one-quarter cup (that’s 60 grams) of onion dip has 870 kiljoules, five grams of saturated fat, 1.2 grams of protein, and 0.1 grams of fibre, while one-quarter cup hummus has 590 kilojoules, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 4.7 grams of protein, and 3.3 grams of fibre. Hummus clearly wins!</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/healthsmart/diabetes/reverse-diabetes-10-smart-grocery-swaps?pages=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p> </div>

Food & Wine

"I can't wake Mummy up": Olympian dies at 43

<p>A former Olympic swimmer has passed away suddenly at the age of 43 while on a trip with her family. </p> <p>Helen Smart, a British swimming champion who competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was found unresponsive by her four-year-old daughter Heidi when she tried to climb into bed with her parents. </p> <p>Heidi then woke up her father Craig Smart, saying, "Daddy, I can't wake Mummy up," before Craig discovered his wife lying next to him dead.</p> <p>Smart's mother confirmed the news of her passing, telling the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12413199/Ex-Olympic-swimmer-turned-headteacher-Helen-Smart-dead-four-year-old-daughter-heartbreaking-video-shows-mother-paddleboarding-hours-sudden-death-aged-42.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>MailOnline</em></a>, "Heidi had woken up in the night and tried to get into bed with her. She said to her daddy, 'Mummy won't wake up''. He said, 'Oh, she must be very tired Heidi - you go back to bed'."</p> <p>"He put the torch on and he said later that when he looked he could tell."</p> <p>Linda continued, "We're distraught. They don't know what it is but they think it must have happened shortly after she went to bed. She just died in her sleep."</p> <p>Just hours before her sudden passing, Helen and her family had been paddle boarding in the north of England, while on a trip for her brother Robert's 40th birthday. </p> <p>Helen had not been suffering with any illnesses her family knew of. </p> <p>Linda said, "At midnight, she went to bed telling me: 'I'll go to bed now mum as I know I'll be woken at 6am by Heidi. I just want to get some sleep in as I've had a long day.'"</p> <p>Linda was then woken by Robert at 4am who said, "Mum, dad, you need to keep up - we think Helen's died."</p> <p>Smart's father John said he and his wife "can't comprehend how she could simply go to sleep and not wake up."</p> <p>Helen became a school principal after her retirement from swimming and was enjoying her new life. </p> <p>Craig Smart took to her school's Facebook page to say his wife "loved the school, staff, children and parents so much."</p> <p>"She was so proud to reach her goal of being Head Teacher," he continued. "She used to say to me all the time she could never see herself at another school. She was Worsley Mesnes through and through! I remember only last week she said her goal was to get the school to outstanding and that she had the right staff to achieve this!"</p> <p>"I hope you all keep learning like champions. Please learn from this and live your best life, no regrets, take lots of photos, make memories and keep smiling just like Helen always did!" he added.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Twitter / Getty Images</em></p>

Caring

Jean Harlow’s timeless style tips

<p>Known as the “Blonde Bombshell”, this sex symbol of the silver screen was known for her elegant, curve hugging gowns and a slinky attitude to match. She was the platinum blonde that paved the way for Marilyn Monroe.</p> <p>She famously claimed not to wear under garments so as not to spoil the lines of her dresses and personified classic glamour and cheeky, old world charm.</p> <p>Taken at only 26, Jean Harlow had a full life ahead of her that ended in sudden tragedy. In her short time however, she imparted her impeccable sense of character and flair on the world. Here are some of the starlet’s lasting beauty and style tips below. </p> <p>“I’d rather have a few dresses of very fine material, than a whole closetful of fussy cheap looking things.”</p> <p>“You have to have faith in your clothes, just as you have to have faith in yourself, to be successful in dressing.”</p> <p>"Personally, I dislike a made-up look. I never wear mascara unless my screen work demands it. I use only powder and lipstick."</p> <p>"I believe too much make-up is bad for women who prefer a healthy, natural complexion. Every woman knows what make-up she desires, and she should deal with it judiciously."</p> <p>"There are no tricks to the care of my hair at all. I use castile soap and shampoo it like everyone else might do. I never use a rinse. I shampoo it every four days, but I rub hot castor oil into my scalp before every shampoo."</p> <p>"Of course, we use different make-up for our screen work than we do in our personal lives. The same thing applies to clothes. Clothes and make-up are always a part of characterisation. You must adapt yourself to the character you are portraying on the screen. That is the reason they call us actresses and actors." </p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Mum of four saved by her smartwatch

<p dir="ltr">Ricki-Lee Wynne was gifted a smartwatch from her husband for her 40th birthday and she believes that without it, she wouldn’t be alive today.</p> <p dir="ltr">"There's no doubt that my smartwatch saved my life," she told 9news.com.au.</p> <p dir="ltr">Months prior to receiving the watch, Wynne had been experiencing strange health problems. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I was getting a pain over my shoulder blades and it hurt each time I breathed in," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Doctors were confused and Wynne was in and out of hospital having several X-rays, scans and blood tests in an attempt to find the underlying issue.</p> <p dir="ltr">Wynne also had an echocardiogram to test the functioning of her heart, all of which appeared normal. </p> <p dir="ltr">"The doctors were not sure what it was. They thought it could be a low-grade blood cancer," she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The pain subsided for a little while but soon enough Wynne’s breathing problems returned. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I woke up one day and I couldn't breathe properly. I was just walking into work and I was thinking, 'Gosh, I can't get enough air into my lungs,'" she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I couldn't walk from one side of the room to the other without being short of breath.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I went to my GP and had an x-ray done, but nothing showed up.”</p> <p dir="ltr">That’s when Wynne noticed her smartwatch was acting up. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I'd been struggling with my watch for days to try and get the heart rate to show up," she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">The heart rate function of her smartwatch had never been an issue before, but now it was struggling to pick it up. </p> <p dir="ltr">"It was saying you need to change the position to measure a pulse," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"My chest was also feeling kind of wobbly for a couple of nights when I went to bed.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite her X-ray showing coming up clear, Wynne said she went back to see her GP and told him she was worried something was really wrong.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I just said to him, 'Even my heart rate isn't right, look at my watch,' and I showed it to him.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Wynne’s GP sent her off for an ECG which showed her heart rate had dropped to just 29 beats per minute, a major cause for concern. </p> <p dir="ltr">"As soon as I had the ECG, I had the doctor call me back and say you need to go straight to Box Hill Hospital," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I was told at the hospital that if I hadn't come in I would have just died in my sleep.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I would not have woken up and my heart would have stopped.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Wynne was then fitted with an emergency pacemaker and eventually diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disorder called sarcoidosis, a condition that causes inflammation in different parts of the body, most commonly the lungs. </p> <p dir="ltr">Doctors believe Wynne's sarcoidosis moved from her lungs to her heart, causing her to become extremely ill. </p> <p dir="ltr">She still has the pacemaker in and combined with medication, her health has improved significantly. </p> <p dir="ltr">It’s safe to say Wynne won’t be taking off her smartwatch any time soon.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Technology

What the “father of the cell phone” wants you to know

<p dir="ltr">The inventor of the mobile phone has shared his candid opinion about the obsession with smart devices. </p> <p dir="ltr">Martin Cooper, an American engineer dubbed the “father of the cell phone”, invented the very first mobile phone 50 years ago in 1973. </p> <p dir="ltr">Back then, the weighty block of wires and circuits were only used to make calls, a far cry from having the world at your fingertips with smartphones today. </p> <p dir="ltr">Cooper believes that despite all the good that can come from modern technology, the world has become a little obsessed with smart devices. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I am devastated when I see somebody crossing the street and looking at their cell phone. They are out of their minds,” the 94-year-old told AFP from his office in Del Mar, California.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But after a few people get run over by cars, they’ll figure it out,” he joked.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Cooper also indulges in the latest gadgets, as he wears an Apple Watch and uses a top-end iPhone, flicking intuitively between his email, photos, YouTube and the controls for his hearing aid.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite keeping up with all the latest apps, updates and upgrades, he confessed that sometimes it can all seem a little overwhelming. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I will never, ever understand how to use the cell phone the way my grandchildren and great grandchildren do,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Each generation is going to be smarter … they will learn how to use the cell phone more effectively,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Humans sooner or later figure it out.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

3 smart appliances to make your life easier

<p dir="ltr">It’s time to get digital but don’t worry, all you need is a set of batteries and a charging cord.</p> <p dir="ltr">From vacuuming to mowing the lawn, here are some helpful devices that will make your life easier. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>1. <a href="https://www.binglee.com.au/products/irobot-braava-jet-m6-robot-mop-m613200?utm_source=CommissionFactory&utm_medium=referral&cfclick=346864d5d0bf44a58923574774cfdf9e" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Robotic Vacuum</a></strong><a href="https://www.binglee.com.au/products/irobot-braava-jet-m6-robot-mop-m613200?utm_source=CommissionFactory&utm_medium=referral&cfclick=346864d5d0bf44a58923574774cfdf9e"> </a></p> <p dir="ltr">The concept of a robotic vacuum is not at all new. The Roomba vacuum, arguably the most iconic robot vacuum cleaner out there has been out for over a decade but if you do not own one, do yourself a favour and get one! Or something similar. </p> <p dir="ltr">A robot vacuum will make bending over a thing of the past. They are a self-propelled floor cleaner that uses a rotating brush or brushes to pick up dirt and debris. They work on their own without any human intervention, just press the button and let the little robot clean your home.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>2. <a href="https://www.ecovacs.com/au/winbot-window-cleaning-robot/winbot-w1-pro?cfclick=d2d2a30255d642df868b7ab3d6850b67">Robotic Window Cleaner</a></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Cleaning windows is one of the most tiresome jobs in terms of cleaning, so rest those arms and get yourself a robotic window cleaner.</p> <p dir="ltr">This revolutionary window cleaner suctions itself onto the glass and gives your windows the gleam they deserve. Once again, no human intervention, just press the button and watch in amazement. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>3. <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/WORX-LANDROID-Robotic-POWERSHARE-Battery/dp/B09V2DQGC1/?tag=homestolove-trx0000057-22">Robotic Lawn Mower</a></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">If you have a big lawn, then this is the way to go. Lawn mowers that you can ride are certainly a better option than those you hold, but the robotic lawn mower allows you to cut your grass from the comfort of your living room. </p> <p dir="ltr">They’re capable of cutting areas of up to 1000sqm. It measures the size of your lawn, the soil composition and can identify different grass species to make sure it’s cut at the right time based on growth rate and seasonality!</p> <p dir="ltr">Work smarter, not harder. </p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-90ac8f63-7fff-60bf-1904-739cd411e0a9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

Why smart people prefer fewer friends

<p>While we know that loneliness can be bad for our health, it seems that not everyone wants to be surrounded by a big group of friends. For those with a higher IQ, in fact, a smaller circle of friends is preferred.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26847844">In their study of wellbeing</a></strong></span> published in the British Journal of Psychology, researchers looked at what it is that makes people happy. Using a group of 15,000 people aged 18 to 28, they found that those living in more densely populated areas deemed themselves a being less satisfied with their quality of life. They then looked at the number of interactions the people had with their inner circle of friends, and it appeared that the more connections they made, the happier they reported being.</p> <p>However there was a significant exception to this ‘more is better’ approach to friendship. For those with the highest IQs, the correlation went the other way – they were less likely to claim to be satisfied with their quality of life if they were interacting with their friendship group more often.</p> <p>Does this sound familiar? Do you know some very smart people (or you may even be the smart one) who prefer to spend time on their own rather than being out and about with friends? It seems that for the super intelligent, spending time socialising can be seen as a missed opportunity to better oneself. Meaning that instead of going to a party or a film, they would prefer to spend time studying, reading, or partaking in activities that will help them achieve their own personal goals.</p> <p>These are the people who would stay home to study when everyone else was going on a road trip for the weekend. The person who started their own business and spent every spare minute they had on it. They would even miss special occasions as they were so caught up in what they were doing that they didn’t notice the time.</p> <p>So if you are on the receiving end of a ‘no thank you’ to your invitation to socialise from your high IQ pal, now you know not to take it personally. It’s not that they don’t see friendship as valuable and important, they just really value their own time and space to try and reach their goals.</p> <p>Have you noticed that your highly intelligent friends tend to socialise less? Or are you the smart one that tends to pull away in order to focus on your own pursuits?</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Mind

F1 pioneer passes away

<p>French racing driver and engineer Jean-Pierre Jabouille, who in 1979 gave Renault their first Formula One victory, has died at the age of 80.</p> <p>The Renault-owned Alpine team has paid tribute to the two-times race winner as a pioneer whose victory at Dijon-Prenois was also the first in Formula One for a car with a turbocharged engine.</p> <p>The Parisian took only two F1 wins but it was his first at Dijon-Prenois in July 1979 that made his name and ensured he became the toast of France two-and-a-half years after he put the first laps on the Renault RS01 at Silverstone.</p> <p>Jabouille was a late starter to racing and didn’t make his international single-seater debut until he was 27 years old, when he took part in occasional F2 races in 1969.</p> <p>Having become a test and development driver with the Société des Automobiles Alpine manufacturer, Jabouille had entered his first Le Mans 24 Hours in 1968, starting a run of 14 appearances at La Sarthe that spanned a quarter of a century.</p> <p>He was also hired directly by Steve McQueen to be one of the drivers in the classic 1971 <em>Le Mans</em> movie.</p> <p>“BWT Alpine F1 Team is incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Jean-Pierre Jabouille,” read the moving tribute on the BWT Alpine F1 Instagram post. </p> <p>“A humble racing driver, brilliant engineer, and a pioneer of our sport. Jean-Pierre was a true racer.</p> <p>“He spearheaded Renault’s journey into F1 in 1977 with his resilient and dare to do attitude. He was Renault’s first Grand Prix winner in 1979, a landmark moment in Renault’s journey in Formula 1. His determination and dedication to succeed inspired many, and these values remain central to the current team in its now blue colours of Alpine.</p> <p>“We are where we are today because of Jean-Pierre and his legacy lives on.</p> <p>“We’d like to extend our most sincere condolences to his family and close friends.</p> <p>“Merci pour tout, Jean-Pierre.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoK-vfvrl-v/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoK-vfvrl-v/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by BWT Alpine F1 Team (@alpinef1team)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Jabouille was still competing well into his 60s, appearing at a national Gran Turismo level for France, and was still occasionally spotted at Le Mans in recent years – even demonstrating his old Renault F1 cars for his legion of racing fans who will remember his legacy for years to come.</p> <p><em>Image: @alpinef1team / Instagram</em></p>

News

Sports watches could help reduce falls and injuries in elderly people

<p>Falls are a significant health issue in Australia – in <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/falls" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2019-2020</a> they were the largest contributor to hospitalised injuries and the leading cause of deaths due to injury.</p> <p>But people aged 65 and over are more likely to be hospitalised or die due to a fall compared to any other age, so Australian researchers have created an algorithm that could be used to help improve their walking stability and reduce the risk of falls.</p> <p>When paired with a wearable technology device, like a smartwatch, The Walk Watch algorithm accurately measures walking steadiness and speed.</p> <p>The algorithm was developed in a new study <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20327-z" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.</p> <p>One of the lead authors of the paper, Lloyd Chan, PhD candidate at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and the University of New South Wales Medicine & Health, says this is the first time an algorithm for measuring gait quality has been widely tested in real-world environments and will be made commercially available.</p> <p>“We know that the way people walk is a predictor of their health. For example, people who walk more slowly, infrequently, in smaller steps or for shorter distances are typically more likely to suffer a fall,” says Chan.</p> <p>“Our goal was to capture this data through looking at how people naturally walk in their daily lives – and then test this broadly on over 70,000 individuals.”</p> <p>Digital gait biomarkers are measurements of a person’s gait – such as posture, cadence, walking speed and length of stride – that can provide insight into their overall health, functional decline, and can predict their likelihood to fall.</p> <p>But conventional digital gait biomarker measurements are usually geared towards walking on treadmills in the lab and so they don’t accurately assess gait from walking activities in real-world environments.</p> <p>Also, studies have shown that wearable devices positioned on the lower back and ankle can provide reliable digital gait biomarkers, but these placements can be awkward for the people wearing them.</p> <div> <p>Devices worn on the wrists are much more convenient, but measurements can be less reliable due to arm movements and being situated further from a person’s centre of mass.</p> </div> <p>This study aimed to address both of these issues.</p> <p>In the first stage, 101 participants between 19 and 81 years old, wore the UK Biobank wrist sensor and were recorded performing structured mobility routines in their homes and while walking and running in a lab setting.</p> <p>Using this new data, the researchers then developed a digital gait biomarker extraction algorithm – Watch Walk – that could measure the gait quality of the individuals wearing the wrist sensor device.</p> <p>In the second stage of the study, they then tested the validity of the digital gait biomarkers on 78,822 participants aged 46 to 77 years from the UK Biobank database.</p> <p>Participants wore a sensor on their dominant wrist for seven days, producing a total of 11,646 four-second recordings of movement. These recordings were then classified into ‘walking, running, stationary or unspecified arm’ activities and the Watch Walk algorithm was found to measure these activities with a 93%, 98%, 86%, and 74% precision, respectively.</p> <p>The authors acknowledge that the digital gait biomarkers were not validated in participants who use walking aids, and walking speed accuracy was lower for walks slower than 0.7 metres/second and faster than 1.8 m/s – so further studies are still needed.</p> <p>“Our findings build on advances in wrist-worn accelerometer technology, which have previously been more limited to measurements of step count and sleep,” explains Chan.</p> <p>“As a measurement tool, Watch Walk has so many possibilities. Individuals can gain reliable feedback on their gait and track their improvement over time.</p> <p>“In the future, we hope to be able to analyse how people walk and predict their risk of disease or mortality,” says Chan.</p> <p>A Watch Walk app is currently in development and slated for release in late 2023.</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=217683&title=Sports+watches+could+help+reduce+falls+and+injuries+in+elderly+people" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/algorithm-smart-watch-falls-elderly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/imma-perfetto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imma Perfetto</a>. Imma Perfetto is a science journalist at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Science Communication from the University of Adelaide.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology

Why this 100-year-old woman was arrested

<p dir="ltr">A 100-year-old woman was arrested after local police officers found out that it was on her bucket list. </p> <p dir="ltr">Jean Bicketon was at Narracan Gardens Residential Aged Care in Victoria when three constables arrived in a police car with their lights flashing and siren blaring to arrest her. </p> <p dir="ltr">The former WWII nurse and her fellow aged care residents were spoken to, to assure them that no one was in fact in trouble. </p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Bicketon was then arrested and officers gently placed handcuffs on her, declaring her ‘officially’ under arrest. She did not resist.</p> <p dir="ltr">Victoria Police shared the incredible moment to Facebook, showing a happy Ms Bicketon as she was arrested. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Now these kinda arrests, we’re happy to make,” their post read.</p> <p dir="ltr">“For many, getting through life without being arrested is a pretty good run. An obvious one we would like to think.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But for ex-nurse Jean Bicketon - who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, a good run in and of itself - getting arrested was on her bucket list.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So, when we heard of Jean’s wishes, our team at Moe station were ready to step in and help check it off.</p> <p dir="ltr">“While celebrating her milestone at Narracan Gardens Residential Aged Care, three young constables whirled in, lights and sirens, to make sure Jean’s birthday wishes were met.</p> <p dir="ltr">“According to Jean it was one of the best celebrations, and we’re glad we could help grant the experience. Wishing Jean a wonderful 100th birthday!</p> <p dir="ltr">“Thanks to everyone that made this possible.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Bicketon said it was an exciting experience and was happy that police accommodated her wish.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I've never been arrested in my life,” she told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11132855/Ex-army-nurse-arrested-celebrating-100th-birthday.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail Australia</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I said to them I've never been drunk and I've never been arrested, never lost my driving licence and never had an infringement.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Family & Pets

Speculation swirls around the new James Bond

<p dir="ltr">With Daniel Craig sipping his last shaken-not-stirred martini, the identity of the next James Bond continues to be one of Hollywood’s greatest mysteries.</p> <p dir="ltr">After years of rumours and speculation, top candidate Idris Elba is out of the running, with Hollywood sources revealing he is prioritising other roles.</p> <p dir="ltr">As a result, the new top contender is 26-year-old <em>Spiderman </em>star Tom Holland - with Ladbrokes placing odds of 40/1 on him - though it’s unclear whether he will take on the challenge.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Tom Holland might not be the traditional Bond type, but the odds suggest he has a slight chance of replacing Daniel Craig, and plenty of punters seem to think the same,” Ladbrokes’ Alex Aparti told <em><a href="https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1655037/next-james-bond-tom-holland-spider-man-daniel-craig-007-odds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Express UK</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though Ladbrokes are still placing <em>Superman </em>star Henry Cavill as the favourite for the next Bond, helped by the fact he auditioned for the role back in 2005 and lost out to Craig, recent reports have revealed that producers are looking to cast an actor who is under 5’10” (178cm) and looks younger than previous Bonds, per <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-photos/producers-have-strengthened-rumours-tom-holland-next-007/news-story/7b99d27f81c29f50dad395ed95180993" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite these new reports, bookies have rounded out the list of likely picks for the next 007 with former <em>Bridgerton </em>heartthrob Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy of <em>Mad Max </em>and <em>Venom </em>fame, and Scottish <em>Game of Thrones</em> star Richard Madden.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The race to replace Daniel Craig is firmly on,” Apati said.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to the franchise’s producers, the next Bond film is unlikely to be in cinemas until 2025, with the eighth Bond actor to be announced in the next year.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9ee6fc2c-7fff-0370-7e4d-78c1ed9cd7b9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Movies

"The sport's greatest player": Billie Jean King's praise for Serena

<p dir="ltr">Serena Williams will be remembered as tennis’ “greatest player”, according to World Tennis Association (WTA) founder Billie Jean King, after the World No. 1 announced she would be retiring from professional tennis at this year’s US Open.</p> <p dir="ltr">Since her career began in 1995, Williams has won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 23 singles, 14 women’s doubles, and two mixed doubles, with King adding that the star player has “inspired a new generation of players and fans”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When Serena steps away from tennis, she will leave as the sport's greatest player,” King said in a statement.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After a career that has inspired a new generation of players and fans, she will forever be known as a champion who won on the court and raised the global profile of the sport off of it”</p> <p dir="ltr">Williams, who turns 41 next month, found it difficult to announce the news, writing in an op-ed published in Vogue that she felt “a great deal of pain” in deciding to hang up her racquet.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads,” Williams said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-23f21c73-7fff-ce1d-d2de-9b48b3bbfa3c">Taking to Instagram, Williams shared photos from her <em>Vogue </em>cover, alongside a heartfelt message for fans.</span></p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/ChCgQH0rFbQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/ChCgQH0rFbQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“There comes a time when we have to decide to move in a different direction,” she began the post.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Williams announced she would be retiring following her departure from the WTA Toronto Masters on Wednesday, after losing to Swiss Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though she didn’t specify a retirement date, Williams is expected to compete again in Cincinnati before travelling to the US Open, which begins on August 29.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c1a1c350-7fff-0020-2b59-62b81d97f2d2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @serenawilliams (Instagram)</em></p>

Retirement Life

Producing electricity from your sweat might be key to next wearable technology

<p>Imagine a world where the smart watch on your wrist never ran out of charge, because it used your sweat to power itself.</p> <p>It sounds like science fiction but researchers have figured out how to engineer a <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/bacterial-biofilm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bacterial biofilm</a> to be able to produce continuous <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/electricity-from-sweaty-fingertips/">electricity fr</a><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/electricity-from-sweaty-fingertips/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">o</a><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/electricity-from-sweaty-fingertips/">m perspiration</a>.</p> <p>They can harvest energy in evaporation and convert it to electricity which could revolutionise wearable electronic devices from personal medical sensors to electronics.</p> <p>The science is in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32105-6#ref-CR7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new study</a> published in <em>Nature Communications.</em></p> <p>“The limiting factor of wearable electronics has always been the power supply,” says senior author Jun Yoa, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), in the US. “Batteries run down and have to be changed or charged. They are also bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable.”</p> <p>But the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, so a small, thin, clear and flexible biofilm worn like a Band-Aid could provide a much more convenient alternative.</p> <p>The biofilm is made up of a sheet of bacterial cells approximately 40 micrometres thick or about the thickness of a sheet of paper. It’s made up a genetically engineered version of the bacteria <em>Geobacter sulfurreducens</em> to be exact.</p> <p><em>G. sulfurreducens</em> is a microorganism known to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3209890/#:~:text=Interestingly%2C%20Geobacter%20sulfurreducens%20also%20called,electron%20transfer%20through%20the%20biofilms." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">produce electricity</a> and has been used previously in “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-019-0173-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">microbial fuel cells</a>”. These require the bacteria to be alive, necessitating proper care and constant feeding, but this new biofilm can work continuously because the bacteria are already dead.</p> <p>“It’s much more efficient,” says senior author Derek Lovley, distinguished professor of Microbiology at UMass Amherst. “We’ve simplified the process of generating electricity by radically cutting back on the amount of processing needed.</p> <p>“We sustainably grow the cells in a biofilm, and then use that agglomeration of cells. This cuts the energy inputs, makes everything simpler and widens the potential applications.”</p> <p>The process relies on evaporation-based electricity production – the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-018-0228-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hydrovoltaic effect</a>. Water flow is driven by evaporation between the solid biofilm and the liquid water, which drives the transport of electrical charges to generate an electrical current.</p> <p><em>G. sulfurreducens</em> colonies are grown in thin mats which are harvested and then have small circuits etched into them using a laser. Then they are sandwiched between mesh electrodes and finally sealed in a soft, sticky, breathable polymer which can be applied directly onto the skin without irritation.</p> <p>Initially, the researchers tested it by placing the device directly on a water surface, which produced approximately 0.45 volts of electricity continuously. When worn on sweaty skin it produced power for 18 hours, and even non-sweating skin generated a substantial electric output – indicating that the continuous low-level secretion of moisture from the skin is enough to drive the effect.</p> <p>“Our next step is to increase the size of our films to power more sophisticated skin-wearable electronics,” concludes Yao.</p> <p>The team aim to one day be able to power not only single devices, but entire electronic systems, using this biofilm. And because microorganisms can be mass produced with renewable feedstocks, it’s an exciting alternative for producing renewable materials for clean energy powered devices.</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=200509&title=Producing+electricity+from+your+sweat+might+be+key+to+next+wearable+technology" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/electricity-from-sweat-biofilm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/imma-perfetto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imma Perfetto</a>. Imma Perfetto is a science writer at Cosmos. She has a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Science Communication from the University of Adelaide.</em></p> <p><em>Image: </em><em>Liu et al., doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6</em></p> </div>

Technology

Not “your average beanie”: Smart Aussie invention to help stroke and trauma patients

<p dir="ltr">A new ‘smart helmet’ packed with tech is being developed to monitor brains of patients who have suffered a stroke, injury or trauma by a team of Australian scientists and developers thanks to funding from the Victorian government.</p> <p dir="ltr">Patients with these kinds of injuries often experience brain swelling and have parts of their skull removed to prevent the brain from pushing on structures such as the brainstem, the part of the brain that regulates the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, <a href="https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/brain-drowns-in-its-own-fluid-after-a-stroke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which can be fatal</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">The SkullPro, developed by Anatomics Pty Ltd and the CSIRO, is a customised protective helmet that includes sensors that relay data back to the patient’s neurosurgeon to help them determine the best time to repair the skull.</p> <p dir="ltr">With the helmet, the conditions of patients’ brains can be monitored while they recover at home.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c30fb9f0-7fff-5de6-6b83-53be40564edb"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Neurosurgeons can monitor their brain function in real time thanks to a ‘brain machine interface’ developed using machine learning, advanced sensors and microelectronics.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDApuNgj68s/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CDApuNgj68s/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Anatomics (@anatomicsrx)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Anatomics’ development of the helmet would be among 11 Victorian medical technology products funded through the latest round of MedTech grants.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This isn’t your average beanie. This is a Smart Helmet,” Mr Andrews <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DanielAndrewsMP/posts/pfbid02SJfjW1BcypXz8ubJHtQUTPvG349spbWAch4Eib1nguHedjAH1fFhWg4DaPJ9V5kNl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on social media.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It helps monitor the brains of patients who've had a stroke or suffered traumatic brain injury. It lets doctors know how the brain is healing and helps surgeons decide on the ideal time to perform operations on the skull to give patients the best possible chance of a full recovery. It's been researched, designed and manufactured right here in Bentleigh East by Anatomics.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It's the kind of technology that doesn't just save lives – it changes lives too.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Andrews added that the series of grants would help support “Victorian innovation” and create jobs.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We're backing Anatomics and 11 other Victorian medical technology manufacturers with a new round of MedTech grants. Creating jobs and supporting Victorian innovation,” the post continued.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c713391-7fff-9b9e-2205-2217707d9715"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“That's something we can all get behind.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8xqoDDnORs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B8xqoDDnORs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Anatomics (@anatomicsrx)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The team developing the SkullPro hope it will lay the foundation for research relating to brain injuries, diagnostics, and treatments in Australia.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a <a href="https://www.anatomics.com/au/news/2020/07/24/smart-skullpro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, Professor Paul D’Urso, a neurosurgeon and the founder of Anatomics, said the grant would “greatly benefit brain injured patients throughout the world”.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The recently announced funding through MTPConnect’s BioMedTech Horizons program will allow Anatomics and CSIRO to lay the foundations for advanced diagnostics and therapies for decades to come that will greatly benefit brain injured patients through-out the world,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We should all be proud of the pioneering R&D (Research & Development) that has already occurred in Australia and the opportunities that this grant will deliver to our future."</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bb14f8a1-7fff-b6d7-650f-abcedbfc94fc"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @anatomicsrx (Instagram)</em></p>

Mind

14 smart small yard landscaping ideas

<p><strong>Leave some space</strong></p> <p>When considering landscaping ideas for a small yard, remember to leave space. It’s easy to overcrowd things and inadvertently create a claustrophobic effect. Here, a seating area has a clear view to the garden, courtesy of a small patch of grass and some unobstructed hardscaping.</p> <p><strong>Layered landscape</strong></p> <p>An easy backyard idea for small yards is to create a layered landscape – just like in nature. Think of a forest with low groundcovers, ferns, shade-tolerant understory shrubs and trees, and the tall overhead trees. You can do the same thing with your small yard landscaping! Use things like groundcovers, bulbs and crevice plants to create a beautiful layered landscape, while maximising your flower bed space!</p> <p><strong>Walls and fences</strong></p> <p>Sure, you want your small yard landscaping to include privacy, so why not utilise surrounding structures like walls and fences? For this small yard idea, vines are the perfect answer – just be sure to pick one that’s not invasive or a garden thug.</p> <p><strong>Vertical gardens</strong></p> <p>A popular trend in small yard ideas is to garden vertically. There are many off-the-shelf products that allow you to grow plants vertically, such as the wall planters seen here. Or you can create something yourself. Either way it creates gardening space out of thin air.</p> <p><strong>Hanging planters</strong></p> <p>Another clever way to maximise space is with hanging planters.</p> <p><strong>Window boxes</strong></p> <p>A more traditional way of maximising gardening space is with window boxes. Naturally, you can attach them beneath your windows. But other small yard ideas include placing them on a porch, around the perimeter of a patio, or hanging from a deck railing.</p> <p><strong>Dwarf plants</strong></p> <p>Growers are continually introducing new cultivars with special characteristics. One of those is a dwarf habit. When considering landscaping ideas, you can grow a tree that matures at 30cm or 25 metres. When you choose the former, you end up with enough space to add companion plants.</p> <p><strong>Columnar plants</strong></p> <p>While you’re considering size and growth characteristics, think about habit as well. Columnar plants, such as this upright pear cultivar, grow straight up. There’s more room to the side, and more light at the bottom for a greater variety of plants. And yet you still get the blooms and the fruit. Win-win!</p> <p><strong>Trailing plants</strong></p> <p>Here’s another shape that will help when looking for landscaping ideas for a small yard. You can run trailing plants down the side of a planter, as seen here, or let them trail from the top of a wall. Either way maximises space and softens a hard surface to help it blend into the landscape.</p> <p><strong>Crevice plants</strong></p> <p>Crevices are ubiquitous to most gardens, so you might as well make use of them. Sedum and other succulents such as Sempervivum are perfect for these spots, which are often on the lean and dry side. They make the space prettier and the hard surfaces less imposing.</p> <p><strong>Narrow spots</strong></p> <p>Along with crevices, most gardens have narrow strips that lack soil and moisture. Rather than fighting the conditions, work with them. One of the small yard ideas you can implement is to plant some tough, vining groundcovers and let them sprawl over the area. Use ivy in shady areas, succulents in sunny spots. A mulch of gravel is a nice low-maintenance addition that keeps plant foliage clean.</p> <p><strong>Containers</strong></p> <p>Let’s not forget containers when thinking about small yard landscaping. They’re more popular than ever – and not just because they maximise gardening space. Containers add greatly to a garden’s character. They allow you to show off your favourite plants. And if you coordinate their colour and arrange them in odd numbers, you create a dashing focal point.</p> <p><strong>Lawn substitute</strong></p> <p>As you saw earlier, a small lawn can be helpful to a small-space garden because it opens up the area and makes it feel less claustrophobic. Well, if you’re not going to be walking on the lawn all the time, you might consider substituting a groundcover. You not only avoid mowing, you also integrate the area into the landscape. With a groundcover, your lawn becomes the garden.</p> <p><strong>Bonsai and miniature garden</strong></p> <p>The smallest yard in the world has room for a garden when the plants are miniaturised. Examples include bonsai, miniature fairy gardens and terrariums. Although usually kept indoors in cold climates, they can holiday outside for the summer in a protected location where they’re not exposed to too much direct sunlight.</p> <p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-10109d2b-7fff-55c9-ef0b-3a37aaae3da9">Written by Luke Miller. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/food-home-garden/gardening-tips/14-smart-small-yard-landscaping-ideas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Home & Garden

Young woman on $100k-plus salary shares her spending habits

<p dir="ltr">A woman who earns $104,600 a year has shared how she spends her lavish pay cheque. </p> <p dir="ltr">The 24-year-old producer based in Melbourne, Australia, submitted her salary and breakdown of her spending habits to Smart Women Society.</p> <p dir="ltr">The breakdown is then shared into a short clip on TikTok revealing how much money goes where.</p> <p dir="ltr">After tax, HECS and superannuation, the young woman is left with $5,468 to take home. She also has a side hustle which brings in $1,000 monthly.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman’s main goal is to set aside at least $60,000 for a house deposit, as well as having a safety emergency fund.</p> <p dir="ltr">A breakdown of her monthly spending habits shows $1,424 on rent, $140 on bills, $40 on her phone, $50 on transport, $90 on the internet, $74 on insurance, $300 on groceries and $160 on psychologist appointments. </p> <p dir="ltr">Once she’s got the important stuff out of the way, the woman is left with $3,728 of which $700 of it goes towards her home savings and $300 to the emergency fund.</p> <p dir="ltr">The only debts she has are a $363-a-month Invisalign treatment and her $26,000 HECS which is automatically taken out from her pay. </p> <p dir="ltr">She is then left with $2,582 for “fun” stuff such as shopping and eating out. </p> <p dir="ltr">Viewers shared their suggestions to the woman saying it would be better to put more toward the home savings.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That's a lot of money spent on 'fun' - I think I would try and save $1500 for my house,” one commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You need to live like you actually have a mortgage now and add those extra bills into it because when you have a mortgage you don’t get 2500 a month fun,” another added.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’d be dropping an extra bit of cash into the house/emergency fund,” someone else shared.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

On the elegance and wry observations of Jeffrey Smart, one of Australia’s favourite painters

<p><em>Review: Jeffrey Smart, National Gallery of Australia</em></p> <p>Although I never met him, Jeffrey Smart (1921-2013) was my first art teacher. As “Phideas” on the ABC Radio’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonauts_Club">Argonauts</a> program he told stories of art and artists, explaining ways of seeing to children across Australia.</p> <p>Two things I remember from my childhood listening. The first was the marvel of the <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/golden-ratio-in-art-328435">Golden Mean</a>, the magical geometric ratio that governs the western tradition of art. The second was a story of <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmbt/hd_rmbt.htm">Rembrandt</a> who took his own path as an artist, even though that led to criticism by his peers.</p> <p>After I discovered Phidias’s identity I could see the Golden Mean writ large in his carefully constructed paintings. But Rembrandt? Jeffrey Smart’s painting surfaces meticulously honour the Italian Renaissance and his composition at times has echoes of the metaphysical works of <a href="https://www.artnews.com/feature/giorgio-de-chirico-why-is-he-famous-1202687371/">Giorgio de Chirico</a>. They have nothing in common with Rembrandt’s painterly approach.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437390/original/file-20211214-23-17pb3qm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437390/original/file-20211214-23-17pb3qm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Waiting for the train, 1969-70.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1969, gift of Alcoa World Alumina Australia 2005, © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>But that wasn’t the point of the story. Smart was speaking in Sydney in about 1960, a time and place when artists were expected to be hard drinking heterosexual men performing painterly abstraction. Smart was not a part of that culture. He had a lifelong allegiance to the classical forms of the Italian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Quattrocento">quattrocento</a>, especially the exquisite formal geometry of <a href="https://artuk.org/discover/artists/piero-della-francesca-c-14151492">Piero della Francesca</a>. His love of structure, smooth surface, fine detail and his sexuality put him at odds with Australia.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437393/original/file-20211214-13-13ub98q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437393/original/file-20211214-13-13ub98q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Morning at Savona, 1976, University Art Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, Donated through the Alan Richard Renshaw Bequest 1976.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>It was only later, years after he retreated to Italy, that his home country came to fully appreciate the elegance of his wry observations. In his old age, this artist once out of tune with his peers, became one of Australia’s most favoured sons.</p> <p>Now, on the centenary of his birth, the National Gallery’s Deborah Hart and Rebecca Edwards have curated a thoughtful and generous reassessment linking Smart to the places and people who nourished him.</p> <h2>Shape, line and colour</h2> <p>It begins in his home town of Adelaide: a city with a well planned urban centre and (back then) a culture of Protestant conformity.</p> <p>The young Smart painted buildings and industrial waste; the way light and shade makes patterns on surfaces; the contrast between clear constructed shapes and fluid humanity.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437392/original/file-20211214-15-19oh8wn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437392/original/file-20211214-15-19oh8wn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Corrugated Gioconda, 1976.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 1976, © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart.</span></span></p> <p>Local cinemas introduced him to Alfred Hitchcock, whose films use visual clues to imply tension. Hitchcock was famous for inserting himself as an incidental figure into his narratives. I have always wondered if that solitary of a watching man in so many of Smart’s paintings is in part a tribute to the original master of visual suspense.</p> <p>Smart would only ever discuss his work in terms of their formal relationship between shape, line and colour. This insistence on formalism goes back to his early studies in Adelaide and the influence of the modernist painter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorrit_Black">Dorrit Black</a> (1891-1951), who had returned to Adelaide after some years in France. The curators have included her <a href="https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=29974">House-roofs and flowers</a> which hangs beside Smart’s early structured <a href="https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/436.2001/">Seated Nude</a>. It is easy to see the connection.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437428/original/file-20211214-17-1eqwvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437428/original/file-20211214-17-1eqwvss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart, Keswick siding, 1945. Tarntanya/Adelaide. Oil on canvas. 62 x 72.1 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Gift of Charles B Moses 1982 193.1982</span></span></p> <p>There is a sense of wanting to escape in some paintings of his Adelaide period, such as Keswick Siding. This is less so after he moved to Sydney where he found, despite his unfashionable devotion to precision and classical form, his art was accepted as being a part of the <a href="https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2008.24/the-merioola-group">Charm School</a>, which it was not. Living and working in Sydney, he also became greatly admired as a teacher at the National Art School and a broadcaster.</p> <h2>Humour and friends</h2> <p>Even the most structured works of Smart’s maturity include visual jokes and a human touch. In Holiday, 1971, a relentless pattern of balconies and windows is disrupted by the small figure of a woman, lazing in the sun. He always claimed he introduced people in his paintings of buildings to give a sense of scale, an old artist’s trick. I am not sure how that works in the Portrait of Clive James, unless it was to remind the subject of his significance in the scheme of things.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437429/original/file-20211214-21-16vusye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437429/original/file-20211214-21-16vusye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of Clive James. 1991–92 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas. 109 x 90.4 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Purchased with funds provided by the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1992 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart Photo: AGNSW 276.1992</span></span></p> <p>Smart’s relocation to Italy in 1963 saw a lightening of his palette, and a joyous celebration of light with the contrasting geometry of the blocky shapes of the modern world and the human scale of the old. There is a running theme of visual wit, but only for those who notice. Waiting for the train (1969-70) has echoes of compositions by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_della_Francesca">Piero della Francesca</a>, albeit in gloomy tones.</p> <p>His portrait of Germaine Greer places her against an impastoed wall, a surprising rough painterly texture which could either be a comment on the subject’s character or a riposte to those who considered he was lacking in technical skill as a painter.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437430/original/file-20211214-19-ptwv8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437430/original/file-20211214-19-ptwv8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of Germaine Greer. 1984 Tuscany, Italy. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 96 x 120 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Private collection</span></span></p> <p>Some of the most satisfying works are Smart’s portraits of friends, and here his humour comes into play. The scholarly writer David Malouf is depicted as a workman in overalls, holding a twisting orange pipe. Margaret Olley is at the Louvre, a place she loved, but placed in front of a row of anonymous wooden screens.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437431/original/file-20211214-23-at8gxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437431/original/file-20211214-23-at8gxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. Portrait of David Malouf. 1980 Tuscany, Italy. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas. 100 x 100 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. Purchased 1983 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart 1983/0P13</span></span></p> <p>Most fascinating of all is The listeners, 1965 where a young man lies in a field of grass, overseen by a surveilling radar. The head is a portrait of Smart’s friend, the art critic Paul Haefliger who had retreated from Australia to Majorca.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437432/original/file-20211214-21-nj1p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437432/original/file-20211214-21-nj1p6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. The listeners. 1965 Rome, Italy. Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 71 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat. The William, Rene and Blair Ritchie Collection. Bequest of Blair Ritchie 1998 © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart 1998.23</span></span></p> <p>It shows visual contrasts between modern technology and nature, between the golden grass, red radar and dark sky and (for those in the know) between the young body of the model and the head of the ageing Haefliger.</p> <p>Smart’s portraits rarely focus on their subject. The one exception is The two-up game (Portrait of Ermes), 2008, who became Smart’s life partner in 1975. His calm face is backgrounded by the solid geometry of containers on one side and the fluidity of people playing a game of chance, on the other.</p> <p>In formal terms, his image in the foreground balances the composition. This also seems to be the meaning, the reason for it all.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437433/original/file-20211214-15-1hmeyhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437433/original/file-20211214-15-1hmeyhq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Jeffrey Smart. The two-up game (Portrait of Ermes). 2006 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas. 86.8 x 158.4 cm.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville. Purchased 2006 2006.011</span></span></p> <p><em>Jeffrey Smart is at the National Gallery of Australia until May 15 2022</em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171109/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joanna-mendelssohn-8133">Joanna Mendelssohn</a>, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-the-elegance-and-wry-observations-of-jeffrey-smart-one-of-australias-favourite-painters-171109">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Jeffrey Smart, Margaret Olley in the Louvre Museum. 1994–95 Tuscany, Italy. Oil on canvas 67 x 110 cm <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. </span></span></em></p>

Art

A smart way to monitor melanoma

<div> <div class="copy"> <p>Monitoring for a recurrent <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/inside-a-melanoma-cell/" target="_blank">melanoma </a>may be as simple as using a smartphone, according to Australian and New Zealand <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2021.4704" target="_blank">research,</a> published in <em>JAMA Dermatology.</em></p> <p>This may provide feasible, patient-led follow-up care to monitor whether melanomas return.</p> <p>“People who have had one melanoma have an increased risk of developing an additional one, especially during the first few years,” says Professor Monika Janda of the University of Queensland, who was involved in the study.</p> <h2>Pilot study shows promise</h2> <p>A small pilot study of 100 patients found that using a skin-checker app and a magnifying device attached to a smartphone provided a safe way to monitor signs of cancer coming back after melanoma is removed.</p> <p>“We gave patients special devices for their mobile phones, which allows them to take really precise photographs of skin lesions,” says Janda. “These are all patients who have had melanoma before.”</p> <p>This group used the smartphone app at home, and they found more signs of melanoma compared to people who went in for hospital surveillance</p> <p>“We found that there were quite a number of additional signs found by people themselves at home, which was really interesting,” says Janda.</p> <h2>Less travel for melanoma patients</h2> <p>Normally, patients need to travel to their doctor or hospitals for surveillance, which can be difficult and time-consuming. The smartphone method provides a feasible alternative that could be conducted at home.</p> <p>“It could save some of the current visits to the doctor that people do regularly after they’ve had a melanoma,” says Janda,</p> <p>“That could be particularly beneficial for people who live far away from their treatment centre and have to undertake extensive travel to reach them.”</p> <p>As this was a pilot study, a larger, randomised clinical trial is required to see how this monitoring would relate to more patients in the long term.</p> <p>“It’s a pilot study, so it’s not yet definite. But we’re currently undertaking a bigger study,” says Janda.</p> <em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/a-smart-way-to-monitor-melanoma/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Deborah Devis.</em></p> </div> </div>

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