The year 2020 would go into history as the “no hugs” year — a year in which people were forced to limit the opportunities for physical contact, so as to protect themselves. There is a paradox in it because physical…

Are her eyes narrowed or widened? Is his mouth turned up or down? We habitually scan for such apparent signals when we look for reliable clues leading to the emotional stance or shifts of other people. In reality, facial features…

The human immune system has always been evolving and it is still evolving, but lifespan continues to increase with each generation. In addition, lifestyles and ecologic natures can really differ and influence immune responses. A malaria parasite has infected Africans…

Sounds reach one of our ears first and then the other. The time delay in between is too short for us to perceive but it is long enough for the brain to process to determine the source of the sound….

Biological, social and economic schemes are some of the real-world systems we are most familiar with. These systems evolve all the time. And the dynamics of all such systems have one trait. They show markedly augmented levels of activity over…

Can advertising rely on coffee breaks to make people more open to persuasion? This won’t deter the average office worker from taking his or her next coffee break, but stress is always a factor at the bottom of an empty…

The significance of certain objects is so deeply anchored in our psyche that we rely on them even when their intended function is out of context. A bike helmet suggests safety even when the wearer is just sitting on a…

Students mute their ignorance and answer questions correctly in an exam, without their ignorance being detected by teachers. Is this a possible scenario? Yes, but only in the quantum world. UQ physicist Jacqui Romero has come up with the technique….

COVID-19 couldn’t have silenced the mobile Towers of Babel, but it did stop the stampeding humanity in its tracks. The global effect of physical distancing (it isn’t social distancing) and the stoppage of services, idustries and collective movements marked the…

Given that you are not a drummer, you can perform fine motor tasks only with one hand and you will struggle to play different rhythms with both hands simultaneously. Drummers, however, “can do things that are impossible for untrained people”….

Around 43,000 years ago, the first frontmen of Homo sapiens colonised Europe. They replaced the Neanderthals in the region approximately 3,000 years later — violently, per French palaeontologist Marcellin Boule (the first person to analyse a Neanderthal). One hypothesis about…

Sentience (“qualia”) is the ability to have subjective perceptual experiences. Scholars differentiate it from qualities such as creativity, intelligence and self-awareness. If you get acquainted with a retired game warden in Africa, he is likely to tell you incredible stories…