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Pokies? Lotto? Sports betting? Which forms of problem gambling affect Australians the most?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alex-russell-133860">Alex Russell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-browne-97705">Matthew Browne</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-rockloff-569">Matthew Rockloff</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Gambling, especially sports and race betting, is a hot political issue at the moment. This is largely due to the recommendations from a 2023 report from a nonpartisan federal government committee, chaired by the late Peta Murphy, called <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report">You Win Some, You Lose More</a>. This report <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/List_of_recommendations">recommended</a> “the Australian government, with the cooperation of the states and territories, implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling”. This has led to lots of debate and controversy. Recently, Peter V’landys, head of the NRL and Racing NSW, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nanny-state-nrl-afl-storm-the-field-over-gambling-ads-20240920-p5kc2q.html">claimed</a> lotteries were more harmful than race and sports betting combined, citing independent statistics. Let’s explore the relative harm of different types of gambling and see if this claim holds up. <h2>Australians love a punt</h2> Gambling is widespread in Australia, with <a href="https://www.gamblingresearch.org.au/publications/second-national-study-interactive-gambling-australia-2019-20">more than half of adults</a> engaging in at least one form each year. According to the <a href="https://www.gamblingresearch.org.au/publications/second-national-study-interactive-gambling-australia-2019-20">latest national data</a>, lotteries are the most common type (40% of Australians buy a ticket annually), followed by race betting (17%), pokies (16%), scratchies (15.7%) and sports betting (9.6%). However, the popularity of a gambling form doesn’t necessarily reflect its harm. Different gambling activities have distinct characteristics. Two key factors mean that some gambling forms are more harmful than others: the speed of gambling and bet size. Pokies allow for frequent, small bets, with spins every three seconds. Race and sports betting can involve much larger sums and betting that is relatively fast, but still slower than pokie spins. Sports betting, in particular, is getting faster with in-play betting and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30386964/">microbetting</a>. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hI_XFOc4is0?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Poker machines, or ‘pokies’ are the biggest single source of gambling losses in Australia.</figcaption></figure> Lotteries, on the other hand, are much slower-paced. People typically spend a small amount on tickets and wait for a draw to find out if they’ve won. Although it’s possible to spend a lot on tickets, <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics/theme/society/gambling/australian-gambling-statistics">people tend not to</a>, unlike with faster gambling forms. The average spend on pokies among the 16% who play them is around $4,782 per year, compared to an average spend on lotteries of $377 per year. These are averages. Most won’t spend these amounts but some will spend far more, which raises the average amount. V’landys’ claim about lotteries being more harmful than race and sports betting was based on “independent statistics”. He said that of 100 people seeking help from a gambling hotline, 70 had issues with pokies, 15 with lotteries, eight with race betting, four with sports betting, and three with casinos. We were unable to verify these figures – if anyone has the data, we’d love to see the research to assess them. However, we do have publicly available data. <h2>What the data say</h2> The NSW GambleAware website’s <a href="https://www.gambleaware.nsw.gov.au/-/media/ghs-annual-activity-report-2020-21.ashx?rev=e070f9c8bdbf4031816a852f27246c54&hash=C5FC3AA23BE5F2EF69D551A5E2292BA9#:%7E:text=Of%20the%20clients%20receiving%20counselling,36.9%25%20of%20all%20female%20clients.">2020-21</a> report shows that of 2,886 people seeking help, 73.3% identified pokies as their primary form of gambling, while only 13 people (less than 1%) listed lotteries. Race betting accounted for 13.1%, and sports betting for 7.9%. These patterns were consistent with <a href="https://www.gambleaware.nsw.gov.au/about-us/corporate-documents">previous years</a>. People who experience problems also usually take part in more than one form of gambling, as the NSW report showed. When these secondary gambling activities were considered, sports betting was cited by 35.5%, race betting by 33.5%, pokies by 19.5%, and lotteries by 13.7%. <h2>What we discovered</h2> The best evidence on gambling problems and harm comes from large-scale prevalence studies, typically commissioned by governments and conducted by independent researchers. These studies offer high-quality insights into how each gambling form contributes to problems. While one prevalence study is great, our team recently combined data from seven national and state-based prevalence studies. This resulted in a very high-quality dataset that we can use to study this question. In <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/12/1/article-p182.xml">our analysis</a>, we used statistical techniques to show how strongly each gambling form is associated with problems. These techniques give us regression coefficients, which are just numbers that tell us how strong the association is. A higher number means a stronger association between that form and gambling problems. The most problematic form was pokies (coefficient = 0.147), followed by casino games (0.136), sports betting (0.068) and race betting (0.038). Lotteries, with a coefficient of 0.001, were the least problematic and were not statistically significant even in our large sample. As you might guess from such a low number, there’s very little relationship between lotteries and gambling problems. <h2>What about prevalence?</h2> Prevalence matters too – while pokies were most strongly associated with problems, the number of people participating in each gambling form is also important. Let’s consider an analogy – a car that gives out a lot of exhaust fumes. That car is harmful, but if virtually no one owns one, then it’s not going to account for much pollution. The same idea applies for gambling forms. If a gambling form is very harmful but very few people do it, it doesn’t account for many problems in the population. It works the other way, too – if there is a very clean type of car that many people drive, they also won’t add up to much pollution. Similarly, if we have gambling forms that have very little association with problems, it won’t add up to many problems in the population, even if lots of people take part. The regression coefficients tell us how problematic each gambling form is. Prevalance tells us how many people do it. When we combine these two bits of information, we can work out the degree of problems in the community that come from each form. When we did this, pokies were responsible for 52-57% of gambling problems in the community. Sports and race betting each contributed 9-11%, with a combined total of around 20%. Lotteries accounted for just 0.1-1% of problems. Even if we include scratchies as part of lotteries, this only adds another 2-5% of problems, still far below sports and race betting. <hr /> <iframe id="quxHH" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/quxHH/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <hr /> <h2>The real issue</h2> What’s the takeaway? Lotteries are widely played but are not typically associated with much harm. Sports and race betting, despite having fewer participants, are more harmful due to their faster pace and the potential for large, frequent bets. Lotteries involve slower betting and lower spending, making them much less risky. If we aim to reduce gambling harm in our community, the focus should be on pokies, which are widespread in pubs and clubs <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/12/3/article-p721.xml">outside WA</a>, casino games and race and sports betting. These forms have features that make them far more harmful than slower-paced gambling like lotteries.<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/240665/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alex-russell-133860">Alex Russell</a>, Principal Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-browne-97705">Matthew Browne</a>, Senior Lecturer in Statistics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-rockloff-569">Matthew Rockloff</a>, Head, Experimental Gambling Research Lab, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Image credits: Shutterstock 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/pokies-lotto-sports-betting-which-forms-of-problem-gambling-affect-australians-the-most-240665">original article</a>. </div>

Money & Banking

"Unidentified life form" found off New Zealand coast

Ah, the deep sea, where the mysteries of the ocean lurk in the shadows, waiting to be discovered by intrepid marine scientists armed with nets, trawls and a healthy dose of confusion... Recently, a team of brave souls embarked on a journey off the coast of New Zealand, armed with curiosity and a fervent desire to find Nemo's distant relatives. What they found, however, was not just Nemo's cousins – but a veritable treasure trove of potential new species. Or at least, they think so. In a saga that could rival any aquatic adventure film, the scientists stumbled upon approximately 100 potential new species, including one particularly enigmatic life form that has left them scratching their heads in bewilderment. Initially mistaking it for a sea star – or perhaps a particularly flamboyant sea cucumber – they now suspect it might be a deep-sea coral. Or a cosmic jellyfish. Or a lost prop from a sci-fi movie. The possibilities are as endless as the ocean itself. Dr Michela Mitchell, a taxonomist with a penchant for the dramatic, declared it could be "a whole new group outside of the octocoral." Because why settle for identifying just one species when you can potentially create an entire taxonomic order? Dr Daniel Moore, another member of the expedition and self-proclaimed captain of the confusion ship, confessed, "We can't even describe it to family." One can only imagine the perplexed expressions at family gatherings as they attempt to explain their latest discovery: "Well, it's sort of like a sponge, but not really. And it might have tentacles. Or wings. We're not entirely sure." Their research vessel, the Tangaroa, became a floating laboratory of befuddlement as they collected nearly 1,800 samples from the abyssal depths. Armed with modified sleds and a healthy dose of optimism, they trawled the ocean floor, hoping to snag the elusive creatures that lurked below. "It was true exploration, very exciting," Dr Moore boasted, his enthusiasm undiminished by the fact that they still couldn't definitively identify half of what they'd found. Among their discoveries was a new species of fish, dubbed the "eelpout", which was "instantly recognised as being different to the others." Because, apparently, it had a flair for the dramatic and refused to conform to traditional fish norms. In a surprising revelation, Dr Moore admitted, "Finding new vertebrates is rare." One can only assume that the eelpout, upon hearing this declaration, puffed out its chest (or whatever passes for a chest in fish anatomy) and proclaimed itself the king of the ocean. As the expedition came to a close, the scientists reflected on the vastness of the ocean and the infinitesimal fraction of its inhabitants they had encountered. With only 240,000 species identified out of an estimated 2.2 million, they realised they had barely scratched the surface. Or, in this case, the sea floor. And so, armed with their nets, their sleds, and their unshakeable sense of optimism, the intrepid scientists set sail once more, ready to delve deeper into the mysteries of the ocean and perhaps stumble upon another baffling creature that defies explanation. After all, what's science without a little bit of confusion? Image: Ocean-Census | NIWA

International Travel

How drag as an art form sashayed from the underground and strutted into the mainstream

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-w-marshall-1195978">Jonathan W. Marshall</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> Recent protests against <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/11/im-just-trying-to-make-the-world-a-little-brighter-how-the-culture-wars-hijacked-drag-queen-story-hour">drag queen story hours</a> are the latest in a series of actions targeting the increased prominence of displays of LGBTIQ+ culture in the public arena. But drag artists have been strutting their stuff in speakeasies, cabarets and films for a long time now. <h2>The long history of cross-dressing</h2> There is a long global history of cross-gendered performance. In the West, this included <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105532521;jsessionid=B8A5B8C5FE0EBAEDAB763E0AC1405EEA">“travesty” roles</a>, “<a href="https://www.planethugill.com/2013/08/en-travestie-curious-tradition-of.html">breeches parts</a>”, pantomime dames and their cousins in <a href="https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1429&context=gradreports">blackface – “wench” – parts</a>, variety halls and Shakespearean performances. There’s also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnjxz">Japanese kabuki (onnagata)</a>, Beijing opera, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1124189">Samoan fale aitu and fa’afafine performances</a> and more. All share something with drag – cross-dressing and various forms of gender play and/or reversal – but none is quite the same as what we know today. Legal restrictions on gendered clothing have existed in places like Europe, China and Japan through to modern times – though the focus was more on class than gender. The wearing of men’s pants by women was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/at-last-women-of-paris-can-wear-the-trousers-legally-after-200yearold-law-is-declared-null-and-void-8480666.html">technically illegal in France</a> until 2013. Centuries earlier, it contributed to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-BYbasO034">prosecution of Joan of Arc by church courts</a>. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p-BYbasO034?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The emergence of drag</h2> Something like contemporary drag <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203411070/changing-room-laurence-senelick">appeared in the West from the late 18th century</a>, blending early burlesque (disrespectful comedy, not necessarily bawdy) with nascent queer culture (clubs, speakeasies and other semi-underground meeting places where same-sex-attracted individuals socialised). By the time the 20th century rolled around, drag artists, particularly in the US, offered beauty tips, attempted to engage in sponsorships or sold stylishly posed <a href="https://wislgbthistory.com/people/peo-l/leon_francis.htm">postcards</a> and <a href="https://ourcommunityroots.com/?p=13079">souvenirs</a>, closely recalling advertisements aimed at female consumers. Since much early drag made fun of women in general, and women of colour in particular, the form has hardly been a consistent force for good. Drawing on blackface minstrelsy, British panto and college revues, drag from the 1950s increasingly featured female impersonators offering hyperbolic, over-the-top and often disrespectful portraits of feminine characteristics. So called “glamour drag” was designed, in the words of artist Jimmy James, “to take people totally away from the ugly realities … and transport them to the realm of the magical” through fabulous dresses, hair and sequins. This became the dominant form of drag in the West, particularly in Australia – although there was also a vibrant counter-culture. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dOrfO2gVs">Danny La Rue</a> camped it up on the stages of Britain and the US, touring Australia in the late 1970s, while <a href="https://dangerousminds.net/comments/ridiculous_a_little-known_drag_tv_role_by_charles_ludlam_1983">Charles Ludlam</a> made the difficult transition from outrageous drag to main stage theatre and back, losing none of his style. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e9dOrfO2gVs?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>From the queer underground to the straight mainstream</h2> Key to the crossover of drag from an underground principally LGBTIQ+ phenomena to the cis mainstream was the increasingly flamboyant manifestation of popular music – such as glam, hair metal, disco and new wave. The exultant 1978 video for disco star Sylvester’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6cPE2BHic">You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)</a>, for example, introduced audiences to the concept of “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/does-realness-actually-mean-surprising-heartbreaking-history/">realness</a>” as she inhabited different costumed personas. Sylvester was a former member of the avant-drag troupe the Cockettes and her clip was shot at London’s gay disco The Embassy. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gD6cPE2BHic?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> “Rock camp” performance found its perfect expression in <a href="https://youtu.be/4plqh6obZW4">The Rocky Horror Picture Show</a> stage show in 1973, directed by Australian queer theatre legend Jim Sharman. Its comedic celebration of gender fluid performance and sexuality helped make drag and related forms mainstream. Also crucial was Jennie Livingston’s 1990 film <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/24/burning-down-the-house-debate-paris-is-burning">Paris is Burning</a>, documenting the competitive balls (drag races) mounted by working class LGBTIQ+ African-Americans and Latinos in New York, some of whom (but not all) identified as trans. Performers at the balls competed to exhibit “realness” – not only in gender terms, but employment and social position: “executive realness”, “butch queer”, “banjee girl” and “military”. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4plqh6obZW4?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Madonna famously recruited performers from Paris is Burning (Jose Gutierez and Luis Camacho from House Xtravaganza) to assist in the choreography for her video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJQSAiODqI">Vogue</a> and then her Blond Ambition tour, skyrocketing the international renown of these practices. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9SqvD1-0odY?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Drag landmarks</h2> Prior to The Rocky Horror Picture Show gracing the stages of London and Sydney, Kings Cross had seen the foundation of legendary drag revue <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6aDpxhWlg">Les Girls</a>, running from 1963-93. This show was led by Carlotta, who took her girls on tour, and became the inspiration for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgFDIinCeYI">Priscilla Queen of the Desert</a>. “Alternative cabaret” also thrived. Notables included Australia’s truly outrageous Reg Livermore, the bizarre fantasies of Lindsay Kemp or the incredible Moira Finucane. Finucane’s brilliant early “gender fuck” performance as <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-765293824/view?sectionId=nla.obj-769278625&partId=nla.obj-765310182#page/n6/mode/1up">Romeo</a> involved an arrogant, moustachioed and convincingly male performer who undressed to reveal Finucane, who then pleasured herself with a feather boa. Australians might also remember the wonderful Pauline Pantsdown’s drag satire <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4tZRZSGxcE">I Don’t Like It</a> in 1998. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0G6aDpxhWlg?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Topping it off was the huge success of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1353056/">RuPaul’s Drag Race reality TV show</a> in 2009. Producers were onto a winner: fabulous clothes, the highs and lows of competition and a scintillating array of would-be stars, presided over RuPaul, looking never less than fabulous. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PDe8zJvyF54?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>Lessons from the history of drag</h2> The glamorous, hyper-feminine artist remains the most popular model of drag. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was these paragons of camp femininity who were chosen to read to children in libraries, first in <a href="https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about">San Francisco in 2015</a> and then internationally. These glitter, glam and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340774905_Balirano_G_2020_Of_Rainbow_Unicorns_The_Role_of_Bonding_Queer_Icons_in_Contemporary_LGBTIQ_Re-Positionings">rainbow unicorns</a> seemingly conquered the globe. But more outré drag queens, drag kings and “genderfuck” performers never ceased toiling away in the underground. <a href="https://canadianart.ca/features/the-showstoppers/">Drag is changing</a>. If we are to look to history for lessons, I’d like to see story time presented by the successors to Divine (one of John Waters’ collaborators, whose <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfirqQJC3I0">1984 appearance on Countdown</a> marks one of the strangest moments in Australian television) or transgender superstar <a href="https://revolverwarholgallery.com/superstars/warhol-superstar-candy-darling/">Candy Darling</a>. Now that would be a story time education to remember.<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/205650/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-w-marshall-1195978">Jonathan W. Marshall</a>, Associate Professor & Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> Image credits: Getty Images 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/how-drag-as-an-art-form-sashayed-from-the-underground-and-strutted-into-the-mainstream-205650">original article</a>.

Art

Here’s what happens in your brain when you’re trying to make or break a habit

Did you set a New Year’s resolution to kick a bad habit, only to find yourself falling back into old patterns? You’re not alone. In fact, research suggests up to <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1281">40% of our daily actions are habits</a> – automatic routines we do without thinking. But how do these habits form, and why are they so difficult to break? Habits can be likened to riverbeds. A well-established river has a deep bed and water is likely to consistently flow in that direction. A new river has a shallow bed, so the flow of water is not well defined – it can vary course and be less predictable. Just like water down a riverbed, habits help our behaviour “flow” down a predictable route. But what we are really talking about here is learning and unlearning. <h2>What happens in the brain when we form a habit?</h2> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417">During the early stages of habit formation</a>, the decision parts of your brain (pre-frontal cortices) are activated, and the action is very deliberate (instead of hitting snooze you make the choice to get out of bed). When a new routine is initiated, brain circuits – also called neural networks – are activated. The more often you repeat the new action, the stronger and more efficient these neural networks become. This reorganising and strengthening of connections between neurons is called neuroplasticity, and in the case of building habits – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_potentiation">long-term potentiation</a>. Each time you perform the new action while trying to form a habit, you need smaller cues or triggers to activate the same network of brain cells. <a href="https://oce.ovid.com/article/00006832-200710000-00001/HTML">Habits strengthen over time</a> as we form associations and earn rewards – for example, not hitting snooze makes getting to work on time easier, so you feel the benefits of your new habit. Later, as habits strengthen, the decision parts of the brain no longer need to kick in to initiate the action. The habit is now activated in memory and considered automatic: the neural circuits can perform the habit without conscious thought. In other words, you don’t need to choose to perform the action any more. <h2>How long does it really take to form a habit?</h2> Popular media and lifestyle advice from social media influencers often suggest it takes 21 days to make or break a habit – an idea <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Psycho_Cybernetics.html?id=J8dqtO6XqPMC&redir_esc=y">originally presented in the 1960s</a>. This is generally considered an oversimplification, though empirical evidence is surprisingly sparse. A seminal study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674">European Journal of Social Psychology</a> is often cited as showing habits take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form, with an average of about 66 days. In that study, 96 people were asked to choose a new health habit and practice it daily for 84 days. Of the original 96 participants, 39 (41%) successfully formed the habit by the end of the study period. The level of success in forming a habit, and the length of time to form the habit, appeared to vary based on the type of goal. For example, goals related to drinking a daily glass of water were more likely to be successful, and be performed without conscious thought faster than goals related to eating fruit or exercising. Furthermore, the time of day appeared important, with habits cued earlier in the day becoming automatic more quickly than those cued later in the day (for example, eating a piece of fruit with lunch versus in the evening, and walking after breakfast versus walking after dinner). The study was fairly small, so these findings aren’t definitive. However, they suggest that if you haven’t been able to embed a new habit in just 21 days, don’t fret – there’s still hope! <h2>What about breaking unwanted habits?</h2> Most of us will also have habits we don’t like – unwanted behaviours. Within the brain, breaking unwanted habits is associated with a different form of neuroplasticity, called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_depression">long-term depression</a> (not to be confused with the mental health condition). Instead of strengthening neural connections, long-term depression is the process of weakening them. So, how do you silence two neurons that previously have been firing closely together? One popular approach to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2011.603640">breaking a bad habit</a> is pinpointing the specific cue or trigger that prompts the behaviour, and the reward that reinforces the habit. For example, someone might bite their nails when feeling stressed, and the reward is a temporary feeling of distraction, or sensory stimulation. Once the person has identified this connection, they can try to experiment with disrupting it. For example, by using a bitter nail polish, and focusing on deep breathing exercises when feeling stressed. Once disrupted, over time the old behaviour of biting their nails can gradually fade. <h2>Tips on how to form or break a habit</h2> To break a habit: <ul> <li>identify your triggers, and then avoid or modify them</li> <li>find a substitute: try replacing the old habit with a new and healthier one</li> <li>practise self-compassion: setbacks are a natural part of the process. Recommit to your goal and carry on.</li> </ul> To form a habit: <ul> <li>start small: begin with a simple and achievable habit that you can easily integrate into your daily routine</li> <li>be consistent: repeat the habit consistently until it becomes automatic</li> <li>reward yourself along the way to stay motivated.</li> </ul> If you think of habits like that riverbed, what deepens a river is the volume of water flowing through. With behaviour, that means repetition and similarity in repetition: practising your new habit. Because new habits might be overwhelming, practising in small chunks can help – so that you are not creating a new riverbed, but maybe just deepening parts of the main stream. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12811">Finding meaning</a> in the new habit is critical. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107373">Some studies</a> have reported strong findings that the belief you can change a habit is also critical. Believing in change and being aware of its potential, along with your commitment to practice, is key. Image credits: Shutterstock This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-in-your-brain-when-youre-trying-to-make-or-break-a-habit-201189" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Mind

Labor forms majority government after securing 76 seats

The Labor party has secured a majority government in the federal election after gaining the 76 seats they needed in order to govern in their own right. The formation of the Labor majority government means the party will not have to negotiate with an expanded crossbench in order to get legislation through the lower house. The majority government was formed as Labor MP Josh Burns was reelected in the Melbourne seat of Macnamara, bringing the seat count to the target number of 76. Given the Coalition was so far behind on the seat count, having lost legacy seats to teal independents, it was practically impossible the Liberal and National parties could use the crossbench to form a minority government. The crossbench will have 16 members, with an ideological spectrum that ranges from Queenslander Bob Katter on the right to the Greens on the left. Sources have suggested that it is likely that the new government will strike deals with the teals, independents and Greens to strengthen the passage of its legislation. Labor still needs to find a new deputy leader in the Senate to replace Kristina Keneally, who lost the seat of Fowler to independent candidate Dai Le in an embarrassing loss. The Labor caucus will determine who will serve in the cabinet when it meets later on Tuesday. The proportion of Left and Right members on the frontbench will be determined based on how many seats each faction wins. Image credits: Getty Images

News

Three unconventional forms of travel you should try if you can’t go abroad this summer

There has never been a better time to rethink the traditional vacation. International tourism <a href="https://unctad.org/news/global-economy-could-lose-over-4-trillion-due-covid-19-impact-tourism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been decimated</a> by the pandemic, and it is likely <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/210624-economic-research-asia-pacific-s-recovery-regains-its-footing-12010263" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to be difficult</a> for the travel industry to recover in the near future.Short-term, uncertainty around leisure travel continues. COVID-19 restrictions have limited international travel opportunities to a confusing patchwork of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommendations</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/from-other-countries.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restrictions</a>. Tourists travelling for Euro 2020 have been linked to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/who-warns-third-coronavirus-wave-europe-2021-07-01/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spikes in COVID-19 cases</a>. Australia has re-imposed regulations on domestic and international travel to try and manage the virus’s spread.Long-term, we need to make tourism more sustainable. Aviation contributes <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200218-climate-change-how-to-cut-your-carbon-emissions-when-flying" target="_blank" rel="noopener">around 5%</a> of annual human-made global warming. Tourism also needs to be more inclusive. In the UK, just 1% of the population take <a href="https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/policy-positions/aviation-and-climate-change-our-position" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20% of flights abroad</a>.Given this situation, familiar assumptions about what vacations should look like are overdue a reset. Our current model contributes to climate change. It confines the benefits of tourism to a few positives, while the negative impacts are felt by many. And it may be unavailable for the foreseeable future.Alternative tourism approaches are available, however. But rather than being about money, they focus on mindset. They are the ways in which philosophy can help us to rethink tourism and explore options which may be more accessible and sustainable to us overall.Tourism is something that takes us <a href="https://www.unwto.org/glossary-tourism-terms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out of the usual</a>. Stepping outside of everyday routines gives us a chance to relax. Doing something unfamiliar provides opportunities to learn. But you don’t need to travel long distances to reap the benefits. We can access the unfamiliar close to home:Micro-domestic tourismThis refers to tourism that takes place within a confined space. This might be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0047287512467700?casa_token=a14z3S6HohsAAAAA:kq0-81ZjUqvQbkNHNpdrPmP6NDQqsp1-hUfaGlVTW5Z5tvX5t61AK9t0RtboR6hAPHZ0MFdxi-4E" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inhabitants of small islands</a> taking a trip from one side to another, for example. Or even visiting a holiday home that is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0160738386900265" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in sight of your main house</a>. Even tiny journeys can take you into an entirely different headspace.Somewhere close by can be unfamiliar. A particular footpath never followed, or an unknown part of town. Entering such spaces provides the chance to leave behind the accustomed. It gives people the change to relax, rethink, and reconnect with themselves and others. Psychological rather than geographic distance is what counts.<figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409917/original/file-20210706-13-tvpryb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Silhouettes of people making shapes by a light in a tent at night" /><figcaption>Somewhere close by can be unfamiliar. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouettes-children-playing-camping-tent-night-1629935020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dmitry Naumov/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure>Virtual travelIt may even be possible to take a vacation <a href="https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200330-covid-19-virtual-travel-during-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">without leaving the house</a>. Virtual travel involves entering digital landscapes. These may be recreations of physical spaces, such as the <a href="https://www.virtualuffizi.com/explore-the-uffizi.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uffizi Gallery</a> in Florence, Italy. Alternately, they may be imagined worlds in themselves, such as <a href="https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/best-open-world-games/3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open world games</a>.<figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409919/original/file-20210706-25-1qbqfw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Person playing Animal Crossing on a Nintendo Switch" /><figcaption>The Animal Crossing Nintendo game provided a great deal of escapism for people during the first lockdown. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-march-21-2020-man-1711683874" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wachiwit/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure>Virtual travel gives convenient access to emotionally and intellectually stimulating spaces. Animal Crossing, for example, became <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/may/13/animal-crossing-new-horizons-nintendo-game-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hugely popular during 2020</a>. Players could use games like these to escape confinement and travel to a safe and relaxing space. Shared with online friends, virtual tourism can <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/rave-animal-crossing-new-horizons/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">help to combat</a> the stress, boredom and isolation of lockdown.PsychogeographyFinding alternative tourist destinations may not be a case of travelling somewhere new at all. The unfamiliar can be found in our everyday surroundings. Our houses, neighbourhoods and workspaces shape how we think and act. However, it’s our familiarity with these spaces that make us <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/2015/06/familiarity-breeds-contempt-why-do-we-get-bored-and-what-point-boredom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insensitive to</a> their effects.<a href="http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychogeography</a> can resensitise us to these environments. It involves a series of techniques originally developed by philosopher <a href="https://philosophynow.org/issues/14/Dead_Bored_Debords_Dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guy Debord</a> which he called <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychogeography-a-way-to-delve-into-the-soul-of-a-city-78032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dérive</a>. These practices can help us to become more conscious of our surroundings and how they make us feel and behave.<figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410114/original/file-20210707-17-1h1s8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Woman closing her eyes with a picture of a sunset photoshopped onto her black hair" /><figcaption>Psychogeography encourages people to engage with physical and in some cases digital spaces that are taken-for-granted. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/double-multiply-exposure-portrait-dreamy-cute-1458773024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sun ok/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure>Psychogeography involves <a href="https://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/theory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drifting through spaces</a> both physically and mentally. This means following the flow of whatever landscape you’re in with no particular purpose. The idea is to see what interests you on the day, following those instincts, and finding out where they take you. Wandering and wondering can lead to surprising places. The <a href="https://deriveapp.com/s/v2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dérive app</a> can be downloaded to give this a go.Micro-domestic tourism and virtual travel teach us that we don’t have to go far from home to explore the unfamiliar. Psychogeography, meanwhile, encourages us to re-engage with physical, and perhaps digital, spaces that are taken for granted. In doing so, the unfamiliar may be rediscovered.COVID-19 has encouraged us to embrace new forms of tourism. Domestic tourism is booming in the UK. Likewise, virtual travel is gaining appreciation. Game-based <a href="https://www.shortlist.com/news/video-game-travel-guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holiday hotspots</a> have long been known to fans. However, more mainstream consumers are picking up on the potential. Rough Guides, the well-known travel guide books, recently launched a <a href="https://www.roughguides.com/articles/introduction-to-the-rough-guide-to-xbox/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidebook</a> to the X-box games console, for example.New tourism habits are <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/6/22215786/video-games-covid-19-animal-crossing-among-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">likely to remain</a>, now that people have had the opportunity to discover that it can be more than the long-haul. A growing realisation that wanderlust can be satiated <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/30/heres-what-post-pandemic-travel-might-look-like.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">close to home</a> will be a good thing for re-balancing an industry that has over-emphasised financially and ecologically expensive travel.<img style="border: none !important;margin: 0 !important;max-height: 1px !important;max-width: 1px !important;min-height: 1px !important;min-width: 1px !important;padding: 0 !important" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163776/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-canavan-228682" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brendan Canavan</a>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Nottingham</a>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-unconventional-forms-of-travel-you-should-try-if-you-cant-go-abroad-this-summer-163776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.Image: Getty Images

Domestic Travel

Pre-term babies less likely to form relations

Premature babies are less likely to form romantic relationships, have sexual relations or experience parenthood as adults than those who go full term, new research shows. <div class="copy"> That’s likely due, at least in part, to pre-term birth being associated with being more often withdrawn and shy, socially excluded and less willing to take risks in adolescence, says a team from the UK’s University of Warwick. As such, they add, more needs to be done in schools and by parents to encourage social interactions when young. Their meta-analysis of data from up to 4.4 million adult participants shows that those born preterm (before 37 weeks’ gestations) are 28% less likely to be in a romantic relationship, 22% less likely to become parents, and 2.3 times less likely to ever have a sexual partner. The situation appears even worse for those born very (<32 weeks) or extremely preterm (<28 weeks). Those in the latter category are 3.2 times less likely to ever having sexual relations, for example. On the upside, the meta-analysis suggests the where adults born pre-terms do have friends or partners, the quality of those relationships is at least as good as for full-term adults. “The finding that adults who were born pre-term are less likely to have a partner, to have sex and become parents does not appear to be explained by a higher rate of disability,” says lead researcher Marina Goulart de Mendonça, from Warwick’s Department of Psychology. “Rather pre-term born children have been previously found to have poorer social interactions in childhood that make it harder for them to master social transitions such as finding a partner, which in turn is proven to boost your wellbeing.” The study’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6961" target="_blank">findings</a> are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.  <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=25931&title=Pre-term+babies+less+likely+to+form+relations" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/pre-term-babies-less-likely-to-later-form-relationships/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/nick-carne" target="_blank">Nick Carne</a>. Nick Carne is the editor of Cosmos Online and editorial manager for The Royal Institution of Australia. Image: Getty Images </div>

Relationships

Salman Rushdie announces novella in unusual form

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie, author of the controversial book The Satanic Verses, has <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/latestnews/salman-rushdie-serialises-novella.html" target="_blank">announced</a> he will be writing his next book on the newsletter platform Substack. The newsletter is called <a rel="noopener" href="https://salmanrushdie.substack.com/p/welcome-to-my-sea-of-stories?showWelcome=true" target="_blank">Salman’s Sea of Stories</a> in a reference to his 1990 novel <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/haroun-and-the-sea-of-stories.html" target="_blank">Haroun and the Sea of Stories</a>, and will be where his new book The Seventh Wave will be published, along with short stories, essays and other works. Speaking to The Guardian, Rushdie revealed that The Seventh Wave totals at 35,000 words and is about a “film director and an actor slash muse written in the style of New Wave cinema”. According to his website, most of his work will be free to access. However, a paid subscription is needed to access additional works, including The Seventh Wave, which will be released in weekly instalments. “The point of doing this is to have a closer relationship with readers, to speak freely, without any intermediaries or gatekeepers,” his website reads. “There’s just us here, just you and me, and we can take this wherever it goes. I hope you’ll enjoy the ride. I’ll try to make it fun.” Image: salmanrushdie.com

Books

Question on Census form ‘insensitive’ to women

<div class="post-body-container"> <div class="post_body" style="height: auto; max-height: none; overflow: hidden;"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> One question on the Census form has outraged and upset many people and been labelled "insensitive" to women. The statistics show 25 percent of Australian pregnancies end in miscarriage so for any women who’ve experienced this, the Census question about how many babies has a person given birth to, proved to be greatly upsetting. Molli Sarafov from Western Sydney recently lost her son to stillbirth and so when the question came up on the Census form she said she was caught off guard. The Census form asked: “How many babies has (name) ever given birth to?” The form said you can “exclude adopted, foster and step children.” But Sarafov, from western Sydney, said the question was greatly upsetting to her: “I was in tears,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to write and I tapped the button for more information, but that just said something about how the ABS was trying to record statistics on the age of fertility of women, so didn’t help anyone in my situation answer the question.” Red Nose co-chief executive Jackie Mead agreed the question was insensitive saying: “It was worded so poorly and could be so offensive to so many women, including the many who have lost a baby.” “Sadly, one in four Australian pregnancies end in miscarriage and one in 135 ends in stillbirth. This is an issue that affects so many women,” she said. “Many women have told us today they are upset and confused about the abrupt way this question was worded and many were left in tears while completing their Census,” Mead added. Social media fielded more complaints Others complained about the question on social media. “Thanks to census, for two days I’ve been reminded society views me as a woman without children,” one woman wrote. “Where’s the question asking how many babies have men created? Also what about women who have lost children during pregnancy?” Another person wrote: “Census asking me how many babies I’ve popped out feels like a dig at my uterus. Might as well ask the penis owners how many times they’ve impregnated someone.” Another woman posted: “I was asked how many babies I’d given birth to on the census so naturally I expected my husband would be asked how many children he’s fathered. Spoiler: he wasn’t.” Most people in Australia submitted the Census on Tuesday evening of this week. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said it received 6.2 million forms as of 8 am on Wednesday morning. Out of those forms, about 126,000 were submitted on paper and the rest online. Those who didn’t submit their forms will be contacted by the ABS by email or in regional areas, by door knocking. Image: Getty Images </div> </div> </div>

Caring

“Never get into an argument with a fool”: Dan Andrews’ fiery return to form

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has used his first press conference to thank his supporters and make a dig at the "vile rumours" being spread about the circumstances relating to his injury. The premier was back at work on Monday after spending 111 days recovering from broken ribs and spinal damage due to falling on wet stairs in March. Mr Andrews thanked his colleagues, medical professionals and his family for the continuous support during his recovery. "It's great to be back after a lengthy absence, one that was required in terms of a very serious injury," he said. "I want to thank Cath and the kids, I want to thank my medical team, I want to thank every Victorian that has sent me cards and notes and best wishes. "I want to thank Deputy Premier James Merlino who has done an astounding job." During the time of his accident, some details about Mr Andrews' condition was unknown, causing a Liberal MP to ask a series of questions about who owned the holiday home where Mr Andrews and his family were staying, who called the ambulance, and whether police had interviewed the premier. Mr Andrews said despite releasing a statement yesterday about his injury in his own words, putting an end to the "vile stories" about the incident may not be possible. However, the premier did not appear fazed by the "fools" who spread misinformation about his injury. "People who make up their own facts, you're best not really to get into an argument with them," he said. "It's very difficult to win those arguments. People know me, they know my work, they know my background. They know that I love my family and I love my state. "Never get into an argument with a fool." The premier said the "vile, wicked" rumours circulating had been "very hurtful" to his family. "It is very, very hurtful when kids are being taunted at school," he said. "It is very hurtful when you see some of this stuff printed. And I'm not speaking for myself. I'm speaking on behalf of my family." Now that he's back, Mr Andrews is ready to help Victorians. "I have spent four months doing rehab, not getting fit to get out, but getting fit and healthy to get back to work for the people of Victoria," he said. "That's what I'm doing, and that's what I'll do for as long as the people of Victoria want me to do that important work." Mr Andrews said he had booked the holiday home for a week, which he paid for himself. He was on official leave at the time of his fall.

News

ALDI shoppers form dozens-long queue for unlikely item

A shopper shared a surprising photo of a queue that "went the length of the store" while she was trying to get into her local ALDI. Mum Maria revealed the "crazy" scene at ALDI's annual "Back To School" Special Buys sale. Many look forward to this sale as it started nationally on Wednesday, January 13th. “Another crazy day at ALDI,” wrote Maria on the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1034012533313136" target="_blank">Aldi Mums</a> Facebook page. “Back to school sale. People everywhere, line up to the end of the store.” <img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839476/aldi.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/78fd6fccb97b43b29905c5a858238c7a" /> People are eager to get their hands on the store's popular $14.99 school shoes, especially with the pandemic tightening budgets around the nation. Other shoppers agreed that busy scenes were the norm at their local ALDI stores. “Yes, I had to line up for half an hour to pay,” said one. Added another: “I was 3rd in line but the woman who was first took every box of the white double strap jogger.” Some were quick to point out the lack of social distancing at the stores. “Hope they were all wearing masks,” said one. “I wanted to go but thought social distancing and COVID are more important.”

Money & Banking

Brooke Shields heads into 2020 in stunning Blue Lagoon form

Brooke Shields is heading into 2020 with a homage to one of her iconic 1980 roles. Two days before the year ended, the 54-year-old actress and model took to Instagram to showcase her toned body. In the picture, Shields could be seen standing on the beach wearing navy blue bikini. <blockquote 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);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6rOA7tADF5/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <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> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6rOA7tADF5/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">another blue lagoon 💙</a> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/brookeshields/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Brooke Shields</a> (@brookeshields) on Dec 29, 2019 at 3:46pm PST </div> </blockquote> “Another blue lagoon,” she wrote on the caption, referring to the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon where she played the lead role of Emmeline Lestrange. The star also shared another photo on New Year’s Eve from her vacation. The selfie showed the former Calvin Klein model posing in front of a mirror in a bikini set and hat. “Ready to spend the last day of the year at the beach!” the caption read. <blockquote 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);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wAbRMAPtm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <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> <a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6wAbRMAPtm/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Ready to spend the last day of the year at the beach! 👙 @adoreme</a> <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 post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/brookeshields/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Brooke Shields</a> (@brookeshields) on Dec 31, 2019 at 12:24pm PST </div> </blockquote> Shields shared that she has been staying in shape with gym exercises. “It’s been a long road from my knee surgery last year to now – I’ve learned so much about my body and I’m excited to share more of my wellness journey with you,” she wrote on Instagram.

Body

How magpies can form friendships with people

Can one form a friendship with a magpie – even when adult males are protecting their nests during the swooping season? The short answer is: “Yes, one can” – although science has just begun to provide feasible <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7677/">explanations</a> for friendship in animals, let alone for cross-species friendships between humans and wild birds. Ravens and magpies are <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ed56/208789711b6c939fcbe29383dd9115876925.pdf">known</a> to form powerful allegiances among themselves. In fact, Australia is thought to be a <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/mu/MU01039">hotspot</a> for <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1530/2207.short">cooperative behaviour</a> in birds worldwide. They like to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16701226">stick together</a> with family and mates, in the good Australian way. Of course, many bird species may readily come to a feeding table and become tame enough to take food from our hand, but this isn’t really “friendship”. However, there is evidence that, remarkably, free-living magpies can forge lasting relationships with people, even without depending on us for food or shelter. When magpies are permanently ensconced on human property, they are also far less likely to swoop the people who live there. Over 80% of all successfully breeding magpies live near human houses, which means the vast majority of people, in fact, never get swooped. And since magpies can live between 25 and 30 years and are territorial, they can develop lifelong <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/3880/">friendships with humans</a>. This bond can extend to trusting certain people around their offspring. A key reason why friendships with magpies are possible is that we now know that magpies are able to recognise and remember individual human faces for many years. They can learn which nearby humans do not constitute a risk. They will <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7130/">remember</a> someone who was good to them; equally, they remember negative encounters. <h2>Why become friends?</h2> Magpies that actively form friendships with people make this investment (from their point of view) for good reason. Properties suitable for magpies are hard to come by and the competition is fierce. Most magpies will not secure a territory – let alone breed – until they are at least five years old. In fact, only about 14% of adult magpies ever succeed in breeding. And based on extensive magpie population research conducted by R. Carrick in the 1970s, even if they breed successfully every single year, they may successfully raise only seven to eleven chicks to adulthood and breeding in a lifetime. There is a lot at stake with every magpie clutch. The difference between simply not swooping someone and a real friendship manifests in several ways. When magpies have formed an attachment they will often show their trust, for example, by formally introducing their offspring. They may allow their chicks to play near people, not fly away when a resident human is approaching, and actually approach or roost near a human. In rare cases, they may even join in human activity. For example, magpies have helped me garden by walking in parallel to my weeding activity and displacing soil as I did. One magpie always perched on my kitchen window sill, looking in and watching my every move. On one extraordinary occasion, an adult female magpie gingerly entered my house on foot, and hopped over to my desk where I was sitting. She watched me type on the keyboard and even looked at the screen. I had to get up to take a phone call and when I returned, the magpie had taken up a position at my keyboard, pecked the keys gently and then looked at the “results” on screen. The bird was curious about everything I did. She also wanted to play with me and found my shoelaces particularly attractive, pulling them and then running away a little only to return for another go. Importantly, it was the bird (not hand-raised but a free-living adult female) that had begun to take the initiative and had chosen to socially interact and such behaviour, as research has shown particularly in primates, is affiliative and part of the basis of social bonds and friendships. <h2>Risky business</h2> If magpies can be so good with humans how can one explain their swooping at people (even if it is only for a few weeks in the year)? It’s worth bearing in mind that swooping magpies (invariably males on guard duty) do not act in aggression or anger but as nest defenders. The strategy they choose is based on risk assessment. A risk is posed by someone who is unknown and was not present at the time of nest building, which unfortunately is often the case in public places and parks. That person is then classified as a territorial intruder and thus a potential risk to its brood. At this point the male guarding the brooding female is obliged to perform a warning swoop, literally asking a person to step away from the nest area. If warnings are ignored, the adult male may try to conduct a near contact swoop aimed at the head (the magpie can break its own neck if it makes contact, so it is a strategy of last resort only). Magpie swooping is generally a defensive action taken when someone unknown approaches who the magpie believes intends harm. It is not an arbitrary attack. When I was swooped for the first time in a public place I slowly walked over to the other side of the road. Importantly, I allowed the male to study my face and appearance from a safe distance so he could remember me in future, a useful strategy since we now know that magpies remember human faces. Taking a piece of mince or taking a wide berth around the magpies nest may eventually convince the nervous magpie that he does not need to deter this individual anymore because she or he poses little or no risk, and who knows, may even become a friend in future. A sure way of escalating conflict is to fence them with an umbrella or any other device, or to run away at high speed. This human approach may well confirm for the magpie that the person concerned is dangerous and needs to be fought with every available strategy. In dealing with magpies, as in global politics, de-escalating a perceived conflict is usually the best strategy.<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/83950/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gisela-kaplan-2401">Gisela Kaplan</a>, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-new-england-919">University of New England</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/magpies-can-form-friendships-with-people-heres-how-83950">original article</a>.

Relationships

This form of social media is ruining the world of travel

Prolific UK travel blogger Amelia Liana has come under fire for posting what appear to be doctored images of herself in fabled locales around the world. Her Instagram followers were quick to spot that there was something missing from an image of her purportedly gazing out at the New York City skyline from the top of the Rockefeller Centre - the Freedom Tower that was built four years ago. "That's not what NYC looks like," one commenter wrote. "And your reflection in the mirror isn't reversed. It's just copied and pasted on top." Experts from The Times picture desk confirmed that an image of the 26-year-old blogger had been superimposed over an old image of New York. It wasn't the first time the London-based blogger had been called out for manipulating images. A photograph seemingly of her at the Taj Mahal in India also attracted unwanted attention, with followers pointing to the notably absent crowds and scaffolding, and a flock of birds which appeared to have been edited in. But Liana, who has nearly 450,000 followers on Instagram, contends that all her photos are taken in real locations, although she concedes that she "may use all available techniques to enhance, sharpen or smarten" her images. "I feel a great bond with you, my followers, and I would never wish to deceive you..." she says on her website. "I am striving for authenticity as well as giving you imagery that is stylish, progressive and inspiring." If she has manipulated her images, she is far from alone. Travel bloggers, or social media "influencers" as many like to be known, often enhance their images in an effort to paint themselves and the places they visit in the best light. Doing so isn't always just an ego boost. Those that gain enough followers are often given free flights and accommodation, companies happy to pick up the bill - and pay them - to endorse their brands, products and services. But in an era in which media organisations globally are accused of perpetuating "fake news", should bloggers be allowed to post images which are tantamount to ads without disclosing their backers? Faking it to make it Vince Frascello, a self-professed adventurer, traveller and photographer who has posted numerous pictures of his travels around New Zealand on his website and social media, believes the main problem lies in influencers portraying pictures or stories as authentic when they're not. "Almost everyone edits photos and there is nothing wrong with that, however when you try to pass off a photo as a genuine representation of a location, scene or experience and it's edited beyond a reasonable standard, you fall into a grey area of shady manipulation." Frascello, who has 14,600 Instagram followers, doesn't have a problem with influencers editing and staging photos if they're upfront about it. "But when you begin to mislead your followers, or even get financial compensation to pass an advertisement off as a "real scene", well you're just being a... when it really comes down to it." Sam Deuchrass, a photographer and University of Otago student with nearly 40,000 Instagram followers, also believes manipulated images can amount to misrepresentation. "Photographers and influencers have to be careful so that they are promoting the particular scene in a manner that was actually experienced at the time. If the night sky was amazing and the milky way was shining bright then by all means showcase that. However, don't Photoshop a fake scene in just for the likes." Faking it, he says, promotes unrealistic ideals which followers may strive to emulate, inevitably leading to disappointment. Deuchrass believes it is the desire to stand out from the crowd on social media - as well as increasing competition among influencers - that motivate people to manipulate images. "With social media becoming increasingly saturated with people posting similar photos to each other, whether that's to say they have visited a certain location or just to fit in with their follow list, a new desire to be different to everyone has emerged." Influencers addicted to the "high" of social media success Brando Yelavich, who describes himself as "a creative adventurer who carries a GoPro", argues that many bloggers who manipulate images are simply making the most of their medium. "I look at Instagram as a canvas and content creation as the paint. There are a lot of staged and edited shots out there, but I wouldn't say that's a problem. Personally, I like to be authentic and raw as my goal is to inspire. I wouldn't try to pass off anything that's not." But that doesn't mean Yelavich, who has 13,200 Instagram followers, won't edit his images to maximise their visual appeal. "Photos often don't look as good until I put up the brightness and make them more vibrant etc. You'd have to be silly not to realise that everyone does that." Like the others we spoke to, Yelavich believes that influencers' main responsibility to their followers is to be true to them. He can see how Liana's images could be construed as misleading, but thinks she could have avoided this if she had been clear that she was creating an "artist's impression" of the places she depicted. "From an aesthetic point of view, those are beautiful images. But I do think it's wrong to be unauthentic to an audience that's inspired by your lifestyle. Lying to thousands of people is wrong... You have to ask yourself is she really travelling to these locations or is she sitting at her computer at home? Instagram has created a lot of people who pretend to be something they're not." Yelavich likens Instagram to a drug, saying the more you put out there and the more likes and followers you amass as a result, the more you want to keep doing it. "You do get a real dopamine release, a real high," he says. Carmen Huter, an Austrian based blogger now based in New Zealand with 57,200 Instagram followers, says she can see how people get "carried away" with new photo editing technologies in their quest to create stand-out images. "I think photography is a form of art and the beauty of art lies in the eye of the beholder. With that in mind, no form of dishonesty should ever be awarded and I strive to depict my experiences in the most authentic, natural way possible. I personally don't use Photoshop." Near "impossible" to be discovered without extra help All the bloggers we spoke to agreed that the life of an influencer is much harder than it looks, largely due to the huge amount of competition. Frascello said it's almost impossible to make a living unless you're a "beautiful blonde bikini babe" happy to sacrifice your morals by stealing photos, or are just plain lucky. "However if you can generate unique and special content, honestly connect with your followers and continue to push yourself to be the best, you might just make it." It's a sentiment each of the other bloggers we spoke to concurred with. "The market is highly competitive, but quality content will always succeed in the end," Huter says. Do you think Instagram is ruining the world of travel? Written by Lorna Thornber. Republished with permission of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.

International Travel

Beachgoers form human chain to save family caught in rip

A family caught in a rip off Florida’s Gulf Coast have been saved by 80 beachgoers who formed a human chain and selflessly waded into the dangerous current. The remarkable images, reported by the Panama City News Herald, depict the chain stretching into the deep water, where nine people gasped for their lives. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> A Human Chain Of 80 People Saves 9 Beachgoers <a href="https://t.co/uXfS4TcDPb">https://t.co/uXfS4TcDPb</a> — TURN OREGON RED 🇺🇸 (@LindaRockers) <a href="https://twitter.com/LindaRockers/status/884870104357380096">July 11, 2017</a></blockquote> “I honestly thought I was going to lose my family that day,” Roberta Ursrey, who ran into the rough water to save her children. “It was like, ‘Oh God, this is how I’m going.’” Another one of the brave beachgoers, Jessica, told the Herald that they went in after the family, while instructing others to connect with them in a chain. “It was the most remarkable thing to see,” Simmons told the Herald. “These people who don’t even know each other and they trust each other that much to get them to safety.” It’s a lovely story, but a reminder to always be vigilant at the beach. Hero image credit: Facebook / Rosalind Beckton

Caring

Why cycling is a perfect form of exercise for over-60s

Michael Speakerman from Life Cycle 55+ explains why cycling is a great form of exercise for those over 60. Have you always dreamed of getting into cycling but feel that you may have missed the boat? There is a common misconception that cycling is only for really fit, active people and something that takes years to master. However, you may be surprised to learn that there is a burgeoning community of people over 60 from all walks of life who have taken up cycling and achieved remarkable health results whilst having a blast. Cycling in a group is an experience you will treasure Sharing life experiences, developing a true passion and learning new life skills are just a few reasons why cycling has become so popular and a fun alternate to simply ‘joining another group’. Through setting goals, creating an inclusive environment, encouraging fellow cyclists and working as a group - our over 60 cycling groups have formed incredible bonds. Becoming healthier is certainly the principal objective but the ‘by-product’ of cycling for our over 60 riding groups are the social interaction and team involvement group support that also acts to improve wellbeing. Our over 60 riding groups frequently find themselves finishing their rides at a café to enjoy a coffee with their fellow riders to reminisce the good times had by all. It’s not quite time to walk a tightrope, but you will become more balanced…! The World Health Organisation estimates that 28-35% of people aged 65 or over will suffer a fall each year. Falls can have debilitating effects. Better balance and core stability is a form of intervention that has the ability to significantly reduce the risk of falling. Cycling is an exercise that increases balance due to the isolation of the glute muscles and stabilisation of the core. All of us could attest to being happy with some more balance - but if you’re in your sixties and beyond, balance can be really important for your range of movement. An exercise that improves balance equates to better coordination and posture, an increase in communication between the brain and muscles and also acts in stabilising the hips. These benefits almost speak for themselves, but really at the crux of it, is that by getting into cycling - you are making a decision that will have long term positive mobility benefits. Life’s an adventure Cycling opens one up to all the natural wonders the world has to offer like no other sport can. Whether it’s a journey along the Great Ocean Road with all its splendid scenery as far as the eye can see, to a hearty soup at the end of a magnificent ride through the crisp forest of the Dandenong Ranges - cycling provides an incredible means for our over 60 groups to explore. Learn more about Cycling Victoria’s Life Cycle 55+ program by <a href="http://www.lifecycle55.com.au" target="_blank">visiting the website here.</a> Sign up for a weekly ride or a cycling tour. Life Cycle 55+ is a cycling program designed for people aged 55 or over who want to get on their bikes and ride. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/05/cycling-increasing-in-popularity-over-golf/">Is cycling the new golf?</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/05/workouts-for-people-who-dont-like-getting-sweaty/">Workouts for people who don’t like getting sweaty</a> <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2016/01/how-to-find-a-hobby-you-love/">How to find a hobby you love</a>

Body

Retirees form Seniors United Party of Australia

They planned to relax in retirement, but when these octogenarians discovered their voices were going unheard they decided to form a political party. That’s how the Seniors United Party of Australia (SUPA) was formed and the group of Sydney retirees are here to tell you, they’re not going to be pushed around any longer. According to the Daily Telegraph, 83-year-old Neil Smith said their party will campaign for rights for the aged, but their mission is to get a parliamentary inquiry into the way retirement villages are run. “Some of us have had professional lives only to find at the end we have no rights,” the former accountant said. “People don’t realise until they get in there (a retirement village) and they say, ‘oh God, what have I done’, that you can’t get out.” Leone Cordingley, 74, one of 500 members to have joined the party, said retirement living was taking advantage of the older population. “They fleece you while you are living and they fleece you on the way out. We see ourselves as milking cows and there is no charity at all, it’s all about the quid,” Ms Cordingley said. The founding fathers - Ray Morritt, Nick Agnew, Frank Fitzpatrick and Neil Smith (left to right in picture above) – do not plan on running, but are looking for a candidate to put forward at the federal election. The Seniors United Party of Australia (SUPA) election platform: <ul> <li>Parliamentary inquiry into the retirement village industry</li> <li>Aged Care (Nursing Homes): There is talk of handing over the accreditation of these facilities to the private sector, and at the same time, talk of stripping $534 million dollars of government subsidies from this industry.</li> <li>Palliative Care: We strongly endorse the introduction of a comprehensive National Palliative Care scheme, funded by the Federal Government.</li> <li>A crack down on Home Care Packages which are costing taxpayers a small fortune but delivering very little dollar value outcome to the patient.</li> <li>Superannuation: The current complex system of income and asset tests for the age pension should be replaced by a single means test which should NOT include the value of the family home.</li> </ul> To find more information <a href="http://www.seniorsunited-nsw.com/" target="_blank">visit their website here.</a> Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2015/12/community-key-to-happy-retirement/">The importance of community in retirement</a> <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2015/12/how-to-mentally-prepare-yourself-for-retirement/">8 steps to mentally prepare yourself for retirement</a> <a href="/lifestyle/retirement-life/2015/11/what-to-consider-before-downsizing-in-retirement/">6 questions you must ask yourself before downsizing</a>

News

Intimate photos show birth is beautiful in all forms

Photographer and mum Leilani Rogers has spent the last five years taking images of birth in all its forms – home births, hospital deliveries, water births, C-sections and more. "Birth is considered by many to be a private matter," Rogers told The Huffington Post. "And yet, it is this amazing thing that we should be teaching our children about and celebrating. So I think people view these photos as equal parts enlightening and fascinating." Rogers hopes her intimate but powerful photos start a conversation around a topic that still remains taboo. "I sincerely hope that these photos normalise birth – show that is isn't 'gross,'" the photographer said. "There are people in this world who won't even subject themselves to discussing birth, let alone viewing images of it. But I don't see how anyone can deny that these images portray birth as the miraculous occasion that it can be." Photographing births in all its form, Rogers knows first-hand the miracles of all birth, no matter how you choose to deliver. "It doesn't matter if you birth at home, in a birth centre, in a hospital, vaginally, or by C-section. Birth is birth!" Rogers continued. "We all work hard to bring our babies into this world. And we all love them with every fibre of our being! Most importantly, in the end we all hold the same divine position as 'mother.'" Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2015/12/life-lessons-from-grandparents/">Top 10 life lessons kids learn from grandparents</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/01/grandparents-make-grandchildren-happy-study/">Why the grandparent grandchild relationship is important for happiness</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/01/dogs-with-no-concept-of-personal-space/">These dogs have no concept of personal space</a>

News

UFO clouds form above Cape Town

UFO-like cloud formations forming above Cape Town have left locals scratching their heads. Many have taken to social media to share this unnerving weather pattern. And while it may look like an alien invasion it’s actually a strange cloud formation. This eerie cloud formation is a phenomenon known as lenticular clouds, caused when high winds blow over rough terrain, such as mountains and valleys. Scroll down to see more images: <img width="500" height="500" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10843/cloud-number-two_500x500.jpg" alt="Cloud Number Two"/> Image credit: Twitter / Rory_OB1 <img width="499" height="405" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10844/cloud-number-three_499x405.jpg" alt="Cloud Number Three"/> Image credit: Instagram / joshua.oates <img width="499" height="400" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10847/cloud-number-four_499x400.jpg" alt="Cloud Number Four"/> Image credit: Instagram / beanibop <img width="500" height="403" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10848/cloud-number-six_500x403.jpg" alt="Cloud Number Six"/> Image credit: Twitter / DiBrown5 <img width="500" height="334" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10849/cloud-number-one_500x334.jpg" alt="Cloud Number One"/> Hero image credit: Instagram / instagram_sa

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Brooke Shields heads into 2020 in stunning Blue Lagoon form

How magpies can form friendships with people

This form of social media is ruining the world of travel

Beachgoers form human chain to save family caught in rip

Why cycling is a perfect form of exercise for over-60s

Retirees form Seniors United Party of Australia

Intimate photos show birth is beautiful in all forms

UFO clouds form above Cape Town

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