A plan to give households access to free electricity, and the truth behind toxic toys
If you don't own your home or if you live in an apartment and can't put panels on the roof, you've largely been locked out of the benefits of rooftop solar energy. In a small way, that changed this week when the government announced plans to give households access to free electricity for three hours every day ... in an effort to encourage energy use when excess solar power is being fed into the grid. Dr Saul Griffith is Chief Scientist at Rewiring Australia and Davood Dehestani is CEO and founder of energy start-up Smartizer.We're told it's getting harder to raise kids, amid a cost of living crunch. But that isn't what the numbers show. New research shows having kids is no more costly than it was a few decades ago ... so why does it feel that way? And if you need to be frugal - where should you put your pennies? What's the best thing you can invest in Associate Professor Ben Phillips is a Principal Research Fellow at the ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods and Robyn Titmus is the mother of Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus.A new report out of Europe has shown that a few big name companies are creating children's toys that have harmful levels of chemicals on them. It's obviously not good news, but at this point is it even possible to avoid nasty chemicals that are already out there in the world, for us and our kids? Dr Rachael Wakefield-Rann is research principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at Univeristy of Technology Sydney
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A plan to give households access to free electricity, and the truth behind toxic toys
If you don't own your home or if you live in an apartment and can't put panels on the roof, you've largely been locked out of the benefits of rooftop solar energy. In a small way, that changed this week when the government announced plans to give households access to free electricity for three hours every day ... in an effort to encourage energy use when excess solar power is being fed into the grid. Dr Saul Griffith is Chief Scientist at Rewiring Australia and Davood Dehestani is CEO and founder of energy start-up Smartizer.We're told it's getting harder to raise kids, amid a cost of living crunch. But that isn't what the numbers show. New research shows having kids is no more costly than it was a few decades ago ... so why does it feel that way? And if you need to be frugal - where should you put your pennies? What's the best thing you can invest in Associate Professor Ben Phillips is a Principal Research Fellow at the ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods and Robyn Titmus is the mother of Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus.A new report out of Europe has shown that a few big name companies are creating children's toys that have harmful levels of chemicals on them. It's obviously not good news, but at this point is it even possible to avoid nasty chemicals that are already out there in the world, for us and our kids? Dr Rachael Wakefield-Rann is research principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at Univeristy of Technology Sydney
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Are e-bikes safe for your kids and re-thinking gluten's dietary villain status
There are plenty of benefits to power-assisted pedal bikes, or "e-bikes", they're great for commuting or touring a new town. But not all e-bikes are created equal, some are so heavily modified they're basically motorbikes. One of the hardest things for parents to navigate is exactly what kind of e-bike might be safe for your child, and understanding the risks to their safety and others around them.If you've been diagnosed with coeliac disease, skipping gluten isn't a trend – it's a medical must. But for everyone else who swears they're "gluten sensitive" or "intolerant", is gluten really the villain it's made out to be? According to a new research review published in The Lancet, your gluten sensitivity could actually be something else entirely.Was your most picture-perfect holiday actually your best holiday? Science says we tend to conflate the two. So, why do perfect holiday photos make us feel we had a perfect holiday? And the book that changed Formula 1 engineer turned baking icon Kate Reid's life.
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Data privacy and daycare apps, plus will aged care changes result in a system we can trust?
The rise of apps linked to childcare centres gives crucial reassurance to worried parents that children are safe and happy at daycare. Throughout the day, educators snap pictures of activities and upload them to the app.But what happens to the pictures and sensitive documents accumulated over the years on these apps? Some parents, like Niels Wouters, are finding out that when your child graduates to big school, their data doesn't automatically go with them. Luci Pangrazio is an Associate Professor at Deakin University and Chief Investigator at the Centre for the Digital Child and Nesha Hutchinson is Vice President of the Australian Childcare Alliance.Four years after the Aged Care Royal Commission's final report, one of the cornerstone reforms came into effect on Saturday: a new federal Aged Care Act. So do these changes bring us closer to a system we can trust to care for our parents ... and ourselves? Debra Nicholl is CEO of Elder Rights Australia and Lisa Backhouse has been advocating for aged care reforms and gave evidence to Royal Commission about the substandard level of care her mother experienced.In Australian primary schools, many tuckshops are struggling, teachers are paying for kids' lunches out of their own pockets, and some public primary schools are hiring chefs. And yet, many kids are still going to school hungry and without lunch. So, why is lunch a growing challenge for Australian schools? Bec Spink is the principal of Wirrigirri Primary School in Victoria and Rebecca Golley is Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Flinders University.
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Russ Harris on how to stop worrying, and drama over screen time at grandpa's house
Author of the international bestseller The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living, Dr Russ Harris says ruminating, over-thinking and worrying can all be kinds of "suffering." Dr Harris says evidence shows that with practice, anyone can rewire their neural paths and dramatically shift their thinking patterns. And in Ask Aunty, a letter-writer asks, can I set the rules when my grandkids visit? This is a dilemma about a clash of parenting and grandparenting and the issue at play is screen-time. Aunties Denise Eriksen, Screen Careers Training Manager, I’m a Celeb Get Me Out of Here (UK), and Joe Sullivan, Radio National producer, offer their insights on the drama.
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