Longitudinal studies have a huge amount to teach us about the impacts of using cannabis, writes Joseph M Boden, director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study. In 101 days, New Zealanders will determine whether or not cannabis should be legalised. In making that decision, there is plenty to learn from the Christchurch and Dunedin … Read more
Messages exhorting the importance of mastering self-control come loaded with cultural assumptions and overlook the hidden costs, writes anthropologist Catherine Trundle. We have finally unlocked the secrets of self-control. According to one recent article, it takes only 14 simple steps to master your willpower and reach your goals. Visualise. Prepare a plan. Hide temptations. Surround yourself with disciplined people. … Read more
Veronika Meduna watches the gongs get handed out at last night’s big Prime Minister’s Science Prize ceremony. Anybody who thinks of science as the dispassionate study of cold, hard facts would have had their stereotype shattered at last night’s awards ceremony for the 2016 PM’s Science Prizes. Tears rolled and laughter erupted, often at the … Read more
For good or ill, the first three years of a child’s existence have an outsized impact on the rest of their life, according to findings taken from the world renowned Dunedin Study. The study’s director talks to Toby Manhire about what it all means. Give me a child at seven, and I will show you … Read more
For the past 45 years the Dunedin longitudinal study has been charting every aspect of the lives of 1037 people, making it one of the most important studies in human history. José Barbosa talks to producer Mark McNeill about how you make interesting TV about hard science. Mark McNeill makes TV the way Steven Segal fights Tommy … Read more