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Misia Temler, University of Sydney: With so many artificial intelligence (AI) products on offer now, it’s increasingly tempting to offload difficult thinking tasks to chatbots, agents and other tools. As we chart this new technological terrain, more and more we’re exposed to vast amounts of information and highly sophisticated software that offers to do the thinking for us. In just a few seconds, tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can draft your emails, generate a caring birthday message for a friend, or even summarise the plot of that novel you haven’t gotten around to reading. Such increased offloading has raised the fear that people will become overly reliant on AI. This could have unintended consequences, such as eroding our critical thinking skills and declining our overall cognitive ability. This fear is not unfounded. Research from our lab suggests the online environment exploits our cognitive tendencies – individual differences in how we think, perceive, pay attention and remember. In turn, some people end up taking more mental shortcuts and only engaging with information superficially. Other studies have linked high AI use to increased laziness, anxiety, lower critical engagement and feelings of dependence. Yet it may be how we use AI that’s the problem, rather than the fact we do it at all. Generally, relying on external sources is fine – we do this constantly. But it’s important to remain in control of what we choose to offload, and why. How do we even know things?We all constantly rely on each other’s knowledge to function as a society. Doctors provide medical information, engineers are in charge of construction, financial advisers give investment tips, and so on. All this spread of expertise provides each of us with more knowledge than we can individually hold. In other words, we constantly balance offloading (letting someone else do the thinking) with scaffolding (relying on external knowledge sources to enrich our own thinking). Scaffolding often happens when we learn. For example, a teacher doesn’t write an essay for their student – instead, they provide feedback so the student can connect, integrate, and grow their knowledge base. Crucially, we also don’t offload all thinking tasks to one specific person. Instead, we carefully consider the person’s trust and expertise before accepting their advice, tools or support. We also check how the new information fits in with what we already know. As our knowledge grows in a certain area, we rely less on outside support, just as a student relies on a teacher until they learn enough to stand on their own. It’s not just our brains doing the workCognition (our thinking skills) is the central concept in all of this. Our minds engage in three fundamental tasks:
Cognition relies on how well these three mental tasks work together. When we’re overwhelmed with information, distributing tasks to outside sources lessens that mental effort. Research shows when our attention is strained, our minds focus more on encoding information while sacrificing storage and retrieval, which are more taxing. Intuitively, it’s easy to assume all our cognition just happens in the brain. But our cognitive processes are sometimes extended to things in the environment. These external sources can be people, physical objects and digital tools. A diary is an extension of your mind if you use it to retrieve memories you’ve written down. However, flippantly offloading your knowledge acquisition and storage to external sources – such as asking ChatGPT any question that pops in your mind – can have an impact on your critical thinking skills. This is because acquired knowledge actively interacts with newly encoded information in our minds: we convert information we come across in a way that makes sense to us. And the more knowledge we hold, the greater our capacity to encode and critically interpret new information. For example, knowledge of Hitler and Mussolini in the context of the second world war helps us to better understand the modern dangers of dictatorship. Hard work can be rewardingTo restore balance, we need to perform the more difficult cognitive tasks ourselves, not just offload them whenever it’s convenient. The faster and easier option isn’t always the best – just like choosing to walk to your friend’s place provides better exercise for your body and mind than driving there does. Sometimes hard work can be rewarding. When faced with using AI tools, you can either choose to control them, or let them control you. One way to balance your relationship with AI tools is to use reflective practices. Ask yourself: how do you feel after using AI? Do you feel proud and satisfied, or do you feel more anxious and more overwhelmed? Have you replaced or scaffolded your cognition today? What tasks can you do to expand your mental capabilities tomorrow? For a successful relationship with AI, we need to exercise all our mental skills – otherwise we really do risk losing them. This may not always be easy, but it remains in our control. Misia Temler, Research Affiliate, Psychology, University of Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
It’s tempting to offload your thinking to AI. Cognitive science shows why that’s a bad idea (2026-04-01T11:58:00+05:30)
Shruti Haasan: I am my home (2026-03-20T12:07:00+05:30)
 (Photo Credit: Shruti Haasan/Instagram) Chennai, (IANS) Actress, singer and musician Shruti Haasan, who has lived and worked across industries and languages, says that she has come to see the idea of home very differently. For her, home is not a pin on the map. It is a deeply personal space she carries within herself. Reflecting on what belonging means to her, Shruti shares, “Home is not geography at all for me, is what I've realized. When I go back to Chennai I feel an ease and I feel a love that is so infinite. In Mumbai, I feel a different kind of love. In Hyderabad, because I work in these industries, I feel a different kind of love.” Having built a career that spans multiple film industries, she says each city has offered her its own warmth. But over time, she has discovered something more profound. “What I've realized is you could probably throw me in the middle of anywhere and if I have to find my comfort, I will. That's my joy in life, it's getting to know people and a place and its culture and finding the thing that I love about it and making it then mine. Home is really where I am," she says. "It's something that's deeply personal and I could be in what is so-called the most comfortable place, including my physical home, and I could be completely discombobulated because I don't feel at home with myself. So that concept of myself, is superior in my brain of that, I am my home and that has given me a great sense of safety and security in navigating anything in life," she adds. Shruti goes on to point out, "To me, home has never been geography. It's never been a person, maybe apart from my dad, who really feels like the physical embodiment of home to me. Nothing's really been more home than me for myself, that might sound a bit self-centered, but it's worked out really well for me.”In a life that constantly takes her across cities, languages and cultures, Shruti Haasan’s idea of home feels deeply personal and quietly powerful, a reminder that true belonging is not about an address on a map, but about feeling at ease within yourself. Shruti Haasan: I am my home | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com |
What is wabi‑sabi? Will this Japanese philosophy make me happy? (2026-03-16T13:08:00+05:30)
Trevor Mazzucchelli, Curtin UniversityThe ceramic bowl with an uneven glaze. The teacup mended with gold lacquer. The images are calming and attractive. They are said to reflect wabi-sabi – a Japanese aesthetic often summarised in the West as valuing imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness. And wabi-sabi is having a moment on social media. It’s linked to everything from interior design to makeup trends and happiness. So can wabi-sabi improve your wellbeing? Here’s what the psychological evidence says. What is wabi-sabi?At its core, wabi-sabi, as it is commonly understood in the West, rests on three simple ideas: things are flawed, things change, and things are never fully finished. There isn’t much scientific research on wabi-sabi itself. You won’t find clinical trials testing the effects of “becoming wabi-sabi”. But the ideas behind wabi-sabi reflect several well-established principles in psychology – responding kindly to imperfection, accepting change, and loosening rigid perfectionism. Imperfection and self-compassionWabi-sabi begins with imperfection. Instead of disguising cracks, it incorporates them. The flaw becomes part of the object’s character, not proof it is worthless. In psychological terms, this resembles self-compassion – responding to your own mistakes or shortcomings with warmth and care, rather than harsh self-criticism. Self-compassion does not pretend errors do not exist. It changes how we relate to them. Research consistently shows people who are more self-compassionate report lower anxiety and depression and greater wellbeing. When interventions help people develop this skill, their mental health often improves. Like the repaired bowl, the person is not defined by the crack. The crack is acknowledged and becomes part of their story. Impermanence and acceptanceWabi-sabi also reminds us nothing lasts. Everything changes. Some of our distress comes not only from change itself, but from insisting things should not change. We want relationships to stay the same. We want our bodies not to age. We want plans to unfold exactly as expected. When reality shifts and we resist it, the struggle intensifies. In psychology, acceptance means allowing thoughts, emotions and changes to occur without constantly trying to push them away or control them. Modern therapies, such as “acceptance and commitment therapy”, teach this skill because resisting unavoidable experiences often intensifies distress. Mindfulness – paying attention to what is happening right now without immediately judging or trying to fix it – is one way people practise acceptance. Seen this way, wabi-sabi’s focus on impermanence is not passive resignation. It reflects a practical insight. When change is unavoidable, reducing the fight against it can reduce suffering. Incompleteness and perfectionismThe third idea in wabi-sabi is incompleteness. Nothing is ever fully finished. This runs counter to a form of perfectionism psychologists call clinical perfectionism. This is not simply wanting to do well. It occurs when people base their self-worth on meeting extremely high standards and respond to falling short with harsh self-criticism. Research links this form of perfectionism with anxiety and depression. Self-compassion may offer a similar shift in perspective. When people respond to setbacks with understanding rather than harsh self-criticism, the psychological cost of imperfection is reduced. Wabi-sabi does not reject effort or aspiration. It questions the belief that you must be flawless before you are acceptable. Imperfection and meaningI recently wrote that meaning does not emerge from perfectly executed life plans. It grows from repeated, worthwhile action, often messy, unfinished and imperfect. Wabi-sabi echoes this. If we wait for flawless conditions before acting, we may wait indefinitely. The project will never feel polished enough. The timing will never seem quite right. But wellbeing is strongly shaped by what we do repeatedly, especially when those actions align with our values. From this perspective, imperfection is not an obstacle to meaning. It is often the setting in which meaning develops. The repaired bowl is still used. The musician keeps playing after a broken string. The parent apologises and tries again. Imperfection and connectionThere is also a social dimension. Research shows vulnerability can strengthen relationships. In other words, when people acknowledge mistakes or limitations, they are often seen as more relatable and trustworthy. Presenting as flawless can create distance. Allowing cracks to be visible can create connection. Wabi-sabi offers a simple image for this. The crack is not hidden. It becomes part of the story. Wabi-sabi has its limitsIt is important not to overstate what wabi-sabi offers. There is no evidence adopting it as a named philosophy guarantees happiness. It is not a treatment for depression. And acceptance does not mean tolerating injustice or giving up on improvement. But at its heart, wabi-sabi questions whether our expectations have become too polished. It asks whether some of our expectations – of our bodies, our productivity, our relationships – have become so polished they leave no room for being human. How can I use it?Wabi-sabi may not offer something entirely new. But it captures, in a single image, several psychological skills research suggests can help people live well. It invites us to:
Wabi-sabi is not a shortcut to happiness. But as both an image and a practice, it reflects a grounded psychological idea. Wellbeing is less about erasing the cracks, and more about continuing to live, act and connect with them visible. Trevor Mazzucchelli, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Curtin University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
S. Korea becomes 1st nation to enact comprehensive law on safe AI usage (2026-03-03T12:52:00+05:30)
 IANS Photo Seoul, (IANS): South Korea on Thursday formally enacted a comprehensive law governing the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) models, becoming the first country globally in doing so, establishing a regulatory framework against misinformation and other hazardous effects involving the emerging field. The Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness, or the AI Basic Act, officially took effect Thursday, according to the science ministry, reports Yonhap news agency. It marked the first governmental adoption of comprehensive guidelines on the use of AI globally. The act centres on requiring companies and AI developers to take greater responsibility for addressing deepfake content and misinformation that can be generated by AI models, granting the government the authority to impose fines or launch probes into violations. In detail, the act introduces the concept of "high-risk AI," referring to AI models used to generate content that can significantly affect users' daily lives or their safety, including applications in the employment process, loan reviews and medical advice. Entities harnessing such high-risk AI models are required to inform users that their services are based on AI and are responsible for ensuring safety. Content generated by AI models is required to carry watermarks indicating its AI-generated nature. "Applying watermarks to AI-generated content is the minimum safeguard to prevent side effects from the abuse of AI technology, such as deepfake content," a ministry official said. Global companies offering AI services in South Korea meeting any of the following criteria -- global annual revenue of 1 trillion won ($681 million) or more, domestic sales of 10 billion won or higher, or at least 1 million daily users in the country -- are required to designate a local representative. Currently, OpenAI and Google fall under the criteria. Violations of the act may be subject to fines of up to 30 million won, and the government plans to enforce a one-year grace period in imposing penalties to help the private sector adjust to the new rules.The act also includes measures for the government to promote the AI industry, with the science minister required to present a policy blueprint every three years. S. Korea becomes 1st nation to enact comprehensive law on safe AI usage | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com |
Counting on Fingers Really Helps Kids Improve Their Math Skills–By 40% New Study Shows (2026-02-26T11:37:00+05:30)
 By Yan Krukau via Public Domain on Pexels22-08-2025, Some teachers consider finger counting a signal that youngsters are struggling with math, while others associate its use as advanced numerical knowledge. Now, new research is the first to show that children’s performance in arithmetic can show a “huge” improvement through the teaching of a finger-counting method. Swiss and French teams explored whether finger counting can help primary-school-aged children to solve math problems. They said adults rarely use their fingers to calculate a small sum, because such behavior could be attributed to cognitive impairments or “pathological difficulties” in math. But young children under age 8 who use their fingers to solve such problems may be seen as intelligent, probably because they have already reached a level that allows them to understand that a quantity can be represented by different means. The research aimed to determine whether children who don’t count on their fingers can be trained to do so, and whether such training would result in enhanced arithmetic performance. The study, published in the journal Child Development, focused on 328 five- and six-year-old children at kindergarten, mainly living in France, and tested their abilities to solve simple addition problems. The kindergarteners were recruited through their teachers, who voluntarily took part in the experiment, which included a pre-test, training held over two weeks, a post-test closely after the training’s end, and a delayed post-test. The results showed an “important increase” in performance between pre- and post-test for the trained children who did not count on their fingers originally—from 37% to 77% of correct responses—compared to non-finger users in the control group. Whether children who use finger counting are using it as an arithmetic procedure or understand something deeper about numbers will still need to be determined with future research. “Our findings are highly valuable because, for the first time, we provide a concrete answer to the long-standing question of whether teachers should explicitly teach children to use their fingers for solving addition problems,” said study leader Dr. Catherine Thevenot. “Finger calculation training is effective for over 75% of kindergartners,” she added. “The next step is to explore how we can support the remaining 25% of children who didn’t respond as well to the intervention.” Dr. Thevenot, of the Institute of Psychology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, says the study came about as a result of conversations with primary school teachers. “They often asked me whether they should encourage or discourage children from using their fingers to solve calculations. “Surprisingly, the existing research didn’t offer a clear answer, which left teachers understandably frustrated with my frequent response of ‘I don’t know.’ “This recurring question, coupled with the lack of concrete evidence, inspired me to investigate the issue myself. “When I first saw the results, I was amazed by the huge improvement in performance among children who didn’t initially use their fingers to solve the problems. “Before our intervention, these children were only able to solve about one-third of the addition problems during a pre-test. After training, however, they were solving over three-quarters of them. “This improvement truly exceeded my expectations,” said Dr. Thevenot. “The difference was striking, especially compared to the control groups, where gains were insignificant. “An important question now is to determine whether what we taught to children goes beyond a mere procedure to solve the problems. “In other words, we want to know whether our intervention led to a deeper conceptual understanding of numbers, specifically whether children better grasp how to manipulate the quantities represented by their fingers. “In fact, we have already started addressing this question and the initial results are very promising. However, we still need to carry out additional experiments to confirm that these improvements are indeed a direct result of our training program.” Counting on Fingers Really Helps Kids Improve Their Math Skills–By 40% New Study Shows |
Back to school: what are the money lessons to teach your kids at every age? (2026-02-20T12:16:00+05:30)
Angel Zhong, RMIT UniversityAs parents prepare for another school year, there’s one subject that often gets overlooked: money. Financial literacy isn’t just about numbers. It’s about building skills that will shape your child’s future decisions, from buying their first car to planning for retirement. The good news? You don’t need to be a finance expert to teach these lessons. Start with age-appropriate concepts and build from there. Here’s what to focus on at each stage. Primary school (ages 6–12): Making money realYoung children understand money better when they can see it and touch it. This is the perfect time to introduce pocket money – a regular allowance that teaches them money doesn’t appear magically. And once it’s gone, it’s gone. Start small. Five dollars a week gives a seven-year-old enough to make choices without overwhelming them. Should they buy that chocolate bar now, or save for three weeks to get the Lego set they really want? Use clear jars or piggy banks so kids can literally watch their money grow. It makes saving visible and satisfying. Some families use a three-jar system: spending, saving, and sharing (for charity or gifts). This introduces the idea that money serves multiple purposes. Let them make small mistakes too. If your eight-year-old blows their entire allowance on stickers and regrets it by Wednesday, that’s a five-dollar lesson that could save them thousands later. Secondary school (ages 12–18): Real-world money managementTeenagers are ready for more complex financial concepts. This is when you shift from teaching about money to teaching with money. Open a bank account together. Walk them through how banks work. Tell them that banks are not just storing money, they’re businesses that pay you interest to keep your money there and charge interest when you borrow. Explain that the interest you earn on savings is usually tiny, while the interest you pay on debts is much higher. Introduce the concept of debit cards, but explain how they differ from credit. A debit card only spends money you already have. This is a good time to show them how to check their account balance and track spending through banking apps. Talk about wants versus needs. Your teenager needs school shoes. They want the $200 branded pair. This isn’t about saying no. It’s about showing them trade-offs. “If you want those shoes, you’ll need to contribute $100 from your savings. Are they worth it?” If your teenager gets a part-time job, teach them to check they’re being paid correctly. The Fair Work Ombudsman website has easy tools to calculate award rates, the minimum pay rates set for different industries and age groups. A 16-year-old working in retail should know what they’re entitled to earn. This is also the time to introduce the concept of paying yourself first. When money comes in, savings come out first. Even putting aside 10% teaches the habit of treating savings as non-negotiable – it’s not whatever is left over. Young adults entering work face a new financial landscape. They’re earning more, but expenses grow too, such as transport, social life, and maybe rent. Start with superannuation. This is money an employer must put aside for an employee’s retirement. It may seem irrelevant when your child is 18, but a young person who understands super early has a massive advantage. Here’s why: compound growth. Money invested at 18 has 40+ years to grow. Even small amounts become significant. If you put an extra $20 a week into super from age 18, you could have at least an extra $300,000 by retirement, thanks to compound returns. That’s the snowball effect, when the investment gains on your contributions start earning returns as well. Introduce investing apps, but with caution. Digital investing apps such as CommSec Pocket and Stake make investing accessible with small amounts. They let young people buy into diversified funds, which are collections of many different investments, rather than trying to pick individual shares. Explain the fundamental trade-off: higher potential returns come with higher risk. Shares can grow more than savings accounts, but they can also fall in value quickly. Teach them about the share market without jargon. When you buy shares, you own a tiny piece of a company. If the company does well, your share becomes more valuable. If it doesn’t, your share can lose value. Diversification – spreading money across many companies – reduces the risk of losing everything if one company fails. The lessons that matter mostFinancial education isn’t really just about money. It’s about decision-making, delayed gratification, and understanding that every choice has trade-offs. It’s a life skill you build over time, one conversation and one decision at a time. The most valuable lesson you can teach at any age? Money is a tool, not a goal. It gives you choices and security. Teaching your children to use that tool wisely is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Start these conversations early. Make them normal. And remember, you’re teaching as much by how you handle money as by what you say about it. Children notice when you compare prices, when you talk about saving for holidays, when you decide something isn’t worth the price. Angel Zhong, Professor of Finance, RMIT University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
‘The Social Garden’ in Mokokchung promises refined fine dining experience (2026-02-16T13:26:00+05:30)
 The Social Garden, a new fine dining restaurant, officially opens its doors at Aongza Ward, Mokokchung on February 11. (Morung Photo) A new fine dining destination, The Social Garden, was officially inaugurated on at Aongza Ward, housed in the Delhivery building adjacent to the Imkongmeren Sports Complex, Mokokchung on February 11. The restaurant was founded by two 27-year-old entrepreneurs, Ongjena and Chiben Jamir, who have been friends since their school days. While Ongjena is an interior designer by profession, Chiben is a civil engineer currently preparing for competitive examinations. The Social Garden serves Asian and continental cuisines and features both indoor and outdoor seating arrangements, accommodating approximately 50–55 guests. It also houses a private lounge for more intimate gatherings. The space, conceptualized and designed by Ongjena herself, reflects a Scandinavian-inspired interior, while the outdoor area has been curated in a garden-style setting. Sharing the concept and vision behind the venture, Ongjena revealed that the initial plan was to open a simple café. However, after conducting thorough research and studying the local market, they identified “an urgent need for a proper fine dining restaurant in Mokokchung.” “So we conducted our research, developed a concept, and worked tirelessly to bring the vision to life. And this project is not just for us, but for the people of Mokokchung, for our community. This is like a way of giving back to the community, by providing refined experience through exceptional food and thoughtful interior design,” she stated. She expressed gratitude to Almighty God for His guidance and thanked their friends and family for their unwavering support and sacrifices throughout the journey. ‘Only creativity can survive’ The ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by Wapang Kichu, Councillor of Mokokchung Municipal Council (MMC), who congratulated the young entrepreneurs and described the restaurant as “one of a kind in Mokokchung.” He noted that Mokokchung is a small town with a limited population and emphasised that “only with creativity we can survive to run a business.” Drawing from his own experience, he cautioned that business ventures are not always smooth. “In business, it is not always up; it goes down as well. You have to prepare for the worst and also not to take success for granted,” he advised. He further stressed the importance of maintaining quality and consistency, particularly in food service, and commended the founders for establishing “a beautiful restaurant in a great location.” The dedicatory prayer was led by Imnakumzuk Jamir, Associate Pastor (Youth), Kumlong Baptist Church, seeking blessings for the new establishment and its journey ahead.   |
Conceptual design completed for Japan's FAST fusion demo project (2026-02-11T11:54:00+05:30)
 (Image: Kyoto Fusioneering)The Conceptual Design Report has been put together in the year since the project's launch in November 2024, and involved the two companies and researchers and experts from a number of Japanese universities and public institutions, as well as support from a number of other Japanese companies. The Fusion by Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (FAST) device, to be sited in Japan, aims to generate and sustain a plasma of deuterium-tritium (D-T) reactions, demonstrating an integrated fusion energy system that combines energy conversion including electricity generation and fuel technologies. The project will employ a tokamak configuration, chosen for its well-established data and scalability. Targeting a power generation demonstration by the end of the 2030s, FAST will address remaining technical challenges en route to commercial fusion power plants. The FAST Project Office notes that power generation refers to producing energy from fusion reactions, but does not imply net positive power production where electricity output exceeds electricity consumption. The project team said the conceptual design work involved "designing the fusion energy plant for power generation demonstration, assessing technical and engineering feasibility, clarifying the project direction, conducting safety and economic evaluations, and defining the plant's fundamental design specifications". "With the completion of the conceptual design phase, the project will now shift to engineering design, accelerated engineering R&D, and will proceed with site selection, site preparation, regulatory approvals, and the procurement of long-lead items, with the aim of construction after 2028," it said. Kiyoshi Seko, CEO of Starlight Engine Ltd and President and COO of Kyoto Fusioneering Ltd, said: "Completing the conceptual design in just one year is a result of Japan's decades of research achievement. FAST is now moving into the engineering design phase. We will harness the strength of Japan's manufacturing industry and accelerate the project with a sense of urgency." Satoshi Konishi, co-founder and CEO of Kyoto Fusioneering, said: "First and foremost, it's a great achievement to complete the conceptual design activities within the planned one-year timeframe. We succeeded in creating an innovative design that incorporates new technologies essential for commercial plants, such as high-temperature superconducting magnets, liquid breeding blanket systems, and highly efficient tritium fuel cycle systems, by mobilising domestic experts. Preparations for safety design, regulatory approvals, and site selection are steadily progressing. In the next engineering design phase we expect to fully leverage our strengths in plant engineering and our broad network across diverse industries, including finance and construction." Kenzo Ibano, Assistant Professor, Osaka University, said: "Thanks to the power of industry-academia collaboration, we have successfully produced Japan’s first CDR for a power generation demonstration project. Working alongside researchers with decades of experience and private-sector partners in driving this project forward is both stimulating and rewarding, giving a strong sense of mission." The Conceptual Design Report is due to be presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research being held from 1 December.Other academics and businesses participating in and supporting the FAST project include Professor Akira Ejiri, University of Tokyo and Professor Takaaki Fujita, Nagoya University, as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Electric Power Development (J-Power), JGC JAPAN Corporation, Hitachi, Fujikura, Furukawa Electric, Marubeni Corporation, Kajima Corporation, Kyocera, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui Fudosan, and Mitsubishi Corporation. Conceptual design completed for Japan's FAST fusion demo project |
The Concept of Saving Money (2026-01-01T13:33:00+05:30)
 Motsuthung Yanthan: The term "money" is what we always use in association with politics and corruption in Nagaland. But today we will be discussing about it purely on economic perspective in this article. According to general observation, handling of money in most Naga households revolves only around keeping it in savings accounts or inside the steel almirah or using it as a medium of exchange- which is what money is for- to buy consumer and "eventual-perishable" goods. This is normal for the majority of us. Now, our spending habit, which is a major topic of discussion in itself, is not the matter of concern today. Today, it's about our savings. Whether it's for weddings, child education, retirement or vacation, we are always saving money. We save money with the intention of keeping it for later use. But are we really keeping it? If my grandfather kept Rs 50,000 in 1970 in order to build a massive house today, could he have built it? He could've then, but not today. This is what we call inflation. As a result of inflation, the value of money is always decreasing, and more so for an idle one. In India, the inflation rate fluctuates at around 5-7% which means the cost of products are increasing at that rate, and it also means the value of money is decreasing at that percentage. That's right. The money that you are saving is depreciating by 6-7% each year. The most that our dearly beloved SBI bank gives its savings account holders is not even 3%. Meaning that your money in savings account is still depreciating by 3-4% each year. The next best option is Fixed Deposits account. It has it's disadvantages. But the most it gives is also about 5-6%, which is relatively better yet is still below or about the line of depreciating your hard earned money. The impact of these depreciations are not felt immediately. But 30 years or 40 years down the line, if your bare savings of say Rs 50 lakhs can't make you your dream house, you can only regret. Now, inflation is not the one to be blamed here. In fact, inflation is inevitable and a certain amount of it is also needed to keep the economy running. RBI announced that 4% (+/- 2%) is ideal for India. While most developed countries keep it at 2-3%. So, the question is not how to suppress it but how to get one up in the game of keeping your money. And the answer is to let your money multiply itself. There are several ways to do it and it's all up to each person how to do it. In general it is called "investment". And in particular, some of them are stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate, mutual funds, loans, etc. Most Nagas, especially the elders, are reserved on these subjects. And they are not wrong. The money you earned came with the price of your labour. Likewise, the money that is to be multiplied comes with the price of a risk of partially losing it. But everything is a give-and-take in this world. If what you give in investment is your knowledge and time, the risk of giving your money is reduced. By investing your money somewhere you have confidence on, you can keep the principal amount and make it churn out profits, which we here call it multiplying. Even within the realm of investments, there are risk intensities depending on a person's expectations of return. For example, giving out loan to someone in Nagaland, which is a whopping 8-10% of interest returns per month, is highly profitable yet highly risky. And in real estate sector, renting out houses demands high investment cost and slow returns, yet has minimal risk. Likewise, even in stock market, a retail investor carries more risk and high rate of return compared to the one investing through mutual funds, even if they are both trading on equity.The word "risk" is what we don't play with in Nagaland. Whereas, there are billions out there that have already stepped in the field. While it is entirely up to an individual whether to step into smart investment or not, I'm just here to point out that the money you are saving is being lost one rupee after another. The point of true saving is only when the inevitable depreciation is balanced by a calculated multiplication. The Concept of Saving Money | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com |
Gas-powered muscle cars drive into the sunset & turns electric (2026-01-01T13:33:00+05:30)
 Tim Kuniskis, head of Dodge Brand talks about the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT concept that was unveiled, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, in Pontiac, Mich. (AP Photo) Tom Krisher, The Associated Press: Thundering gas-powered muscle cars, for decades a fixture of American culture, will be closing in on their final Saturday-night cruises in the coming years as automakers begin replacing them with super-fast cars that run on batteries. Stellantis’ Dodge brand, long the performance flag-bearer of the company formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, is officially moving toward electricity. On Wednesday night, Dodge unveiled a battery-powered Charger Daytona SRT concept car, which is close to one that will be produced in 2024 as the sun sets on some petroleum models. Stellantis says it will stop making gasoline versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger muscle cars and the Chrysler 300 large car by the end of next year. The Canadian factory that makes them will be converted to electric vehicles. Other automakers are moving — or have moved — in the same direction. General Motors has said it will build an all-electric Chevrolet Corvette. Tesla says its Model S Plaid version is the fastest production vehicle made, able to go from zero to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour) in under 2 seconds. Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and other European automakers already have high-performance electric models on sale. And Polestar, an electric-performance spinoff from Volvo, just announced a new Polestar 6 roadster for 2026. One reason for the industry shift is that electric vehicles are simply faster off the starting line. Their handling is typically better, too, because their heavy batteries create a low center of gravity. Stricter government pollution requirements are another factor, too. As automakers in the U.S. face more stringent fuel-economy requirements adopted by the Biden administration and produce a broader range of EV vehicles, they will have to jettison some of their gas-fueled muscle-car models. Tim Kuniskis, CEO of the Dodge brand, said the possibly of government fines for not meeting gas-mileage requirements hastened the shift to the electric Charger. “Compliance fines and things like that associated with a big cast-iron supercharged V8, yes, it’s tough,” he said. Still, it will take a few years for the gas-powered classics to go away. “Over the next several years, I think we’ll continue to have some internal combustion stuff, probably through most of the decade,” said Sam Abuelsamid, a research analyst at Guidehouse Insights. “But increasingly, the focus is going to be on the electric ones.” Under new gas-mileage standards that were unveiled in April, the fleet of new vehicles will have to average around 40 miles per gallon in 2026, up from 25.4 mpg now, the EPA says. The standards are likely to become even stronger in the future, a trend that will compel U.S.-based automakers to shed some gasoline muscle cars if they are to avoid fines. Of all major automakers, the EPA says, Stellantis had the lowest average fuel economy — 21.3 miles per gallon — and the highest average carbon dioxide emissions. So the company likely will have to eliminate some models to avoid fines. Its limited-edition Charger SRT Widebody, with a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat V-8, for instance, gets only 12 mpg in city driving and 21 mpg on the highway. To many gearheads, the thought of a muscle car without noise and smells is heresy. But Kuniskis says Dodge is working hard to make the electric experience match internal combustion. The Charger, he said, will generate its own air flow to make an exhaust noise that rivals gas performance cars. And the transmission will shift gears. When the electric Charger was driven through a garage door and entered a building Wednesday night at a racetrack in Pontiac, Michigan, it roared just like a gas muscle car. Electric vehicles, Kuniskis said, have the potential to perform better than gas muscle cars with fast acceleration. But he said they are kind of sterile. “It doesn’t have the emotion. It doesn’t have the drama. It doesn’t have the kind of dangerous feeling that ICE (an internal combustion engine) has when it’s loud and rumbling and shifting and moving the car around.” Kuniskis wouldn’t say how fast the electric Charger will go from zero to 60 mph, but said it would be faster than the company’s current petroleum performance cars. He also wouldn’t say the range-per-charge for the new Challenger, but added that range isn’t as important as making it a true muscle car. Rick Nelson, the owner of Musclecar Restoration & Design in Pleasant Plains, Illinois, near Springfield, cautioned that switching from loud fuel-burning engines to quiet electricity may be a hard sell to old-timers who grew up with the sounds and smells of racing. Nelson, 61, said he restored his first car while a teenager and spent hours at drag strips. He acknowledged that the switch to electricity is inevitable and is needed to attract a new generation that has become used to quiet speed. Still, he said, electric muscle cars won’t have manual shifters, and he’ll miss the smell of racing fuel at the track. Already, Nelson said, businesses are cropping up to put electric powertrains in classic muscle cars. He has been in touch with an engineer at Tesla about retrofitting batteries and electric motors into some classics.“Guys like me are just going to frown on it and laugh at it,” Nelson said of electric muscle cars. “But this isn’t about my generation.”Kuniskis says the shift to electricity doesn’t mean the end of the muscle car. It’s just a new era. “It’ s OK,” he said. “Let us show you what the future looks like.” Gas-powered muscle cars drive into the sunset & turns electric | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com |
Why thinking beyond money is vital for solving the poverty puzzle (2025-12-22T13:03:00+05:30)
L. Jamila Haider, Stockholm University and Steven J Lade, Stockholm UniversityAccording to the OECD, development aid recently reached a new peak of $US142.6 billion a year. But international assistance that aims to alleviate poverty can have undesirable, and often unintended consequences on both nature and culture. And how to alleviate poverty without degrading the environment and cultural values remains a significant global challenge. Trapped in our thinkingIn a new review paper in the journal Science Advances, we call into question a cornerstone of development aid: the “poverty trap” and its “big push” solution. The poverty trap is a concept widely used to describe situations in which poverty persists under a certain asset threshold through self-maintaining mechanisms. In other words, it’s the vicious cycle of poverty, where the poor get poorer because they cannot accumulate savings or have enough energy to work. The term, which was used by both Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Collier in 2005 to describe households or countries stuck in low-levels of economic well-being, was central to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The “big push” – one of the earliest theories of development economics – is a still-popular one-size-fits-all approach to alleviating poverty at community and household levels, despite its known limitations. The basic idea of this theory is that it takes a big coordinated push of investment to allow economies to take off beyond a critical point (as defined by the poverty trap). The two concepts, as you can see, go hand in hand. But there’s an issue: though the poverty trap is a prominent way to conceptualise persistent poverty, its strictly economic view of poverty has thus far ignored the roles of nature and culture. With 78% of the world’s poorest people living in rural areas, development aid is often targeted at financial and technological farming solutions. Development agencies encourage farmers to grow single cash crops, or monocultures, such as genetically modified cotton in India, that they can sell to rise out of poverty. This strategy has had mixed results and, in some cases, serious ecological and social consequences that can reinforce poverty. Modelling alleviation strategiesIn our paper, we provide a way to extend poverty-trap thinking to more fully include the links between financial well-being, nature and culture. Our new approach identifies three types of solutions to alleviate poverty. The first is the so-called standard “big push”, to tip countries “over the barrier” so they have better-functioning economies. The second is to lower the barrier. And this could include everything from training farmers to changing behaviour and practices. These two classifications form the backbone of current aid strategies. But we introduce a third classification, which we call transforming the system, with the goal of rethinking the traditional intervention strategy. Using theoretical multi-dimensional models of different relationships between poverty and the environment at the household or community levels, we tested the effectiveness of these poverty alleviation strategies. For example, a popular and empirically supported narrative is that poor people degrade their environment, but less well-known empirical evidence shows how poor people do not disproportionately deteriorate the environment. They are often stewards of nature and create and maintain features such as agricultural biodiversity. Take for example, the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which are characterised by high biological and cultural (aka biocultural) diversity. In a context like this, people may be poor in monetary terms but care for an incredible diversity of agricultural crops with their rich ecological knowledge and cultural practices. And the diversity of traditional seeds may, in turn, help make them resilient at a regional level to shocks. In such places, the conventional push “over the barrier” to increase food production (through improved seeds or fertilisers) may risk losing biodiversity or traditional knowledge. Our models show how a transformation strategy in which endogenous actions change the status quo could in some contexts alleviate poverty without serious consequences for nature and culture. This possibility creates space for currently underrepresented narratives of development, such as agro-ecology or food sovereignty. Transformative changeThe results of the models show that conventional development interventions that ignore nature and culture can reinforce poverty; transformative change may be necessary in those contexts; and asset inputs may be effective in others. These results are synthesised in the “poverty cube”, which shows how we brought together the multi-dimensionality of poverty, different intervention pathways and diverse contexts. Our approach to poverty traps may be useful for people in the development field to think through the implications of diverse development trajectories. Prior to our multi-dimensional poverty cube, poverty-trap models usually considered only the monetary dimension of being poor. Now, development actors can more easily envisage the consequences of different alleviation strategies on not just economic well-being but also on nature and culture – and how they interact. The framework we developed may be useful for categorising interventions and their consequences on nature and culture across different sectors. An interdisciplinary endeavourThe paper emerged from a number of years of collaboration between a theoretical physicist, sustainability scientists, and an economist. It involved a highly interdisciplinary research approach. The importance of biophysical and cultural settings for poverty alleviation has long been understood. But interventions continue to be designed based on the poverty trap, a concept that usually neglects these factors. Our poverty cube could help donor agencies better integrate poverty, environment and culture in their thinking and development planning. Integrating these factors will be a major challenge for the Sustainable Development Goals. What we need to do next is dig deeper into understanding how this type of dynamic multidimensional modelling can be used in place-based studies aimed at communities. L. Jamila Haider, PhD candidate, Sustainability Science , Stockholm University and Steven J Lade, Researcher in resilience of social-ecological systems, Stockholm University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Leave notes, play games, go shopping: how to boost your child’s multilingual skills these holidays (2025-12-19T11:29:00+05:30)
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Julie Choi, The University of Melbourne: About 5.7 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. Most multilingual children spend their school days speaking English and during term-time, home languages often take a back seat. So holidays – particularly the long summer break – offer a chance to hear and speak their heritage languages more often.
Research shows home languages matter for identity, belonging and cultural connection. With relaxed routines and extra time, families can use low-stress, creative methods to strengthen heritage-language use and build confidence. Here are five practical, research-informed tips to help families make the most of this holiday time. 1. Aim for short sessions or momentsResearch shows small, meaningful exchanges can be more effective than long, formal sessions. So schedule short bursts of home-language use. For example, a ten-minute chat over breakfast, a board game in the home language, or a quick WhatsApp call with grandparents. These moments fit easily into daily routines and don’t feel like lessons. Frequent, low-pressure interactions build confidence and keep the language active in children’s minds. 2. Use artistic, creative playTry making books, scrapbooks, comics, or holiday memory books together. Children can draw, write captions and tell stories in their home language. Creative activities make language use enjoyable and purposeful. Studies show artistic approaches give children more confidence across languages. One Vietnamese parent in research I conducted with colleagues reflected:
This shift happened after a bookmaking project that connected family stories to public events. 3. Make the home language visibleLabel household items, display bilingual books, leave short notes, or record voice messages for family members. These small actions weave the language into everyday spaces. Visibility doesn’t just signal the language is valued, it normalises its presence. When children see and hear the home language in ordinary contexts, it feels natural rather than “special” or “extra”. This environmental support encourages spontaneous use and reinforces the idea that multiple languages belong in daily life. 4. Be flexibleChildren may want to switch languages mid-sentence. This is not a problem! Mixing languages is natural and helps children draw on all their linguistic resources to make meaning. Research shows mixing languages (also called “translanguaging”) supports learning and identity. Making meaning and communicating matters more than perfect grammar. 5. Involve other sensesIf you are at the shops or market, invite children to touch, smell, and taste unfamiliar foods. Ask simple questions in the home language: “How does it look? Do you like it?” Language learning isn’t just about words, it’s about experiences. Engaging multiple senses also makes language meaningful and memorable. As one parent in research I conducted with colleagues explained:
You can also play music or watch movies/TV in your home language. Research shows students who regularly watch foreign-language TV programmes outside school perform better at reading, listening and vocabulary in that language. This makes entertainment a powerful and enjoyable pathway to language maintenance. These approaches can work for all kids from all backgroundsIt’s not just home languages that matter. Children today often show interest in languages beyond their family backgrounds – such as Japanese, Korean, Spanish or Auslan. Supporting this curiosity can open new windows to culture, creativity and global perspectives. Parents can encourage exploration through music, games, apps, or community events. This helps children see languages as tools for engaging with difference and understanding the world. Julie Choi, Senior lecturer in Education (Additional Languages), The University of Melbourne This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
