The Conversation

Whether playing video games has negative effects is something that has been debated for 30 years, in much the same way that rock and roll, television, and even the novel faced much the same criticisms in their time.Purported negative effects such as addiction, increased aggression, and various health consequences such as obesity and repetitive strain injuries tend to get far more media coverage than the positives. I know from my own research examining both sides that my papers on video game addiction receive far more publicity than my research into the social benefits of, for example, playing online role-playing games.

Instead of dying out, Anti-Semitic myths have withstood the test of time.By Asa Simon Mittman, California State University, Chico

When is a cat not a cat? Biodiversity Heritage Library (adapted), CC BYBy Ben Holt, Imperial College London and Knud Andreas Jønsson, Imperial College London

Different people behave in different ways behind the wheel of a car. Flickr/Nuno Sousa, CC BY-NC-NDBy Vanessa Beanland, Australian National University and Martin Sellbom, Australian National University

Blaming 'Jordan syndrome' doesn't really cut it. British celebrity Katie Price (R) on the red carpet before the start of the Vienna State Opera Ball in Vienna, Austria, 11 February 2010. Robert Jaeger/EPABy Jacqueline Sanchez Taylor, University of Leicester

Sharon Stone, in Basic Instinct, dramatized the catastrophic actions of a clever yet unhinged woman. EPA/ Peter FoleyBy Suzie GibsonMental illness and women’s sexuality are frequently aligned – on screen and off. The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, pathologized women’s sexuality. Indeed, his definition of a woman as someone lacking a penis has underwritten depictions of women’s sexuality.Countless novels, films and TV programs continually pathologize women through and because of their sexuality.

10 Earths could be laid across the diameter of the gigantic sunspot in AR2191 during its previous rotation, captured on October 23, 2014. NASA’s Solar Dynamic ObservatoryBy Paul Cally, Monash UniversityThe largest sunspot seen in 24 years is rotating back to face the Earth, and it looks to have grown even bigger.

Rosetta: Firing harpoons in space. ESA/ATG medialabBy Alan Fitzsimmons, Queen's University BelfastThe first attempted landing on the surface of a comet is a huge landmark in the history of space exploration that will not only uncover further details about comets but could unlock further clues about the origins of our solar system and the development of life on Earth.

I'll have a clean cage with a side of fertility issues. Mouse image via www.shutterstock.comBy Anne-Marie Hodge, University of Wyoming

Neigh problem with injections. ShutterstockBy Adele Williams, University of SurreyPicture this. Your prize horse needs a vaccination. Who should turn up to deliver this but a veterinary graduate of ten years, specialist in equine internal medicine and teacher to veterinary undergraduates. Today is your lucky day! Or not.“I specifically requested one of the male vets, but it is just a vaccination so I do hope you’ll be able to do that …”

Black holes aren’t black. Warner Bros.By Alasdair Richmond, University of EdinburghNote: this article has spoilers.In Interstellar’s near-ish future, our climate has failed catastrophically, crops die in vast blights and America is a barely-habitable dustbowl. Little education beyond farming methods is tolerated and students are taught that the Apollo landings were Cold War propaganda hoaxes.

Proof of life beyond earth is coming. Stargazing image via ShutterstockBy David A. Weintraub, Vanderbilt University