Sunday Morning

Victoria University Professor of Psychology, Dr Marc Wilson is back to guide us though the psychology that's been making the headlines lately From Lotto Wins to loneliness and if your grip strength is indicative of anxiety or depression.

Two pretty ubiquitous tasks in modern life haven't changed much with the advent of technology - ironing clothes and making a cup of tea. Are there ways to speed up these processes? An Australian cleaning expert has claimed that they have a simple hack which means you'll never have to iron again. Chemistry Professor Dr Allan Blackman from Auckland University of Technology s been experimenting in the lab. (Actually, his home!)

It's not often we highlight a Tiktok account on the Sunday Morning show, but this one's different. Rosie Grant is a university researcher based in Los Angeles who has a couple of hundred thousand followers on the platform. She makes and bakes recipes that she finds on gravestones in cemeteries and graveyards. Most of the recipes are by women and almost all of them are deserts and sweet treats. Rosie joins us to talk about how she got started and why she loves this particular form of remembrance.

Often our guests calling home have moved between countries, but this week we're talking to a New Zealander with no fixed abode. Meg Prendergast is a tour manager with Contiki Tours and travels all over Europe. She's currently in the United Kingdom.

100 days to go; unknown Luxon; Listener goes online and brings back NZ's longest lasting columnist; confusing news on the economy.

Solar Maximum may be on its way sooner than we thought. The Sun is quickly approaching a major peak in solar activity, and some scientists think that peak could be early by as much as 2 years bringing the timeline towards the end of this year. One of the tell-tale signs is X-class solar flares being on the rise, and one of them has apparently already scored a direct hit on Earth and this past week another one caused a radio blackout for 30 minutes in the Pacific Ocean and the western United States, according to NASA. Otago University's Professor of Physics, Dr Craig Rodger joins us with the details.

The earlier that children start reading for enjoyment, the better it is for their verbal learning, memory, and speech development. A Cambridge University study has found a strong link between reading for pleasure at a young age and school performance later. They're also less stressed, they behave better, they spend less time on screens, and they sleep more soundly. The research used a large database of young people in the United States. One of the report's authors, neuropsychologist Dr Barbara Sahakian is a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.

At McGill University's Earth System Dynamics Laboratory in Montreal, Canada, a team has found out how the average person spends each 24 hours. The researchers used a variety of methods including time surveys and labour force surveys conducted in countries like NZ to get an overview of our life experience, our societies and our personal wellbeing. William Fajzel was the lead author of this study.

At McGill University's Earth System Dynamics Laboratory in Montreal, Canada, a team has found out how the average person spends each 24 hours.

We know we carry AI in our pockets every day, as people are fond of saying. Author Martin Ford says we're about to see the importance of an invention that's on a par with electricity in terms of its coming effects on our lives.