human-interest

Love, audibility

Whether they are a man or a woman, the best way to find out if the object of your crush returns your affections is probably just to talk to them.

But in judging whether there's a spark between you, what they are saying may not be as important as how they say it.

Dr Marina Kalashnikova, a speech and language researcher at the University of Western Sydney, said research had shown people's voices "carry a lot of information" about their feelings towards the person they're conversing with.

What sort of future are we creating?

The photo is one of the finalist images selected for the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, now in its 53rd year.

After the announcement, expedition leader and underwater photographer Justin Hofman shared the photo on Instagram, saying he wished it "did not exist".

"Now that it does, I want everyone to see it," he wrote.

Actress with dwarfism making a change

No matter how witty they think their little insult is going to be, I've heard it before."

Born with a rare form of dwarfism, Kiruna has spent her life dealing with discrimination and abuse.

But through a combination of talent, luck and unflagging self-belief, she has forged an impressive career on stage and screen, here and in Britain.

"She has always been aware that she was different from other people," her mother, Kerry, said.

"In a way that's been liberating because when you're different you don't necessarily have to follow the road map."

Princess Diana's 'traditional' memorial raises eyebrows

Chesterfield Borough Council last weekend launched a "well dressing" with a blessing service that marks the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana's death in a Paris car crash.

A well dressing involves using only natural materials, including seeds, berries, leaves and flowers to make a mural.

Ms: The honorific with unintended meaning

And it may not be a meaning that applies to you or any way related to why you choose to be a Ms.

Ms has attracted such a range of meaning that even the editor of the Macquarie Dictionary, Sue Butler, feels that it may be time to update its entry.

Ms is older than you think

The honorific title for a woman — which, like its male equivalent Mr, was meant to give no clue as to an individual's marital status — has been traced back to the early 20th century.

How a Melbourne man opened China's only comedy club

Melbourne-born comedian Andy Curtain started producing comedy shows in bars across China in 2010, and opened Shanghai venue Kung Fu Komedy in 2015.

Comedians such as Chizi, Dandan and Drew Fralick — familiar faces on Chinese television — cut their teeth at shows put on by Curtain and his colleagues.

There were two distinct stand-up scenes in China, Curtain told ABC Radio Melbourne's Jacinta Parsons and Sami Shah.

"There's the English scene and the Chinese scene, and we kind of started both."

From the Cape to the catwalk: Sharing Indigenous culture through fashion

The first is just days away at the prestigious Melbourne Fashion Week.

They will then go on to represent Australia at the World Indigenous Fashion Week in the Seychelles in October.

Designer Christy Van Der Hayden said they hoped to share the stories of Indigenous culture with the rest of the world.

"I think it's an important time for Indigenous cultures in general to have recognition in their artworks and in their storytelling," she said.

How big is too big for the runway?

At size 14 and 185 centimetres, former Sydneysider Robyn Lawley said it was time an array of sizes were shown on runways.

"These are people we're talking about. They have feelings," Lawley said.

"I've met all the girls who did that catwalk. None of these models were unhealthy … they all work out."

Art that bears fruit

Sean Rafferty, aka the Cartonographer, began collecting the artwork on boxes after working in fruit and vegetable shops while studying.

His project Cartonography combines the art from cartons into a diorama, as a "cartongraph", and as interactive art that shows viewers where the produce comes from

It is part of Tastes Like Sunshine, an exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane which explores Queensland's food culture.

"It was a simmering interest that became a project and led to a more formal process of collecting the artwork on the boxes," Mr Rafferty said.

Why exercising in the cold isn't such a bad idea after all

Did you know when our bodies are exposed to cold over time, they actually start to change to keep themselves warm?

"We start to build up a tissue ... that we call brown adipose tissue — so brown fat," Dr Dino Premilovac from the University of Tasmania said.

"It's more muscle-like than it is fat-like in what it does.

"If we expose our bodies to the cold environment, the way our bodies deal with it over a long period of time is to produce more brown fat."

Brown fat's purpose in the body is to produce heat to warm up the blood, in turn keeping the body warm.