Table of contents for February / March 2025 in Readers Digest Australia

Memories Thanks for the story ‘A Graduation Reward’ by Peihua Zhang about China’s Cultural Revolution (My Story, Aug/Sept 24). I’m from China and this article reminded me of my own high school days. I bought my very first Reader’s Digest at Auckland Airport. It is a great read. LAI WEI Safe Landing The thing I love when I take a flight is the freedom to put my phone on flight mode and pick up a Reader’s Digest. On a recent flight, I picked up the Aug/Sep issue and was intrigued by the story ‘The Next Aircraft Will Crash On Landing’. A part of me said, Nice one, but don’t read this until landing. Nonetheless, I gathered courage to read the story. It was thrilling and I recounted the footnote to…

“You’velost about 60 per cent of your hearing in your right ear and it’s audiologist. I was 45 years old and healthy. I am a fitness instructor. A wife, with five kids. How had this happened? I lost my hearing overnight. In November 2023, I got what I thought was a head cold. No fever, no pain, no cough – just some congestion and stuffiness that made my right ear feel as if it was underwater. I told people it was probably a sinus thing as I instructed them to “talk to my good ear”. One month went by, then two, and I still couldn’t hear well, but because of holiday busyness I didn’t get it checked out. It wasn’t until the end of January, when I went to an…

In April last year, at a TED conference, I watched a woman pull a variety of mushroom powders from her handbag, scoop them into a thermos and add hot water from a nearby tea station to make an earthy beverage. Intrigued, I asked about her favourite health practices, and she started describing a recent trip to Costa Rica to get plasmapheresis. “It’s when they take your old plasma out, and they replace it with new, fresh plasma,” she explained. “Donated plasma?” I asked. She said it was synthetic plasma, as a detox treatment intended to manage an autoimmune disease. Plasmapheresis can effectively remove contaminants, such as some heavy metals, from the blood of people with specific health conditions, including autoimmune diseases, blood disorders and organ failure, and those who have…

For Valentine’s Day I bought my girlfriend beads for an abacus. It’s the little things that count. Not to brag, but I already have a date for Valentine’s Day. It’s February 14th. Today, I got 150 Valentine’s cards; I was shocked and breathless. The security guard at Hallmark gave quite a chase! Why did the skeletons break up on Valentine’s Day? Their hearts weren’t in it. My Valentine’s Day so far has been going like a fairy tale. Grimm. What did one light bulb say to the other on Valentine’s Day? “I love you a whole watt.” What do you write in a slug’s Valentine’s Day card? “Be my Valen-slime!” SOURCE: GOODHOUSEKEEPING.COM…

This discovery might not have happened if it weren’t for Luke Durant working as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, or GIMPS. This online maths community was founded in 1996 by mathematics academic Professor Chris Caldwell during his tenure at The University of Tennessee. Since then, this online citizen-science group of volunteers has discovered the last 18 Mersenne prime numbers using a free downloadable program specifically designed for searching for these primes. After joining GIMPS in October 2023, researcher and amateur mathematician Luke Durrant worked hard to identify the new prime, building a large computer made up of thousands of servers located across 17 countries to accelerate the process. While the US$3000 cash prize on offer to would-be discoverers is appealing, the true reward comes from making mathematical…

Take The Plunge, But Not Literally Christian and I were kayaking when I noticed something yellow floating in the water. I paddled closer and said, “Oh no, someone lost their boat key!” I pulled the floating keychain in with my paddle … and realised the tag read, “Will you marry me?” The most gorgeous ring was attached to the chain. Christian paddled back to me, asked me to remove my sunglasses, and said the sweetest things about our love before asking me to marry him. Of course, I accepted – and struggled not to go overboard as I hugged and smooched my new fiancé. CHELSEA ORNELAS Head Over Heels (And Toes) My husband was so excited to propose that he stopped at my pedicure appointment on his way home from…

I DO TRY TO FIND THE POSITIVE WHERE I CAN, WHETHER THAT’S ‘DO WHAT YOU CAN WHILE YOU CAN’ OR ‘APPRECIATE WHAT YOU’VE GOT WHILE YOU’VE GOT IT.’ROVE MCMANUS, COMEDIAN TO LEAD WELL, YOU HAVE TO CARE.AVA DUVERNAY, FILMMAKER Doubt can motivate you, so don’t be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out.BARBRA STREISAND, SINGER The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.JALĀL AD-DĪN MUHAMMAD RŪMĪ, KNOWN AS RUMI, ISL AMIC SCHOL AR THE WINDSCREEN IS BIGGER THAN THE REARVIEW MIRROR FOR A REASON. BECAUSE WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU IS SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT’S BEHIND.JELLY ROLL, RAPPER AND MUSICIAN Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us…

1. What is the national animal of the Philippines? 2 points 2. As the parents of young kids know all too well, what song became, in 2022, the first YouTube video to hit ten billion views?1 point 3. Velociraptors could fly. True or false? 1 point 4. The creation of a search engine called BackRub by two students in 1998 led to the founding of what giant technology company? 1 point 5. What Asian mountain range is sometimes called ‘The Third Pole’ because it contains the world’s third-largest concentration of glaciers? 2 points 6. What historical figure was given the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ by her Protestant opponents? 2 points 7. What ubiquitous root vegetable can be found in dishes globally, from the Turkish dessert cezerye and Indonesian osengoseng wortel to…

THE READER’S DIGEST has long celebrated ordinary people achieving remarkable things by living their lives with meaning and purpose. This issue is no exception, with two features that particularly uphold this focus. In ‘Listen To The Rush’ (page 30), we meet blind psychiatrist and avid fly fisherman Dr Toni Marks, while our Bonus Read, ‘Journey To Recovery’ (page 140), shares the inspiring recovery one young mother underwent following a brutal acid attack at the hands of her ex-partner. For different reasons, readers are also sure to enjoy ‘Classic Fads’ on page 100, where we reveal that some ‘new’ fads have been around for years. We then look at the common habits many of us have that are genuinely bad for our health (page 80), and also take a trip through…

Probably not. You’re not alone, either. Most cat owners, even cat-owning veterinarians choose not to risk furry fury or injury to themselves and avoid brushing their cat’s teeth. But we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of feline dental care. Tooth and gum problems don’t just cause pain to your cat but can lead to serious disease. Most cats will get some form of dental disease in their lifetime, but with proper care of your cat’s teeth, you can help reduce the risk. Remember dental health is essential to good health. Yearly dental check-ups with your veterinarian are highly recommended and easy to schedule with your cat’s yearly vaccination and general health check. Another relatively simple way to help prevent dental disease is to feed specifically designed oral care cat food and…

You may be wondering, What is bone broth? Explained very basically, bone broth is a type of stock made from nutrient-rich animal bones which have been boiled for a few hours, usually with other flavourings such as salt, pepper, garlic and onions or carrots. Technically, bone broth can be made from any bones, but it’s generally thought that using the bones from healthy, organically-reared animals is best. While bone broth might seem like a trendy superfood, it’s far from new. According to Sally Fallon Morell, co-author of the book Nourishing Broth, bone broth actually goes all the way back to Stone Age cooking. It’s even been suggested that Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician, prescribed it for patients with joint pain. Bone broth has been purported to have many health benefits.…

My teen is asking for noise-cancelling headphones … like I’m going to give him the gift of ignoring me better. @IHIDEFROMMYKIDS I am not saying my husband and I are scared of our teenage daughter but we just rock-paper-scissored to see who was going to wake her up. @MOMMAJESSIECC I hated what my teen was wearing today so I told him that I loved it and it looked “dripping, bro”. He changed. Follow me for more parenting advice. @DADMANN_WALKING Please keep my teen in your thoughts today as he was asked to pick up his dirty socks and is obviously forced to do everything around here. @MARYFAIRYBOBRRY Having a teenage daughter is a lot like your house being haunted. Every now and again you’ll see a figure in the corner…

In the summer of 2023, on a warm afternoon in Chelan, Washington state, a beaming young woman named Ivy Jacobsen stood ready to walk down the aisle towards her husband-to-be. Her blonde hair was in a loose bun, and her long white gown was simple and sleek, with just a hint of a ruffle at the back. Waiting for Ivy at the altar was the love of her life, Tristen Jurgensen, wearing a blue-grey suit and tearing up with emotion at the sight of his bride. Like Ivy, the policeman was 28 years old. More than 300 guests had gathered for the wedding ceremony, held in a backyard venue framed by mountains and tall pine trees. From the green grass under Ivy’s feet to the blue sky overhead dotted with…

Auntie: We use ‘Auntie’ as a term of endearment for any older woman – so she could easily be my mum’s sister or someone I’ve just met at the hawker centre. Hainanese: The early Chinese immigrants to Singapore came from different regions of Southern China. The Hainanese are one of them. They arrived in Singapore later and many ended up working as cooks for the British officers or wealthy Peranakans – which explains their huge influence on Singapore’s evolving cuisine. Hokkien: The Hokkiens are also Chinese immigrants to Singapore. Hokkien food is down-to-earth and unfussy in presentation but punchy in flavour. My mum is Hokkien Chinese, so a lot of the home cooking that I grew up with was Hokkien-influenced. Kopitiam: The local term for a casual coffee shop. Here you…

I admit it, when it comes to food, I have some eeew inducing practices, like skimming mould off old cheddar and feeding the rest to my unsuspecting family. We’re still alive, so how bad can it be? Because our gross human habits fall somewhere between mildly cringe-worthy to full-on repulsive, I reached out to experts to find out where some common behaviours land on the gross-o-meter. EATING OLD FOOD The stamped expiry date – and its confusing cousins ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ – should be but one tool in your hmm-should-I-eat-this? toolbox. According to nutritionist Marie Spiker, expiry date warnings and labels are more likely referring to the food’s peak freshness, rather than biology or safety. And so, she says, it’s totally fine and safe to eat food that is…

It’s no secret that almost every fad eventually loses its appeal. (We’re looking at you, post-lockdown mullet!) However, some trends seem to have always been around because, well, they have always been around, at least as far as we can remember – and then some. PHOTOBOMBING In case you haven’t noticed, people have been taking a lot more pictures since the invention of the smartphone. As a result, countless individuals go out of their way to make chance encounters as memorable as possible – for themselves. The word photobombing, meaning popping up in a photo uninvited, first appeared online in 2008 and was enshrined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2015. However, the oldest known example of this odd behaviour took place in the early 1850s, when a woman named Sally…

1. kukri – A: sharp-billed bird. B: short sword. C: musical half tone. 2. whet – A: hone. B: splice. C: cut. 3. echidna – A: two-pronged fork. B: spine disease. C: quill-covered monotreme. 4. carnassial – A: carnivore’s tooth. B: sour taste. C: rose’s thorn. 5. awl – A: piercing tool. B: barbed weapon. C: bone spur. 6. acuity – A: steep incline. B: keen perception. C: sudden illness. 7. toxophilite – A: expert archer. B: clawed parasite that is found in tropical areas. C: stinging snake. 8. pique – A: bite. B: provoke. C: lunge. 9. piton – A: briar bush. B: mountain climber’s peg. C: gazelle antler. 10. riposte – A: fencer’s helmet. B: clever retort. C: acidic dessert made from lemons. 11. trenchant – A: penetrating. B:…

KEEP IN TOUCH You know how good a hug feels. Or a good massage. But a quick pat on the back might be just as beneficial for your health. The body reacts to touch by releasing the feel-good hormone oxytocin. A recent Dutch study found that the more often people are touched, the greater the positive effect on their mental and physical health. This means that frequent quick hugs could have even more impact on wellbeing than an hour-long massage. RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INCORRECT USE OF PPIS Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a convenient and common treatment for acid-related disorders, such as reflux. But concerns are mounting over the safety of long-term use of PPIs. A 2022 joint study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, led by researchers at…

Immunotherapy treatment has been used to treat a variety of cancers, including head and neck, bladder, kidney, leukaemia, liver and lung cancer. Last year Professor Scolyer became the first brain cancer patient to have a combination treatment of pre-surgery immunotherapy, along with the standard surgery and radiotherapy. He also received another experimental treatment and in September last year was given the all clear. “Until we cure 100 per cent we’re always going to be doing trials,” says Professor Long.…

There Is A Special Place A stingy old man was determined to prove wrong the old saying, “You can’t take it with you when you die.” After much thought, he finally figured out how to take at least some of his money with him when he died. He instructed his wife to go to the bank and withdraw enough money to fill two pillowcases. He then directed her to take the bags of money to the attic and leave them directly above his bed. His plan was to reach out and grab the bags on his way to heaven. Several weeks after the funeral, the deceased man’s wife, up in the attic cleaning, comes upon the two forgotten pillowcases stuffed with cash. “Oh, that old fool,” she exclaims. “I knew…

Imagine a number made up of a vast string of ones: 1111111…111. Specifically, 136,279,841 ones in a row. If we stacked up that many sheets of paper, the resulting tower would stretch into the stratosphere. If we write this number in a computer in binary form (using only ones and zeroes), it will fill up only about 16 megabytes, no more than a short video clip. Converting to the more familiar way of writing numbers in decimal, this number – it starts out 8,816,943,275… and ends …076,706,219,486,871,551 – would have more than 41 million digits. It would fill 20,000 pages in a book. Another way to write this number is 2136,279,841 – 1. There are a few special things about it. First, it’s a prime number (meaning it is only…

❃ “Are the coconuts in the trees real?” ❃ “I saw a wild crocodile at the Blue Hole. Are they tame?” ❃ “Is the sunset on the same side of the island every day?” ❃ When working at one of the local aquariums, I was asked, “Why do your sharks never come up for air?” ❃ I saw a young couple setting up a tent. “What are you doing?” I asked. “We wanted to sleep here as we enjoyed the sunset so much we didn’t want to miss seeing the sun coming back up out of the water,” the guy replied. BIGPINEKEY.COM…

QUESTIONS 1. All cats are predators, this applies to both small and large species. What applies exclusively to big cats like tigers, lions, and leopards? a) Their fur has a spotted pattern.b) They can only purr when they exhale.c) They roar.d) All of the above. 2. Cats play a role in Ancient Egyptian mythology. Bastet, a daughter of the sun goddess Ra, was often depicted with a cat or lion head. What was the goddess responsible for? a) War and destruction.b) Love and fertility.c) Reason and wisdom.d) Fun and games. 3. You can’t tell the sex of a cat by its facial hair, because female animals also have whiskers. What are they used for? a) To show other cats how they feel.b) To scan the environment.c) To produce scents for…