child development, children, parental control, parenting, screen time, smartphone use, smartphones, technology

Why and How to Delay Giving Your Child a Smartphone

Parents give their children smartphones for various reasons. You may want to be in touch with your children, make it easy to track them, provide them with entertainment, or maybe ensure your child is tech-savvy as early as possible.  These are compelling reasons, no doubt. However, smartphones may not be healthy for your child because ...

Nathan Machoka

A boy using a smartphone.

7 Ways to Reuse Your Old Cell Phones

Many people replace their cell phones every 2 to 3 years. The old cell phones are put away somewhere, and when it’s time to declutter, they’re just thrown away as scrap, but there are many ways to reuse your old cell phones. The growing number of apps makes it easier to repurpose them without keeping ...

David Jirard

A pile of old cell phones.

Smartphone Addiction: How Phubbing May Be Undermining Your Parenting

Parenting is a complex journey of nurturing, protecting, and guiding children toward independence. While no universal manual exists, parenting choices significantly influence a child’s development. In the modern, technology-driven world, the pervasive use of smartphones presents a new set of challenges, possibly hindering children’s growth and affecting family dynamics. The integration of smartphones into daily ...

Nathan Machoka

Dad sitting on the couch using his smartphone and ignoring his bored, young daughter.

Should You Charge Your Phone Overnight? Will ‘Overcharging’ Make it Explode? Common Battery Myths Debunked

In the world of lithium-ion batteries, smartphones take center stage. Yet they’ve also sparked an ongoing debate: does prolonged (or overnight) charging wreak havoc on your battery? Several factors determine its lifespan, including its manufacturing age and its chemical age. The latter refers to the gradual degradation due to variables such as fluctuations in temperature, ...

Troy Oakes

Charging an iPhone.

Why Can’t I Use My Phone or Take Photos on the Airport Tarmac?

Mobile phones are not allowed to be used while on a plane because they can interfere with the airplane’s navigation instruments and cause various safety and social issues. As soon as the plane lands, we’re permitted to turn off flight mode, but at some airports, we can’t get much of a signal. That’s because airports ...

Troy Oakes

Mobile phones are not allowed to be used on the tarmac.

Dr. He Lai Lihua Says: Environmental Factors and Technology Impact Weight Gain

Despite all of the help available today for losing weight, obesity rates continue to climb. The medical community now categorizes obesity as a disease, raising critical questions about why this “disease” has become so rampant in recent decades. What’s changed? The answer may be more intricate than initially perceived. Let’s delve into one physician’s advice ...

Tatiana Denning

Paper cutout of a thin female standing in front of a mirror and seeing a fat figure reflected back.

How to Secure Your Smartphone and Increase Privacy

Smartphones have become our diaries, wallets, entertainment, and personal safes. People use them for work, play, business, and everything in between. But is your smartphone data safe? And can hackers access your private information? Unfortunately, smartphones are seen as an easy target because they are mostly unprotected and provide a way into your private data. ...

Nathan Machoka

Smartphone security.

Game-Changing Holograms

A ground-breaking research center focused on optical technologies, which could create lifelike moving holograms that display straight from your phone screen, is being officially launched at The Australian National University (ANU). The ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) brings together some of the greatest minds from five Australian universities with 20 partner organizations into a research consortium that aims to change how we use light.  Technology featuring holograms Along with holographic phone screens, ...

Troy Oakes

A hologram pojected from a smartphone.

Smartphones Promise Satisfaction and Meaning, but Only Deliver More Searching

Users of smartphones will be disappointed if they expect their devices and social media to fill their need for purpose and meaning. Instead, it will probably do the opposite, researchers at Baylor and Campbell Universities found in a recently published study. Christopher M. Pieper, Ph.D., senior lecturer of sociology at Baylor University, and lead author Justin J. ...

Troy Oakes

Four girls using smartphones.

Smartphones for Children: What’s the Right Age?

Smartphones for children are a terrific way to reach out to children as they grow more autonomous. After all, real-time information on their location and itinerary changes can’t be seen at a glance. According to a Today article about how widespread smartphones are among different age groups, “37 percent of 11-year-olds have a smartphone, and ...

Ratul Saha

A young boy watching a smartphone screen.