Science and Technology

But fast-forward to 2017 and you're now responsible for raising a child whose life will revolve around digital technology, and who will have to be tech-smart, tech-savvy, and tech-safe to survive out there in the wild.

So what are some tips to help you along the way?

We asked for your experiences, and expert Joanne Orlando — an analyst and researcher in technology and learning who has worked as an advisor for the Government, for Apple, and for the children's television show Play School — for her best pieces of advice.

How does it feel for you? What emotions come up in your mind and body?

What about when you realise you've left your mobile device at home, or in a taxi? Are you bereft? Do you crave it?

Last year, 84 per cent of Australians owned a smartphone — and among young people, that figure was 94 per cent.

And our dependence on mobile devices has crept up on us over time, leading to a range of problems, University of Washington Information School's Professor David Levy said.

No matter where you are in the world, most people use their right hand for most things. More than 85 per cent of us are right-handed — even foetuses at 10 weeks preferentially move their right hand.

And the preference seems to be just a human thing — our close relatives the apes are split right down the middle on the left/right-handedness. Fifty per cent of them are lefties.

Test yourself

Who would have thought silkworms could be used to repair damaged eardrums?

A team with researchers based in Perth and Melbourne is moving towards clinical trials of a device that incorporates silk in an ear implant.

Named "ClearDrum", it looks like a contact lens, but is instead a device on which the patient's cells can grow.

Perth-based surgeon Professor Marcus Atlas said silk was the preferred choice because it was flexible.

Chances are you're looking at it right now.

Before you try and deny you're addicted, here are some stats to consider:

Australian men unlock their phones more than anyone in the world - on average 45 to 46 times a day, while for Australian women it is around 42 times.

Those figures have been calculated by AntiSocial, an app developed by Melbourne software company Bugbean, to monitor people's use of social media.

Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some cancer rates are on the rise in humans. While sperm count and fertility is on a downward slide in some populations. What if chemical exposure was partly responsible for these trends?

One hypothesis is that a group of chemicals — known as 'endocrine disrupting chemicals' (EDCSs) — could affect human reproduction, puberty, metabolism and other functions controlled by hormones in our endocrine system.

Many suspected EDCs are already in your home — but how much risk do they really pose? At what exposure level do they become unsafe?

We explain what the new science of epigenetics means for your children and grandchildren.

Everyone's heard of the genome: that double helix DNA code that is uniquely yours, unless you happen to have an identical twin. But there's another layer of complexity responsible for creating us — and that's the epigenome.

Your epigenome sits in your cells with your genome. It's a set of instructions that decides which bits of your DNA are activated, or which genes are switched on or off.