human-interest

Movements such as Plastic Free July and ABC TV's War On Waste encourage people to make better use of their home-brought containers.

But should you be worried about food cross-contamination?

Tom Ross, an associate professor in food microbiology at the University of Tasmania, said if good food-handling practices were observed, the risk was small.

The 50-metre mural on the side of the historic Dimmeys building in the inner suburb of Richmond features dozens of portraits of famous Australians.

Dimmeys commissioned artist Hayden Dewar to paint the mural in 2003 in celebration of the department store's 150th anniversary.

Dewar said the disgraced entertainer's depiction in the mural had been on his mind since Harris was convicted of indecent assault in 2014.

She was found wandering in a car park, highly agitated, by a family who took her home and made her their live-in pet. However, after three months they could no longer keep her.

She was relocated to the Sugarshine animal sanctuary, outside Lismore in New South Wales. Kelly Nelder, Sugarshine's founder and a mental health nurse, described her as "highly strung" and "needy".

The taste of foods such as broccoli, coriander and brussels sprouts can divide many of us.

But there is hope for those wanting to broaden their palate, according to Dr Veronique Chachay from UQ's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences.

"Different textures and food presented in a different way can help develop certain tastes," she said.

"We can change our tastes by the number of exposures to a certain food."

For example, someone who dislikes bananas should eat them daily over a two-week period in different forms: mashed, whole and with other foods.

There are no bath towels, soap or candles in sight, because this involves slow and tranquil walks through pristine wilderness.

Australia now has three accredited guides in forest bathing, including Alex Gaut from SA's Conservation Council.

"[The Japanese] have this word, karoshi, which means death by overwork," she said.

"It was so bad they started working on ways to deal with the problem, so they were really the first to start developing this practice."

The ABC joined a session at Belair National Park, outside of Adelaide.

The American singer-songwriter used a video posted online to accept the prize for literature earlier this month, just in time to collect the 8 million Swedish krona ($1.2 million) reward.

But American author and journalist Andrea Pitzer said substantial chunks of Dylan's address were copied without attribution from the Spark Notes cheating website.

ABC TV's Bananas in Pyjamas is celebrating 25 years, and to mark the occasion the Royal Australian Mint has launched a commemorative coloured coin set.

The 20 cent and 5 cent pieces feature images of the twin Bananas and Rat-in-a-Hat.

"It's the first time we've had colour on a 5 cent piece," Mint CEO Ross MacDiarmid said.

The Bananas in Pyjamas first aired on Australian television in 1992 as a live-action series featuring B1 and B2 and teddy bears Lulu, Morgan and Amy.

Humans have long been drawn to fire; our ancient ancestors used it for warmth, protection and cooking.

In fact, fire was critical for our evolution.

But thousands of years later, with all our modern electric lighting and cooking facilities, fire has become a comfort rather than a necessity in the developed world.

So why then are humans still fascinated by fire?

One suggestion is that humans are born with an instinct to learn how to build and control fire, and if we don't get the chance to master it, we remain attracted to it as adults.

Paperworks is a not-for-profit social enterprise that uses the art of papermaking to engage marginalised people and those with special needs.

"We were using cardboard and recycled paper in the first few sessions but it was unforgiving and had lacklustre results," chief executive Susanna Pieterse said.

"We started looking into using textiles and became aware of the great need to recycle textiles — more than 80 per cent of denim actually ends up in landfill.

"We found the longer fibres of textiles helped the paper hold together better.

The Medieval Fayre at Blacktown kicked off today and saw a village come to life with lords and ladies, knights in full armour, jesters, scary hunchbacks and a jousting competition.

Jousters from Australia, Germany and the US took to their horses to compete for the prestigious title.

Darrell Bossley, a retired blacksmith, calls himself an "apprentice" and said the full-body armour makes jousting just as hard as it looks.

"The best thing about armour is taking it off," he said.