A study finds wearing the popular mermaid tails and fins can reduce a child's ability to swim by up to 70 per cent, after viral video shows girl becoming stuck upside-down in backyard pool.

Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi says artists asking to be removed from his party's "alternative to the Hottest 100" playlist should be thankful for the royalties, after Powderfinger, Hilltop Hoods and Darren Hayes voice their opposition.

What's red and a bit squishy? Australian opera singer Eve Klein uses a laryngoscope to connect her audience to the inner workings of her vocal chords.

The 70-metre-long tapestry depicting the conquest of England by Norman invaders in the 11th century is creating excitement in Britain after France confirms it will loan the historically significant piece.

Sweet Country — a film that competed at last year's Venice Film Festival where it won a special jury prize — sees Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton artfully tackle the Western, a genre well suited to examining issues of race and colonisation.