How did New South Wales police mistake a sex doll for a “body”? By following the correct procedure, police say.

On Sunday, NSW police were called to a rural locality near Goulburn after a suitcase containing what was believed to be human remains was found dumped on the side of the road. After police arrived, the suitcase was sent off to forensics, and police released a statement saying the body was believed to be female.

But after many headlines – and a bit of embarrassment – police confirmed the “body” was actually a life-like doll, understood to be a sex doll, dressed in clothes that had hair, a nose piercing and markings that resembled bruises and grazes. Reporter Kat Wong spoke to experts who said that officers actually did the right thing, and did not fully unzip the bag to avoid destroying evidence.

Investigations have now concluded and Supt Linda Bradbury maintains police have “no regrets”.

Top newsIn videoNew research sheds light on the genetic basis of the venomous arachnid’s ‘weird mating behaviour’. Photograph: Ken Jones/AFP/Getty Images

If you think you’ve had a bad one-night stand, spare a thought for the male redback spider, whose sole reproductive partner eats him after sex.

You can watch a male redback appear to invite this cannibalism through a “self-sacrificial somersault” here, and read more about the new research shedding light on the genetic basis of the behaviour here.

What they said …Should energy efficiency standards in housing be optional? The opposition is considering it. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

“Some people call it putting a jumper on.” – Tim Wilson

As the Coalition releases its plan to tackle the housing crisis, including radically cutting Australia’s building code from 2,000 pages to just 80, Tim Wilson suggests that housing energy efficiency standards could be optional.

But the Australian Council of Social Service is “deeply concerned” by the Coalition’s proposal and its chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, says cutting energy efficiency in homes would leave renters with high power bills.

PodcastReading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on. Photograph: Juice Images/Alamy

We’re reading less. And it’s making us stupid

Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less.

To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. She also hears from Prof Falk Huettig, an experimental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and author of The Perks of Being a Bookworm

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Before bed readSome surfaces really are better at collecting dust. Composite: Guardian Design

For years, Ilana Bean complained about an Ikea shelf in her home that seemed to attract dust at an impossible speed. Eventually, frustration gave way to curiosity: can their house be made less dusty? Bean spent four weeks experimenting to find out.

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