Latest Story

  • The first thousand days

    Ana Gamarra Rondinel     |      May 1, 2024

    The first 1,000 days of a child’s life do much to shape their future, but the cost of living crisis is taking its toll on young families.

  • Generation angst

    Hugh Breakey     |      May 1, 2024

    Far from bringing people together, Jonathan Haidt’s new book “The Anxious Generation” argues that ubiquitous smartphones are divorcing young people from their friends and family, while attention grabbing apps are eroding their ability to think for themselves.

  • From Sydney to the stars

    Ching Wei Sooi     |      May 1, 2024

    According to a recent survey, the Australian public lacks awareness of global space activities and domestic space endeavours, so, what is Australia is up to in space?

  • Can AI speak up for science?

    Jon Whittle     |      April 30, 2024

    AI tools are already being widely used in science. But can they, and the science they help produce, be trusted?

  • Airfares are staying sky-high

    David Beirman     |      April 30, 2024

    The post-pandemic surge in airfares is easing, but a return to the halcyon days of relatively cheap flight tickets abroad might be over for good.

  • Down the plughole

    John Coyne     |      April 30, 2024

    Wastewater analysis shows that Australia’s consumption of a range of illicit drugs continues to climb, despite the best efforts of law enforcement and harm minimisation schemes.

  • Failure to launch

    Laura Woodbridge     |      April 29, 2024

    The lack of women in the national legislature suggests our political system is misfiring, and this inequality of gender representation also undermines the democratic notion of government being for the people, by the people.

  • Boardroom blitz

    Open Forum     |      April 29, 2024

    A new report has revealed the extent to which Australian universities’ governing bodies have become stacked with unelected big business appointees.

  • Plastic planet

    Open Forum     |      April 29, 2024

    An international team of researchers has found that more than half of branded plastic pollution in the environment is linked to just 56 companies.

  • Filling in the blanks

    Neil Sipe     |      April 28, 2024

    The housing crisis created by Australia’s high rate of immigration mean that governments and developers are eying every square inch of under-used land in our cities, but plans for ‘in-fill’ development are often slow to materialise in reality.

  • The political thought of Xi Jinping

    John West     |      April 28, 2024

    Like Vladimir Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping has established himself as China’s absolute dictator but his policies of internal repression and external aggression are motivated by ideology as well as personal power and nationalism.

  • The great art robbery

    Oliver Bown     |      April 28, 2024

    AI threatens to replace real human artists, just as machines have replaced people in a host of other activities, but AI models were trained on artists’ works without permission or payment.