-
Scepticism v credulity
Alan Stevenson | March 11, 2024The ability to perceive patterns is a fundamental building block of human intelligence, but we need the scientific method to ensure these patterns are real, rather than illusions.
-
Kitchen science
Sam Baron | March 5, 2024Some science experiments cost billions of dollars, while others can be done on a tabletop, but both types of investigation could help push our understanding of fundamental physics into new realms.
-
Nemesis
Open Forum | March 3, 2024A CSIRO team aboard research vessel (RV) Investigator has helped Heritage NSW solve a 120-year mystery with the discovery of the SS Nemesis, a 73-metre iron-hulled steamship that was lost at sea in 1904.
-
Girls in STEM
Open Forum | February 13, 2024The International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February 2024 offered an opportunity to examine the disparities and tackle the barriers facing women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
-
Drones across Antarctica
Patrick Whyte | February 9, 2024A Queensland University of Technology research team is conducting deep field drone operations to pursue a range of scientific research in remote Antarctica.
-
The future of GPS
Neil Martin | February 5, 2024More robust and more accurate positioning systems are needed to meet the demands of the global economy – and Australia is set to enjoy the benefits of its very own system.
-
Home grown science
Alan Stevenson | January 28, 2024Long before the understanding of modern chemistry came to these shores, indigenous people were treating native plants to eliminate arsenic and render them edible. Who knows what other traditional practises may offer scientific insights today?
-
Life of pie
Open Forum | January 7, 2024We all remember doing pie charts at school, but though they look pretty, they’re often a poor way of conveying accurate statistical information.
-
Trust the process
Laurence Hurst | December 31, 2023Science is under assault from any number of sources, and so understanding why some people reject scientific thinking is vital to protecting its authority in society.
-
Alternative aviation
Mirjam Wiedemann | December 19, 2023Transport is one of the world’s biggest polluters, but on the path to net zero, aviation is reinventing itself, potentially building a new kind of jet age.
-
The top science stories of 2023
Open Forum | December 10, 2023Science hit the headlines in Australia time and again in 2023, as advances in DNA technology freed a mother convicted of murdering her children 20 years ago, we became the first country to legalise psychedelic therapies, the vaping epidemic led to a government crackdown, and we lost, but then thankfully found, a tiny radioactive capsule no larger than a pea.
-
Weird science
Open Forum | December 9, 20232023 was tough at times, but luckily there was plenty of weird science to offer us a little comic relief. Animals led the way, as we learned about a series of orca-strated attacks on boats, frogs faked their own deaths to avoid sex, birds built their nests using anti-bird spikes, and a wriggling worm was pulled from an Aussie woman’s brain.