• Scepticism v credulity

    Alan Stevenson     |      March 11, 2024

    The 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, 2024

    Some 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, 2024

    A 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, 2024

    The 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, 2024

    A 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, 2024

    More 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, 2024

    Long 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, 2024

    We 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, 2023

    Science 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, 2023

    Transport 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, 2023

    Science 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, 2023

    2023 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.