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The encryption deal done, but more work is needed
Fergus Hanson | December 6, 2018Australia has a strong history of bipartisanship on national security issues and is much stronger for it. This tradition has held, just about, through the debate on data encryption, but much still remains to be done.
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Can we make plastic fantastic?
Open Forum | December 5, 2018There’ll be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050 if we don’t change our ways, but simple ways to turn plastic trash into functional products could help stem the tide.
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Are tech companies using data in more ethical ways?
James Arvanitakis | December 1, 2018Technology firms generate their huge profits from the vast amounts of data they harvest from their users, so have they really changed their ways to protect user data from abuse in the light of recent scandals? New research suggests that while their rhetoric has changed, the reality has not.
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Lifting the lid on quantum computing
Andrew Trounson | November 24, 2018Newly developed software for learning quantum computer programming allows students to see inside the ‘black box’ and start using the ‘weird’ physics to solve problems
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What to make of ‘Oumuamua
Steven Tingay | November 20, 2018We will never see ‘Oumuamua again, and we may never know exactly what it is, but its passing will have changed the world if it makes more children contemplate a career in science.
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Bush plant medicine project set to bloom
Open Forum | November 6, 2018An Australian-first research and commercial partnership aims to explore the development of a sustainable agribusiness model for traditional Australian medicinal plants growing in northern Australia.
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What’s the big deal about digital identity?
Fergus Hanson | October 19, 2018New steps towards developing secure digital identities have a lot of potential to make our lives easier, but privacy and security concerns means it must be done right.
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Industry is too involved in clinical research
Open Forum | October 6, 2018An international study of industry-funded research has found the funders are usually involved in every step of the trial, raising doubts about the veracity and independence of their results.
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How poor risk communication endangers our health
Open Forum | October 5, 2018Some experts explain risks and scientific concepts very well, but sometimes their efforts to communicate fall well short – and this can cause problems. So what does it take for experts to do a good job communicating risks about cleaning up contaminated land to non-experts, and how important is it that they do so?
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Why industry influence on research agendas must be addressed
Open Forum | September 27, 2018Better strategies to ensure the proper independence of research, policy-making and public health solutions are required, as new research confirms the meddling of corporate interests.
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Physicists take an art class to rethink reality
Diane Nazaroff | September 25, 2018Ask a quantum physicist to draw a chair and the result can be a fundamental shift in how they see the world.
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Turning our technology against us
Cynthia Wong | September 23, 2018Public trust in digital devices has slumped due to a range of privacy scandals and the weaponisation of social media by hostile foreign governments and extremists. However last month, the Australian government proposed legislation that could make things worse.