• Politics and Policy

    Two into one won’t go


    Anne Twomey |  April 23, 2024


    Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock, have announced that they will run as job-sharing independent candidates for the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Higgins but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to do so.


  • Infrastructure

    Planning by numbers


    Open Forum |  April 23, 2024


    Leading planning and geospatial figures are calling for a coordinated approach to digitising and streamlining Australia’s urban planning systems.


  • Neuroscience

    Debunking Dunning-Kruger


    Eric Gaze |  April 23, 2024


    The Dunning-Kruger effect – that unqualified people over-estimate their ability – is often quoted and uncritically cited, but may be misleading, if not entirely untrue.


Latest Story

  • How COVID-safe Santa can save Christmas

    Nathan Grills     |      December 25, 2020

    Given how depressing 2020 has been, Santa’s sleigh run needs to be classified as an essential service, so here is how Mr Claus (and his reindeer) can be a super spreader of goodwill and not COVID-19.

  • Aged care residents enter virtual reality

    Open Forum     |      December 24, 2020

    A new trial of virtual reality headsets with aged care residents show how the technology can help help stimulate interest and overcome apathy in older people.

  • The Twitter war over Dan Andrews

    Open Forum     |      December 24, 2020

    A QUT study of two interrelated Twitter hashtag campaigns regarding Dan Andrews’ handling of the COVID-19 second wave found the activity was driven by a “small, hyper-partisan core of highly active participants” rather than bot accounts.

  • Fish get a helping hand

    Lachlan Gilbert     |      December 24, 2020

    Engineers and scientists at UNSW Sydney have come up with an ingenious way to get fish past dam walls, weirs and other barriers blocking their migration in Australian rivers.

  • “Nomophobia” prompts motorists illegal use of mobile phones

    Fareed Kaviani     |      December 23, 2020

    Some people’s obsessive attachment to their phones still prompt them to use them while driving, placing themselves and other road users at risk.

  • The web of life

    Open Forum     |      December 23, 2020

    An international collaboration reveals a new definition of sustainability that expands the concept to non-human species and their needs.

  • Fixing Australia’s energy strategy through green hydrogen

    Sung-Young Kim     |      December 23, 2020

    It is time the federal government ditches its ideology of ‘technology neutrality’ and throws all its weight behind where real money is to be made in the near future — green hydrogen.

  • NSW unveils new seniors strategy

    Open Forum     |      December 22, 2020

    With almost one in four people to be aged 60 or over by 2031, the NSW Government has committed to a decade-long ageing strategy, addressing four focus areas identified by seniors including resilience and safety.

  • Battening down for another solar hurricane

    Tom Uren     |      December 22, 2020

    Russia’s hijacking of solarwinds software to penetrate a host of Western governments and companies underlines the need for better cyber-security across the whole of society.

  • Chinese whispers

    Robert Wihtol     |      December 22, 2020

    A new book by Roger Faligot on the history and extent of Chinese espionage is essential reading for both intelligence professionals and generalists wanting to understand the reach and power of China’s hidden hand.

  • Counterpoint by Mark Nicol – Music for the festive season

    Mark Nicol     |      December 22, 2020

    Open Forum regular Mark Nicol offers a selection of music “to soothe the savage soul” over the festive season.

  • A heretical view of energy ‘indulgences’

    Max Thomas     |      December 21, 2020

    Policy makers should guard against a ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ in the vexed area of energy policy, where individuals acting in their own interest cause significant collective harm.