• Neuroscience

    The dress and the rabbit


    Alan Stevenson |  April 25, 2024


    Optical illusions and ambiguous pictures are more than parlour puzzles but can open our eyes to the scientific study of human perception and the role our brains play in shaping what we think we see.


  • Environment

    Robots on the reef


    Open Forum |  April 25, 2024


    QUT researchers have developed a robot to capture images of baby tank-grown corals destined for the Great Barrier Reef. The system will help keep the growing corals happy and healthy before they are deployed and save researchers thousands of hours of coral counting time.


  • Culture

    Not in my name


    Roger Chao |  April 25, 2024


    The appalling events in Bondi Junction have given us all pause for thought in recent days, in a world where such horrors are all too common.


Latest Story

  • Taking Australia’s digital pulse

    Nick Hull     |      December 15, 2020

    The sixth edition of Australia’s Digital Pulse by Deloitte Access Economics highlights the significant role information and communications technology (ICT) plays in almost everything we do.

  • Slavery and society

    Alan Stevenson     |      December 15, 2020

    Society should define tasks best left to humans, as well as what can safely be left to autonomous machines, as once a machine takes over a task it will not be an easy to reclaim it.

  • Arvanitakis on education: The trust project

    James Arvanitakis     |      December 14, 2020

    Populist distrust of science and deepening political divides have hampered the response to climate change and coronavirus. Rather than merely decry these trends, academics have the chance to do something about it.

  • The truth about cats and dogs

    Open Forum     |      December 14, 2020

    A new study shows the benefits of dog ownership of easing loneliness during lockdown, although cats weren’t always so happy with having their owners at home.

  • Tabi on racial matters: Black-enslaved-women and their visions of freedom during the 19th century

    Gloria Tabi     |      December 14, 2020

    The plight of black women in history and their experience in the world today should be factored into the fight against global gender inequality.

  • Indigenous children need better pre-school education

    Nicholas Biddle     |      December 13, 2020

    A large study shows preschool benefits Aboriginal children’s development more than childcare or being taken care of at home, but the benefits of preschool are not as large as for non-Aboriginal kids.

  • Cuckoo in the nest

    Open Forum     |      December 13, 2020

    Australia’s measures to limit Chinese influence are long overdue. All democracies have an interest in strengthening their internal and external arrangements against the PRC’s relentless predation.

  • The power of natural pest control

    Open Forum     |      December 13, 2020

    Biological control of insect pests – where ‘natural enemies’ keep pests at bay – is saving farmers in Asia and the Pacific billions of dollars, according to University of Queensland-led research.

  • Robots and the law

    Alan Stevenson     |      December 12, 2020

    Autonomous machines able to think and act for themselves were once the stuff of science fiction, but now they are becoming reality, we need to delve back into a classic novel series for rules to protect ourselves.

  • Reading the Chinese playbook

    Rowan Callick     |      December 12, 2020

    There is no shortage of Australian apologists for China’s bullying tactics against this country, but understanding the propaganda playbook helps guard against falling for its distortions and lies.

  • Weird science

    Australian Science Media Centre     |      December 11, 2020

    2020 was certainly a weird year, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it produced a bumper crop of weird and wonderful science yarns. The Australian Science Media Centre has picked ten of the best.

  • Waste not, want not

    Open Forum     |      December 11, 2020

    The COVID-19 slowdown gives us a golden opportunity to “reset our materials economy along more sustainable lines”, says human geographer Ruth Lane.