• Space

    The sky’s not the limit


    Akshit Tyagi |  April 15, 2026


    Artemis II has returned humans to deep space for the first time in fifty years but the forces that brought us back are the same ones that kept us away and until scientific discovery displaces geopolitics and profit, the next fifty years will look just like the last.


  • Defence and Security

    Send in the drones


    Michelle Grattan |  April 15, 2026


    Expanding Australia’s fleet of autonomous and uncrewed defence and weapon systems will help the ADF keep the nation safe, support local jobs and harness Australian innovation.


  • Cybersecurity

    Looking through glasswing


    Stan Karanasios |  April 15, 2026


    If AI models like Mythos can scan the hidden plumbing of the internet – operating systems, browsers, routers, and shared open-source code – at an unprecedented scale, then what is now specialised hacking could become a routine and automated process.


Latest Story

  • Revamping vaccinations

    Open Forum     |      April 14, 2026

    The Australian College of Nursing is calling on the Federal Government to take a fresh approach to vaccinations, as a perfect storm of declining coverage, record-high influenza rates, and circulating vaccine-preventable diseases demands urgent action.

  • Death by a thousand cuts

    Open Forum     |      April 14, 2026

    Australia’s aid budget remains among the lowest in the world according to the latest Official Development Assistance data published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

  • Inspiring the space generation

    Kate Ashmor     |      April 14, 2026

    As the crew of Artemis II return with a renewed perspective on humanity, it prompts the need to look again at the best way to prepare the next generation for the new world we are rapidly creating.

  • Defending democracy

    Kate Griffiths     |      April 13, 2026

    Despite the welcome defeat of Hungary’s Victor Orban, democracy is under threat and in decline around the world and Australia is not immune from the challenges it faces, so what can be done to revitalise its appeal?

  • Aged health after COVID

    Alysia Blackham     |      April 13, 2026

    The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered glaring gaps in healthcare for older people. Now, with an increasingly older population, Australia needs to come to terms with its ageism.

  • Moments mean more than hours

    Erin Harper     |      April 13, 2026

    A new report suggests that quality of care is still a stronger and more consistent predictor of a child’s outcomes than the number of hours they spend in early education and parenting remains the most important factor of all.

  • Doughnuts and decision making

    Lauren Claire Fong     |      April 12, 2026

    The next time you find yourself in line at the bakery, you’ll find your brain has already been quietly gathering evidence toward your baked good of choice, and that choice happens a little faster than you realise.

  • Who’s reading your paper?

    Christopher J Watterson     |      April 12, 2026

    The research produced by Western universities is routinely shared with or stolen by hostile authoritarian states, forcing the sector to reconcile their dual roles as producers of confidential defence and security research and development on one hand and as open hubs of global knowledge exchange on the other.

  • The crucible of early life

    Brendan Burns     |      April 12, 2026

    On the shores of the west coast of Australia lies a window to our past. The stromatolites and microbial mats of Shark Bay are living “relics” of ancient ecosystems that thrived on Earth billions of years ago.

  • 4 visions of our future in space

    Priyanka Dhopade     |      April 11, 2026

    NASA’s flight around the moon is a welcome reminder of its technical achievement and human ambition and in the background, decisions about what happens next and who benefits are already taking shape.

  • An uncertain alliance

    Fergus Ryan     |      April 11, 2026

    Australian hasn’t yet been seriously tested by the second Trump administration. If or when it is, regardless of which option Australia chooses, one thing is clear: there’s no going back to how the world used to be.

  • Know when to go

    Peter Edwell     |      April 11, 2026

    It’s a truism that all political careers end in failure as leaders always meet eventual disaster or cling to power too long, but the unique example of Roman emperor Diocletian suggests a graceful retreat is possible.