Latest Story
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Three lessons from the World Cup
David Rowe | July 21, 2026Despite a dour final and its fair share of controversy on and off the pitch, the 2026 World Cup has comprehensively underlined the global popular cultural appeal of the beautiful game.
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Russia’s forever war
Jack Jarmon | July 21, 2026Putin’s attempt to restore Russia to superpower status (derzhava) by annexing Ukraine has been shattered, as Ukraine’s stubborn resistance has sapped both Russia’s military and economy, and Putin’s blustering contempt for national and international norms only underscores his own fears and paranoia.
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Short cuts
Meena Jha | July 21, 2026Figures from plagiarism detection software used by Australia’s universities show that over half of students’ assignments used some form of AI and a tenth of assignments were over 80% AI generated.
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Protecting universities from antisemitism
Matteo Vergani | July 20, 2026Evidence suggests offers a range of useful clues about which approaches are most likely to help and where universities should focus their efforts to rid university campuses of rampant antisemitism.
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Hold the line on terrorism laws
Justin Bassi | July 20, 2026Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is right to reject the removal of religious motivation from Australia’s terrorism laws proposed by the nation’s special envoy to combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, as it rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of what those laws are designed to do.
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It’s not that difficult guys
Mareike Riedel | July 20, 2026Australian universities will have to adopt their own definitions of racism next year but why is it so hard for unis to agree on a definition of ‘antisemitism’?
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The risks and rewards of recursive self‑improvement
James McDermott | July 19, 2026The idea of recursive self-improvement dates back decades but AI models could soon be capable of designing progressively better versions of themselves with untold social and economic consequences.
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What killed Simonetta Vespucci?
Paolo Pozzilli | July 19, 2026Botticelli’s muse Simonetta Vespucci died at just 23 in 1476, and while tuberculosis has long been blamed for her death, analysis of her changing appearance in a succession of paintings suggest another cause may be to blame.
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Talking with the chatbot about poetry
Krupa Shandilya | July 19, 2026Large Language Models have proved remarkably adept at translating language, but human intermediaries are still required to capture the full nuance of literary works.
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It’s the end of the world as we know it
Juliana Tappe Ortiz | July 18, 2026Over the centuries, political leaders have often invoked fears of decline and collapse, and many of today’s tech moguls and political populists also view the world through a lens of civilisational crisis and impending catastrophe.
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Who were the ‘sea peoples’?
Open Forum | July 18, 2026The infamous “Sea Peoples” who ravaged the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age were named by a French Egyptologist at the end of the 19th century but their true origins remain shrouded in mystery.
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Smoking falls to historic low but challenges remain
Open Forum | July 18, 2026The percentage of Australians who smoke has fallen once again, but while the country’s comprehensive tobacco control measures are delivering results, the widespread availability of illegal imports and vapes continues to pose a health hazard.
