Latest Story
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You can’t handle the truth
Kelly Fincham | January 19, 2026Why people do believe misinformation about everything from a flat Earth to Russian propaganda even when they’re told the facts?
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America walks away
Bart Hogeveen | January 19, 2026Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from international bodies and agreements, and his flouting of long-standing democratic norms requires other democratic nations to step up to defend themselves against authoritarian threats and hostile actors.
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Get fit for retirement
Open Forum | January 19, 2026A new South Australian study has found little change in most people’s diet and exercise after retirement – pointing to the need for positive lifestyle choices during your working life to maximise long-term health outcomes.
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Should you mind your Ps and Qs?
Richard Morris | January 18, 2026While being polite to AI chatbots doesn’t really spike their energy use, data centres already account for a significant share of global electricity consumption, with demand rising rapidly as AI workloads grow.
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Genomic screening could save thousands of lives
Open Forum | January 18, 2026A national genomic screening program could save thousands of Australians from preventable cancer and heart disease.
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Tackling endometriosis
Roger Chao | January 18, 2026Endometriosis is more than “just bad periods” and more effort is required to understand and tackle the health consequences of a disease which affects one in seven women during their lives.
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AI x $ = Ads
Nathan Sanders | January 17, 2026Desperate for returns on its gargantuan investments, the AI industry is now taking a page from the social media playbook and has set its sights on monetizing consumer attention by integrating advertising into their chatbot interactions.
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The problem with bullbars
Milad Haghani | January 17, 2026The proliferation of large utes and 4x4s sporting massive bull bars to protect themselves and intimidate other road users in Australia’s cities is contributing to an increasing road toll among pedestrians and cyclists.
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Driving in circles
Roger Chao | January 17, 2026Australia’s reluctance to recognise foreign accreditations means that immigrants are often relegated to semi-skilled tasks despite labour market shortages across the country.
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Capturing the narrative
Alexandra Vassar | January 16, 2026A new UNSW research project shows how the internet and social media have become a closed loop of AI slop in which bots invent lies to trigger emotional responses from humans, manufacturing a false reality in which they can shift votes as well as products.
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Living in the visitors’ kitchen
Roger Chao | January 16, 2026Governments and hospitals should invest in family accommodation near children’s hospitals to allow regional parents to stay close to their sick children without risking financial ruin.
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You’ll eat what you’re sold
Uri Gal | January 16, 2026AI was supposed to cure cancer, but what it’s actually being used for is to market and sell products to consumers in ever more intrusive and less-transparent ways.
