• Saving Tasmania’s giant freshwater lobster

    Open Forum     |      January 1, 2019

    Tasmania’s giant freshwater crayfish is the largest freshwater invertebrate in the world, growing up to a metre in length and living for 80 years, but the iconic “lobster” is now threatened across northern Tasmania because of illegal fishing and habitat loss.

  • The mind-blowing discoveries of 2018

    Open Forum     |      January 1, 2019

    The New Year has begun, but 2018 was a big year for new scientific discoveries. From new exoplanets to the fight against cancer, Melbourne University experts tell us about their pick of the best research, discoveries and big thinking from around the world last year.

  • Air travel and urbanisation increase the risks of contagion

    Open Forum     |      December 31, 2018

    Our cities are becoming denser, the global population is expanding and more people are travelling by air than ever – so what does this mean for the health security of Australians?

  • Climate change could turn our brown land green

    Open Forum     |      December 30, 2018

    Climate change may not create the dry brown land of current predictions and may instead revegetate marginal land, as higher levels of carbon dioxide allow plants to use water more efficiently.

  • The top 10 ‘weird science’ stories of 2018

    Open Forum     |      December 28, 2018

    There were plenty of weird and wonderful science stories in 2018, from octopuses high on ecstasy to a billionaire shooting a car into space.

  • Stress takes its toll in the emergency services

    Open Forum     |      December 27, 2018

    A national study has found one in three police and emergency services employees experience high or very high psychological distress compared to one in eight Australian adults.

  • The top ten science stories of 2018

    Open Forum     |      December 26, 2018

    2018 has been another landmark year in the realm of science, with outrage at claims of genetically modified babies and dire warnings from the world’s top climate scientists balanced by a successful Mars landing.

  • Happy Christmas to all our readers

    Open Forum     |      December 25, 2018

    Open Forum would like to wish all our readers a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

  • Stay healthy for a happier Christmas and New Year

    Open Forum     |      December 23, 2018

    VicHealth has put together some handy tips to help Australians have a healthy and happy Christmas and improve their well being in the New Year.

  • State of the Climate 2018 underlines the warming trend

    Open Forum     |      December 23, 2018

    More frequent extreme heat events and marine heatwaves, an increase in extreme fire weather, and declining rainfall in the southeast and southwest are detailed in the latest State of the Climate report released by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.

  • How extreme weather events batter wildlife populations

    Open Forum     |      December 22, 2018

    A third of Australia’s spectacled flying foxes died in an extreme heatwave north of Cairns in November and new research has shed more light on the devastating effect such weather events can have on wildlife populations.

  • Nostalgia and friends drive our festive food coma

    Open Forum     |      December 20, 2018

    Why do we stuff ourselves so full at Christmas? It’s not just the food we love, but the memories of happy times in the past and the company of family and friends in the present.