• Time for a national research office?

    Marigold Black     |      October 16, 2024

    Australia needs an office of national research, to make the greatest use of our intellectual resources in building our defences, strengthening our economy and supporting our society.

  • The ups and downs of graphene

    Stephen Lyth     |      October 8, 2024

    Graphene has been hailed as the key to any number of new inventions over the last 20 years, and while the construction of a space elevator remains as impossible as ever, it is being used in an increasing number of more mundane applications.

  • Smooth operator

    Ian McCarthy     |      October 1, 2024

    Recent measurements of the distribution of matter in the universe appear to contradict the predictions of the standard model of cosmology, for decades our best understanding of how the universe works.

  • The quest for “green” ammonia

    Open Forum     |      September 26, 2024

    A new way of making ammonia by harnessing the unique power of liquid metal could lead to significant cuts in carbon emissions caused by production of the widely-used chemical.

  • The open source internet

    Dana McKay     |      September 22, 2024

    Individuals can take back computing and the internet from the corporations and tech platforms by embracing the open source movement.

  • Great ‘techspectations’

    Open Forum     |      September 17, 2024

    Though Australians like to embrace new technologies, concerns over security, privacy, and the loss of human interaction remain.

  • China overhauls the USA in technology research

    Danielle Cave     |      September 16, 2024

    China has overtaken the United States as the overwhelming leader in technological research over the last two decades, according to ASPI’s Critical Technology Tracker.

  • The tipping point

    Brendan Harris     |      August 23, 2024

    New research is helping scientists understand the phenomenon of ‘tipping points’ in nature and complex human systems.

  • Beware the gadget

    Alan Stevenson     |      August 20, 2024

    Our obsession with social media and non-stop immersion in our mobile phones are isolating us off from real human interaction, prompting calls for young people to be protected.

  • Exponential

    Sreevas Sahasranamam     |      August 19, 2024

    Modern technologies such as computer chips, renewable energy, artificial intelligence (AI) and gene editing are getting cheaper, more powerful, and being adopted at ever faster rates, transforming society, business and politics, though not always for the better.

  • Getting to grips with robots

    Patrick Whyte     |      August 16, 2024

    QUT researchers, who recognised that grasping objects is difficult for robots, have built a smart object that can measure a robot’s squeezing force.

  • Experts react to Australia’s national science statement

    Open Forum     |      August 13, 2024

    The Federal Government has released a “National Science Statement” underpinned by five National Science and Research Priorities. What do the experts have to say?