Surveillance nation

Online monitoring raises serious questions about privacy and rights, but where justified it can be used for good if organisations consider wider issues like transparency and fairness.

Australia can lead the way to a low carbon economy

Australia has shown that we are capable of great ideas in a wide variety of areas – from food production to energy generation and automated systems for mining and computer control – which could power the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The brave new world of neuroscience

Mapping cell types in the brain and how they communicate with one another allows neuroscientists to understand how the brain works, and what happens when cells go missing or malfunction.

Open all hours

Inspired by a European open-access initiative, Chief Scientist Cathy Foley wants to make all publicly funded Australian research publications free for the public to read.

Investing in quantum technology

Australia needs to initiate a strategic investment in quantum technology as a national priority.

Even space is overcrowded

Ceridwen Dovey has won the 2021 UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing for her essay on the dangers posed by man-made debris in space.

Automated warfare is a threat to us all

The development of AI-infused systems will allow autonomous military drones to pick out targets and take lethal action without direct human input, raising questions of how – and whether – such machines should be used.

Flying cars get ready for take off

Futurists have confidently predicted the invention of flying cars for over 70 years, but this time they may actually become a reality.

The evolving landscape of scientific publishing 

The future of science research publishing will be shaped by the need for young researchers to freely share data and work more collaboratively than ever before.

Australia needs ‘deep technology’ companies

Tomorrow’s economy and society will be built with today’s scientific breakthroughs in deep technology ventures.

The science of better decision making

QUT researchers working on complicated problems in agriculture, ecology and medicine have developed a mathematical model to enable faster solutions.

Covid computer

The effects of long hours of playing violent video games on young people have long been a matter of debate and concern, heightened by the current COVID-19 pandemic.