The smart digital technologies of industry 4.0

Adaptive ‘smart’ technologies and integrated production systems driven by digital transformation are helping to accelerate more sustainable products and industries.

Below the death line

The nature of a long-running source of regular radio signals from space has scientists excited, though it is almost certainly natural in origin, rather than a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Australia’s capabilities accelerator

The launch of the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator within the Defence Department puts Australia in the race to develop the technology, skills and finance we need to compete in the global strategy arena.

The end of the Titan

The discovery of wreckage on the ocean floor has confirmed the catastrophic loss of the Titan tourist submersible and its five crew members.

The return of the ninth planet?

Years after Pluto was demoted from planetary status, astronomers have found new evidence that our solar system may have a genuine ninth planet, far beyond the orbit of Neptune.

UFOs hit the headlines, but are they in the skies?

Claims the US government has retrieved alien spacecraft have been circulating since the Roswell incident in 1947, but there’s still not a shred of hard evidence to suggest this is true, whatever the latest spate of videos, committees and news articles may claim.

Shaking up Australia’s ‘state vs state’ innovation

Australian states need to cooperate, rather than compete, to develop new technologies and applications, expand the national economy, and build the resilience the nation will need in the future.

Form and function in the brain

A new study suggests that patterns of activity in our brains’ neurons are more influenced by the shape of the brain – its grooves, contours, and folds – than by its complex interconnections.

Force of habit

Habits are the mind’s shortcuts, allowing us to successfully engage in our daily life while reserving our reasoning and executive functioning capacities for novel thoughts and important actions.

The wreck of the Blythe Star discovered

The wreck of the MV Blythe Star, a 44-metre coastal freighter that disappeared off Tasmania nearly 50 years ago with the loss of three crew, has been found by ocean researchers.

What next for Australian science and innovation?

Australia needs a comprehensive and well funded plan to drive national progress and prosperity through research and development.

Our quantum future

The release of its first National Quantum Strategy this week committed the Australian government to building the world’s first error-corrected quantum computer.