Home grown science

Long before the understanding of modern chemistry came to these shores, indigenous people were treating native plants to eliminate arsenic and render them edible. Who knows what other traditional practises may offer scientific insights today?

Life of pie

We all remember doing pie charts at school, but though they look pretty, they’re often a poor way of conveying accurate statistical information.

Trust the process

Science is under assault from any number of sources, and so understanding why some people reject scientific thinking is vital to protecting its authority in society.

Alternative aviation

Transport is one of the world’s biggest polluters, but on the path to net zero, aviation is reinventing itself, potentially building a new kind of jet age.

The top science stories of 2023

Science hit the headlines in Australia time and again in 2023, as advances in DNA technology freed a mother convicted of murdering her children 20 years ago, we became the first country to legalise psychedelic therapies, the vaping epidemic led to a government crackdown, and we lost, but then thankfully found, a tiny radioactive capsule no larger than a pea.

Weird science

2023 was tough at times, but luckily there was plenty of weird science to offer us a little comic relief. Animals led the way, as we learned about a series of orca-strated attacks on boats, frogs faked their own deaths to avoid sex, birds built their nests using anti-bird spikes, and a wriggling worm was pulled from an Aussie woman’s brain.

Facts and feelings

Good science communication needs values and narratives as well as facts and figures to engage the public audience.

The science of X

As the world faces existential problems such as pandemics and climate change, Australian scientists are facing a dilemma about the best way to connect with the wider public.

In defence of free will

The latest book by Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky – Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will – has garnered a lot of media attention for its radical contention that we’re biological robots devoid of moral responsibility for what we do, fortunately he’s also entirely wrong.

Solving the mystery of Sandy Point man

Forensic genetic genealogy allows investigators to narrow the search for a criminal or a body’s identity to their close family, and has already solved several ‘cold’ cases, including the identity Victoria’s mysterious Sandy Point Man.

Dark stars

Astronomers have known for decades that the universe is expanding, but current models cannot explain the speed with which it is taking place.

Researching the researchers

Research plays a pivotal role in society. Through research, we gain new understandings, test theories and make discoveries, but how do we know if individual research projects being conducted in Australia are good quality?