Facing real threats in real time

For the first time since the Soviet Union collapsed, the US is being challenged, which is why Australia must become a more active contributor to the stability we seek. However, the success of the Defence Review will hinge on implementation, and increases in spending when the economy is tight.

The mystery and the legacy of Australia’s immigrant selectors

From 1860, a series of Land Acts in the Australian colonies allowed new farmers to select and buy some of the vast tracts of land controlled by squatters. The story of one family epitomises the struggles, heartaches and triumphs they endured to build the nation we call home today.

On homophily

Homophily – the natural tendency of people to associate with others who are similar to themselves – is a powerful factor in the tendency of online networks to confirm rather than challenge the participants beliefs.

Hug it out

Most of us can still remember how good it was to receive a hug from a loved one or hold hands with a partner but touch is far more than just a simple physical sensation – it’s an essential element in human connection.

Helping suspended students back to school

The Y NSW (formerly YMCA) is launching an innovative new alternative suspension program for youths aged 12 to 18 who have been or are at risk of being suspended from school due to problematic behaviour.

Utopia and you

People have always dreamed of an ideal society, from Plato’s Republic through More’s Utopia to Marx in the 19th century and futurists in our own time. The imperfections of individuals mean such visions tend to turn into dystopias of centralised control and ritualised terror, but that doesn’t mean the search for a better tomorrow is futile.

License to thrill

James Bond first appeared 70 years ago, playing roulette at three o’clock in the morning, in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale, and the character has had almost as much impact on the real world of counter-intelligence as popular culture.

Defining indigeneity

How the courts define Indigeneity has profound implications for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in terms of the prospective Voice to Parliament, land rights and a range of other issues.

Welcome to the new cold war

The internal oppression and external aggression of Russia in Europe and China in Asia and the Pacific has forced the world into a new cold war, but the West won the last one and will win this latest iteration by retaining its moral resolve, military strength and diplomatic unity.

Europa report

While people have speculated about life on arid Mars or cloudy Venus for hundreds of years, the best chances of discovering alien forms lies in delving into the liquid oceans beneath the ice caps of Jupiter’s moons.

Give Ukraine the ammo to finish the job

History and justice are on the side of Ukraine but Europe must accelerate the march of history. Western military support serve the cause of a just peace in Ukraine. It is the right decision and a necessary one.

No time to think

Why do thoughts and memories pop into our heads without our bidding?