• Neuroscience

    You can teach old dogs new tricks


    Stephen Badham |  May 3, 2024


    Employers – and the general public – often assume young people are smarter, or at least quicker to learn, than older people, but new research suggests that cognitive differences between the old and young have been tapering off over time.


  • Science and Technology

    Who’s afraid of quantum computing?


    Chris Ferrie |  May 3, 2024


    Embracing quantum technology might be less about overcoming fear and more about fostering understanding, encouraging patience, and maintaining an open mind to the unlimited possibilities this technology promises to bring.


  • Environment

    A spring clean for Everest


    Alton Byers |  May 3, 2024


    Mount Everest was once the ultimate challenge in high-altitude mountaineering, but the commodification of expeditions over the last 30 years has turned it into a motorway strewn with trash which urgently requires a spring clean.


Latest Story

  • Put down the phone girls

    Open Forum     |      August 15, 2019

    Very frequent use of social media could be harming teenage girls’ mental health through exposure to cyberbullying as well as reducing the amount of sleep or physical exercise they have.

  • Special forces’ approach to technological change offers a model for others

    Michael Shoebridge     |      August 15, 2019

    New procurement principles and practice spearheaded by Australia’s special forces can reduce project risks across the defence budget while embracing more rapid technological change.

  • The value of understanding school to work transitions

    Kelly Fawcett     |      August 14, 2019

    New research shows that young people take increasingly diverse, individualised and complex pathways from education to work. It now takes young people an average of 2.6 years to transition from full-time education to full-time work compared to one year in the 1980s.

  • What’s the next big thing in science?

    Anders Furze     |      August 14, 2019

    As National Science Week celebrates scientific discovery across Australia, we ask what’s likely to be the ‘next big thing’ in some of the most exciting fields of science research.

  • How to defend Australia

    Hugh White     |      August 14, 2019

    The task Australia faces in deciding its future levels of defence spending is to balance that risk against the cost of building the armed forces required to deal with it.

  • It’s not in the national interest to soft pedal on China

    Michelle Grattan     |      August 13, 2019

    The government’s attempt to stifle backbench contributions to the growing debate on China’s intentions is shortsighted at best, as the issue will only grow more urgent in the years ahead.

  • Debunking 5 myths about the Geneva Conventions

    Helen Durham     |      August 13, 2019

    The Geneva Conventions turned 70 on August 12. The anniversary offers a moment to celebrate all the lives the conventions have helped save and to remind the world of the importance of protecting people from the worst of warfare.

  • High tech solutions to elderly falls

    Open Forum     |      August 13, 2019

    Drones, smartphones and sensors could offer a lifeline to the world’s growing elderly population and help cut global hospital costs.

  • Climate change drives global political and religious strife

    Alan Stevenson     |      August 12, 2019

    Based on information obtained from National Centre for Climate Restoration in Melbourne, Alan Stevenson outlines the threat which climate change poses to vulnerable nations around the world, and its role as a catalyst in terrorism and political instability.

  • The strange death of the department store

    Sean Sands     |      August 12, 2019

    Department stores were once the pinnacle of middle-class aspiration but are now losing out to discount shops and luxury retailers as well as the convenience of the internet.

  • Don’t forget Mum’s health: Reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes

    Open Forum     |      August 12, 2019

    University of South Australia researchers are appealing for better support for women diagnosed with gestational diabetes to help them return to or maintain a healthy weight after pregnancy.

  • Smartphone therapy?

    Reeva Lederman     |      August 11, 2019

    Our phones can be a source of stress and distraction, but digital mental healthcare offers new ways to help people cope with modern life.