Latest Story
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How democracy ends
Mark Beeson | October 8, 2018The rise of populists, a growing number of authoritarian regimes and an apparent loss of confidence in democratic politicians have all contributed to the idea that democracy is in serious trouble.
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Lilly Pilly fossils reveal snowless Snowy Mountains
Open Forum | October 8, 2018Leaf fossils discovered high in Australia’s Snowy Mountains have revealed a past history of warmer rainforest vegetation and a lack of snow, in contrast with the alpine vegetation and winter snow-covered slopes of today.
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Sky hopping with Australia’s first space telescope
Michele Trenti | October 7, 2018Australia has entered a new chapter in the exploration and understanding of space by creating a National Space Agency. Now innovative design is combining with new, low-cost nano-satellite technology to build Skyhopper, Australia’s first space telescope.
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Man, woman and other?
Open Forum | October 7, 2018A growing number of people in Australia no longer see themselves as fitting into the traditional boxes of ‘man’ or ‘woman’, with more than 30 gender options available to choose from on some social media platforms and within government institutions.
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University panel ponders the use of student data
Open Forum | October 7, 2018A panel of professionals, academics and students at UNSW Sydney has discussed some tricky ethical questions about how universities handle student data.
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What are we doing to our dogs?
Andrew Trounson | October 6, 2018Designer dogs, selective breeding, clones and intensive breeding are having unintended effects on the health and well-being of man’s best friend – so is our love of pups actually bad for them in the long run?
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Industry is too involved in clinical research
Open Forum | October 6, 2018An international study of industry-funded research has found the funders are usually involved in every step of the trial, raising doubts about the veracity and independence of their results.
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Recycling goes to landfill while technology sits idle
Stuart Snell | October 6, 2018People are losing confidence in recycling and overwhelmingly want government to support better solutions, according to a new university survey.
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Is our democracy broken?
Shaun Carney | October 5, 2018While many Australians are still coming to terms with having five Prime Ministers in as many years, what does the future look like for the world’s sixth oldest continuous democracy?
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Stronger winds could trigger rapid change in Southern Ocean
Open Forum | October 5, 2018A new IMAS study has found that an increase in average wind speeds could lead to abrupt physical changes in the Southern Ocean, with significant implications for climate change.
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How poor risk communication endangers our health
Open Forum | October 5, 2018Some experts explain risks and scientific concepts very well, but sometimes their efforts to communicate fall well short – and this can cause problems. So what does it take for experts to do a good job communicating risks about cleaning up contaminated land to non-experts, and how important is it that they do so?
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Pacific Connect’s First Anniversary
Tina Briggs | October 4, 2018On 8 September 2017, the Prime Minister announced the Pacific Connect pilot to forge stronger, strategic-level relationships between Pacific and Australian leaders across the public, private, academic and community sectors. The International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) began implementing Pacific Connect on 1 October 2017.
