Page 515 – Openforum https://www.openforum.com.au Open Forum offers an independent platform for Australian debate Thu, 28 Mar 2024 22:27:37 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 Chemical contaminants threaten wildlife more widely than thought https://www.openforum.com.au/chemical-contaminants-threaten-wildlife-more-widely-than-thought/ Tue, 28 Aug 2018 23:24:50 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16304 An international team of scientists led by Monash University has warned that the danger to wildlife through chemical pollution is a wider problem than previously thought as the effects of indirect contamination are not being factored into discussions.

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More efficient irrigation doesn’t help the environment https://www.openforum.com.au/more-efficient-irrigation-doesnt-help-the-environment/ Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:17:07 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16332 Increasing the efficiency of irrigation by lowering evaporation and leakage should lower consumption, but in practice farms simply use more water for their crops, with even less being returned to the environment.

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Knee replacement rehab in private hospitals is costing us all https://www.openforum.com.au/knee-replacement-rehab-in-private-hospitals-on-the-rise-and-its-costing-us-all/ Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:16:59 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16338 Rates of inpatient rehab after total knee replacement are increasing in Australia at a time when they are declining overseas, despite evidence that for most people it is no better than home- or community-based rehabilitation, according to Australian researchers.

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Why do women take sexy selfies? https://www.openforum.com.au/why-do-women-take-sexy-selfies/ Mon, 27 Aug 2018 22:16:50 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16341 New Australian research suggests that women around the world take sexy selfies to compete with their peers and climb the social ladder in economically unequal environments.

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What’s the best way to get around the city? https://www.openforum.com.au/whats-the-best-way-to-get-around-the-city/ Sun, 26 Aug 2018 22:30:30 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16320 Cycle, walk, drive or train? Dr Hassan Vally of La Trobe University weighs up the factors involved in choosing the healthiest and safest ways to get around Australia's ever more congested cities.

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Getting it right: The most complex space telescope ever built https://www.openforum.com.au/getting-it-right-the-most-complex-space-telescope-ever-built/ Sun, 26 Aug 2018 22:30:22 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16240 The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionised astronomy and produced images of space that have captured the public’s imagination like no other telescope. But as Hubble approaches its 30th birthday, its successor is waiting in the wings.

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Rising seas will displace millions of people – and Australia must be ready https://www.openforum.com.au/rising-seas-will-displace-millions-of-people-and-australia-must-be-ready/ Sun, 26 Aug 2018 22:30:14 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16291 Climate change will provoke rises in sea levels unseen since the end of the last ice age. Vast numbers of people who currently live beside the sea will be threatened and Australia will have to play its part in managing the crisis to come.

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The West’s age of defeat https://www.openforum.com.au/the-wests-age-of-defeat/ Sat, 25 Aug 2018 23:39:21 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16287 When historians look back on today, the central question will be why the seeming triumph of democratic liberalism after the Soviet collapse was so quickly frittered away.

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What were you thinking? https://www.openforum.com.au/what-were-you-thinking/ https://www.openforum.com.au/what-were-you-thinking/#comments Sat, 25 Aug 2018 23:39:16 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16307 We are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence for important decisions but we don’t know how those decisions are being made. We urgently need Explainable AI.

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Power plays in the Pacific https://www.openforum.com.au/power-plays-in-the-pacific/ Sat, 25 Aug 2018 23:39:02 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16300 As the most recent signatory to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, Papua New Guinea is increasingly turning to Beijing for investment and aid funding instead of traditional partners like Australia.

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International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) officially launches https://www.openforum.com.au/international-centre-for-democratic-partnerships-icdp-officially-launches/ Fri, 24 Aug 2018 02:22:44 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16313 After ten months of operations, ICDP is well and truly up and running.

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Humanity has a big decision to make in the climate end-game https://www.openforum.com.au/humanity-has-a-big-decision-to-make-in-the-climate-end-game/ Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:05:48 +0000 http://www.openforum.com.au/?p=16296 Humanity has a big decision to make very soon about its future on warming planet, but the Federal Coalition is still in denial that human-induced climate change even exists, let alone that the climate end-game is upon us.

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