James Cook University drew a lot of attention in the higher education sector recently by publicly “opting out” of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University rankings. Their reason was simple enough…
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Home – Articles, Analysis, Comment
Displaying 48876 - 48900 of 52382 articles
If we want to survey families to discover how the children are going, we usually have to ask an adult. It seems common sense to ask the “primary carer”, usually the mother, who knows the child the best…
Would you classify a landfill for a rural city in New South Wales as state or regionally significant? Should it get a smoother ride through the planning system than other kinds and scales of development…
Last Friday the World Heritage Centre and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a report on the state of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest World Heritage Property…
Australians have just celebrated Mabo Day – this year marking the 20th anniversary of the landmark High Court decision that changed the course of land rights in Australia The case has special resonance…
All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia board this afternoon as it meets to decide whether to further cut interest rates. Australian markets tumbled 2% yesterday in the wake of poor US jobs data…
As you’re reading this, people all over the world are gearing up to witness this century’s final transit of Venus. Over a period of around six hours and 40 minutes tomorrow, from early morning until the…
At the turn of the 20th century, life expectancy in Australia was just 55 years for men and 59 for women. Thanks to medical breakthroughs and technological advances, the average Australian woman can now…
Snow White’s star is on the rise in 2012. She’s a lead character in the television show Once Upon a Time, and the subject of two major films, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. Not since Walt…
Takeovers are about control. Gina Rinehart’s acquisition of Fairfax Media Limited shares] - and increased stake in the company - has raised several questions about the nature of control in listed companies…
Contemporary processed foods contain many additives, largely to meet consumer expectations for great tasting products that are aesthetically pleasing, all year round. If we didn’t have all these expectations…
When the water planning process for the Murray-Darling Basin first commenced, an experienced colleague of mine noted that this was shaping up to be a lying contest between farmers and environmentalists…
What do Cruella de Vil, The Joker and Maleficent have in common? Beyond an implacable desire for evil and their cartoonish existence, they have pointy chins and a marked V shape between their arching eyebrows…
Poor Greg Sheridan: he never met a prime minister he couldn’t be besotted with until Julia Gillard came along. Ever since she got the top job, he has been running a campaign designed to demonstrate that…
Almost 70 years ago, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery, marking the downfall of one of the most murderous regimes the world has ever seen. Decades later, there is still…
Who has not experienced the scam phone call from someone purporting to want to fix a problem with Windows on your PC, or help you recoup a large sum of money being held in a trust just waiting for you…
Elephants in the room, part two For all our schemes and mantras about making our lives environmentally “sustainable”, humanity’s assault on the planet not only continues but expands. What are the deep…
“Use it or lose it” is a catch-cry that applies to the brain as well as the body. For some time now, researchers have known that, in general, people who stay more mentally active throughout their lives…
On Wednesday, as you’ll no doubt know by now, a rare celestial event will occur. Venus will pass between the earth and the sun - the transit of Venus. You might also already know that this cosmic spectacle…
Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced that Australia will lead the way in expelling Syrian diplomats in response to the Al Houla massacre. These theatrics are just another act in the shadow play…
Welcome to the first essay in our series on how the Australian landscape has been described in literature. We start with an internationally recognised D. H. Lawrence scholar, Christopher Pollnitz, writing…
I invited some friends to dinner recently for a little heart to heart. Little did they know, that I was being literal. For my guests that night, I served lamb heart stew. Offal. The word is enough to turn…
This weekend, Britain will celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Bunting and cream cakes will turn neighbourhood roads into street parties and a flotilla of 1,000 boats will sail down the…
The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings released this week are worth reflecting on, not so much because of the relative positioning of various countries - including Australia - but rather because of the…
The global organ transplant market appears to have reached a new low this week, with reports in The Guardian that one organ is sold every hour somewhere in the world. This follows a Chinese media expos…