One of the more interesting techniques emerging from the United States Republican Nomination Primary Contest has been the strategy being used in television advertising by some candidates, in particular…
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Media outlets have been reporting that scientists are planning to “create designer babies” with three parents. Professor Justin St John, Director of the Centre for Reproduction and Development at Monash…
As a general practitioner, I hear a lot of colourful advice from my patients about what they believe constitutes “safe” drinking and how to avoid a nasty hangover. Some of the more pithy sayings – “beer…
Much is made of the Treaty of Waitangi as the vehicle for the recognition of Maori in New Zealand’s legal system. Australia lacks a treaty, the argument goes, and therefore is constitutionally disabled…
As long as people see the gender wage gap as normal, society has a problem. This view is illustrated in a comment by Jeremy Sammut on a Centre for Independent Studies email newsletter: “Forget that the…
We are seeing the first signs of dangerous climate change in the Arctic. This is our warning that humanity is facing a dire future. The Arctic region is fast approaching a series of “tipping points” that…
Maybe it’s the lot of academics to be misrepresented, but when a single incident can nearly get you sacked it makes you reconsider whether to deal with the media at all. Last year, comments of mine about…
The DSM giveth, and the DSM taketh away - this is the less-than-complimentary sentiment of many people within the autism community as the clock ticks down to the publication of the most eagerly-anticipated…
Retailers: be careful what you underestimate. Whether it’s the competition, the consumer or the channel to market, if the writing is on the wall - you’d better read it. Globally, the consumer electronics…
A recent cartoon (below) extrapolates the use of the word “sustainable”. It predicts that in 50 years each sentence will on average contain the word at least once. The cartoon is clever, and “sustainable…
The math involved is quite simple. Be it an Australian Open final, Melbourne’s race that stops a nation or the Superbowl, more people want to attend than can fit in the venue. Less simple, however, are…
“Finish your dinner or there’ll be no dessert for you!” – it’s a cry heard at dinner tables around the world, as mothers battle to convince their sons about the importance of eating properly. Sorry lads…
James Packer, Lachlan Murdoch, Kerry Stokes, John Singleton and Gina Rinehart. While Stokes and Singleton have been around media traps for a few years now, the return of a Packer, a Murdoch and the addition…
Qantas and its low cost carrier division Jetstar have announced they will increase domestic and international airfares in stages from February through to July 1. The justification is a combination of increasing…
Looking at embryonic cells allows researchers to understand many of the fundamental questions about how an animal’s genes are structured and the role they play in developing the adult animal. This information…
Most readers would know of the current debate about universities teaching complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). A core question not being addressed in this debate is what other institution is better…
Telecommunications giant Optus managed to convince the Federal Court in Sydney this week that there’s a legal blindspot in relation to its download pay-per-view service. Telstra – given its business relationship…
A week after Toyota announced redundancies at its Altona plant in Melbourne, Holden confirmed the loss of 100 casual jobs at its manufacturing plant in Adelaide. Holden chief Mike Devereux said the cuts…
It seems that every day you read in the scientific literature and global media about the human destruction of our oceans, through impacts such as climate change, eutrophication, overfishing and urban sprawling…
If you put a group of people on a calorie-restricted diet, you’ll see that some seem to lose weight easily, while others struggle to shed each pound. This difference doesn’t just come down to how much…
A growing cohort of commentators has bemoaned the descent of contemporary political “debate” into a largely fact-free zone. People used to be entitled to their own opinions, but not their own set of facts…
Last year will go on record as one of significant natural disasters both in Australia and overseas. Indeed, the flooding of the Brisbane River in January is still making news as the Queensland floods inquiry…
The stench of hypocrisy is a hard one to wash out for the West in the Middle East. We shook Gadaffi’s hand and pretended we liked his outfits when he coughed up for Lockerbie and we snuggled with Mubarak…
Entrepreneur Dick Smith has been very vocal in the past few days about the prospect of his namesake retail business falling into “foreign hands”. Despite him selling the electronics chain to Woolworths…
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual gathering in picturesque Davos is always full of highest-level gossip, bellwether pronouncements, and – sometimes – significant insights. And from the global health…