Australia now officially recognises two special days to commemorate our national history of being at war but neither of them is Sorry Day. The Australian history of engagement in war is primarily honoured…
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THE STATE OF SCIENCE: Why do people distrust science? Why do some of us reject consensus on a whole range of scientific findings? As Professor Stephan Lewandowsky explains, it often comes down to the way…
Awareness can be detected in people previously thought to be in a permanent vegetative state using a cheap, portable electroencephalography (EEG) device, according to a study published in today’s Lancet…
Was John Hartigan pushed or did he leave his position as CEO of News Limited just in time? It’s likely that only a handful of people know the real answer to this question; among them will be “Harto” and…
The recent Cannes G20 meeting was ostensibly about saving Europe from falling into economic oblivion. But a frank exchange between US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, caught…
Influenza is never off the news agenda for long. If it’s not the flu season (and it always is in one hemisphere) and the attendant calls for vaccinations, it’s news about vaccines causing problems or new…
Australia’s carbon price mechanism has become law. But how does it work? There are six key points: 1. Australia’s emissions trajectory Australia has committed unconditionally to reduce its greenhouse gas…
Global markets have tumbled in the past 24 hours on fears over Italy’s worsening debt crisis, with media reports that Germany and France have begun talks to break up the Eurozone if the monetary union’s…
On day two of the Media Inquiry, unconstrained online speech figured as a danger to democracy, rather than a new avenue for discussing media ethics and journalistic transparency. Justice Finkelstein opened…
THE STATE OF SCIENCE: Former Chief Scientist for Australia Professor Penny Sackett explores how we deal with uncertainty in science. Listen to the podcast below for more. Professor Penny Sackett – Uncertainty…
Nearly all of the analysis and critique of the Qantas saga since the grounding has turned on the designs of principal players, their behaviours in the moment and the vagaries of the Fair Work Act. It has…
Your data is out there, somewhere – all of your data. Encryption can protect files on your laptop or PC. Storing them on a remote server – such as DropBox is another option. And … well, that’s about it…
This is a shorter version of an article that appears in the latest issue of Perspectives, an opinion-led journal published by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. The prevalence of overweight and obesity…
Educating young offenders about the consequences of their crimes is a key way to ensure they don’t re-offend. But bringing them face to face with their victims may not always be the right way to go. Young…
Italy’s sovereign debt crisis has been overshadowed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reluctant promise to resign after the country’s parliament made clear he no longer commanded a majority. Italy…
THE STATE OF SCIENCE: Should scientists communicate with the general public? Dr Danny Kingsley makes a case for speaking out. Scientific articles don’t often feature on beside tables or as bathroom reading…
When it comes to using vitamins to supplement diets, there’s a wide gap between what science says and what many consumers believe. A recent study, for instance, established that some 52% of the Australian…
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appears set to become the largest political casualty so far of the Eurozone’s continuing inability to resolve its massive sovereign debt problems. Berlusconi, who…
At long last, the Gillard Government’s carbon price is law. On July 1 next year, approximately 500 of our biggest companies will start paying the government $23 for every tonne of greenhouse gas they emit…
As journalists and academics got ready to outline a new media order at the Finkelstein inquiry yesterday, anti-regulationists lined up to dismiss the process with bipartisan relish. On day one of the inquiry…
As the initial shock of the Qantas lockout of its workforce abates, it is time to consider the wider implications of this action. One lesson is the folly of national identification of companies that are…
When we think of the last 50,000 years of prehistory, particularly the “Ice Age”, extinct species such as the woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros often spring to mind. Did humans bring about the extinction…
In recent weeks two commentary strands have intertwined and are extremely important to Australia’s future, and with special resonance for the higher education sector. Beginning with the announcement of…
This is a shorter version of an article that appears in the latest issue of Perspectives, an opinion-led journal published by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute. Maladaption is the inability of a species…
What do black holes eat? And do supermassive black holes have fiercer appetites? Let’s remind ourselves of the facts. Lurking at the centre of the Milky Way is a monster, a giant black hole with a mass…