AUSTRALIA 2050 – There’s no way of predicting what the environment will be like in 2050, but there are many possibilities. I will sketch out two extremes. The first is bleak. The first independent national…
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On Thursday August 18, two bills were introduced in the Australian House of Representatives. One was the “Live Animal Export Restriction and Prohibition Bill 2011”, introduced by Independent Member for…
The government’s controversial “Malaysia solution”, in which Australia “swaps” refugees with Malaysia is being challenged in the High Court this week. Asylum seekers are being backed by the Australian…
Despite confusion in recent hours about exactly who the Libyan rebels have captured, it is clear that the Gaddafi regime has been severely weakened by the weekend advance into central Tripoli. This advance…
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have announced a plan to impose a financial transactions tax (FTT) for the Eurozone, as part of an effort stem the bloc’s worsening…
A study published in Nature Geoscience yesterday reports the discovery of 3.4 billion-year-old microbial cells in ancient sandstones in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Some headlines have suggested…
Before she died in September 2007 of melanoma attributed to solarium tanning sessions, 26-year-old Clare Oliver waged a public campaign from her hospital bed to raise awareness of the risks of using sunbeds…
AUSTRALIA 2050 – I’d like you to imagine for a minute that you are living in Australia in 2050: August 1 2050, to be precise. It’s one of those days that makes you glad to be alive: a cool morning in Melbourne…
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna is meeting today to discuss raising Australia’s tuna fishing quota. The tuna industry is expected to ask for a 30% rise in Australia’s allocated…
The effort to overthrow Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi appears to be reaching its climax with key elements of his military forces surrendering to the rebels and senior members of his regime* in rebel hands. While…
Pollution from human activities has major impact on the world’s marine ecosystems. Plastic refuse is one of the most pervasive types of pollution. More than 80 million tons of plastics are estimated to…
Television loves particular careers: detectives, lawyers, forensic experts and, perhaps most of all, doctors. Popular long-running shows such as House and Grey’s Anatomy join a long list of medical programs…
Distinctions matter. Maybe lawyers devote more effort than the average citizen to making distinctions, and invest the ones they find with improbable significance, but these are occupational hazards. Even…
While adding up your grocery bill in the supermarket, you’re probably not thinking how important or sophisticated our number system is. But the discovery of the present system, by unknown mathematicians…
Last week’s resounding defeat of two private members bills seeking to end live animal exports demonstrates the myopic vision Australian politicians have for the country’s agricultural industry. This is…
Severe low back pain is a common and dreaded problem that rivals only hay fever, asthma, hypertension and dermatitis as Australia’s leading cause of long-term illness. The instinctive response to severe…
If you believe the hype, the “patent wars” are well and truly underway. Google announced last week it will buy Motorola Mobility to get access to 15,000 of the handset manufacturer’s patents and HTC, Apple…
You really have to wonder what kind of message the New South Wales Government is trying to send about its attitude to science. Was the announcement of funding cuts to research during Science Week just…
The situation in Libya remains fluid but with armed rebel fighters now in Green Square in central Tripoli, it appears the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is in its final hours. Two of the dictator’s…
If I were a shareholder in Foster’s, which is facing a hostile takeover bid from global brewer SABMiller, there are three questions that I would ask myself before deciding whether to sell my stake. First…
Let’s face it; we just don’t like the word “tax”, do we? Such a brouhaha, such a fuss. But let’s just take a break from the group hysteria to look at the carbon tax from a few different points of view…
What will Australia look like in 2050? Will the debates raging now about a carbon tax, about health reform, about immigration, still have relevance, or will new problems, bigger problems, have taken their…
For the latest in our In Conversation series, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University, John Warhurst spoke with the Independent member for the NSW seat of Lyne, Rob…
Innovations deriving from genetics research, stem cell research, nanoscience and neuroscience will soon revolutionise medicine. With the potential for biotechnologies to alter natural processes and redefine…
Human enhancement is one of the most controversial and exciting areas in bioethics: advances in science promise a future world where we can radically alter our basic capabilities. This future may include…