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Bleak US labour data may be driving this week’s commodities sell-off. AAP

Going down: what’s pushing oil, gold and silver prices lower

There has been a dramatic fall in the price of oil and some commodities over the last few days, with oil plunging by as much as 10% per cent in US trade overnight. The price has recovered somewhat this…
Recovering information from Osama’s hard drives may be impossible. wokka/Flickr

Cracking bin Laden’s computer code: unlikely

It has been reported that Osama bin Laden’s hard drives have been seized, hard drives that could conceivably contain information regarding the membership, funding and future plans of al-Qaeda. Information…
The AFL set-shot is as much about consistency as it is about the right technique. AAP/Martin Philbey

Centimetre-perfect: a quest for flawless goalkicking in the AFL

When the AFL has a weekend of inaccurate goal-kicking, media attention invariably turns to why set-shot goal-kicking hasn’t improved while other areas of footy have. As a footy fan, I have an interest…
Competition enables twins like Brad and Chris Scott to forge separate identities. kangaroos.com.au

How twins like the Scott brothers distinguish themselves in battle

Competition between twins hit the headlines this week as, for the first time in AFL history, identical twins Brad and Chris Scott will coach different teams against each other on Saturday. Both twins played…
Employing positive psychology in schools can have lifelong benefits. AAP

Getting the happiness formula right in the classroom

Former Australian of the Year Pat McGorry has campaigned to bring attention to distress suffered by many young people in our increasingly stressful society. Twenty six percent of young Australians experience…
Is paying for power lines pushing up bills? AAP

What’s really pushing up the price of power?

Household electricity bills are rising and about half of a typical bill goes to paying network costs. Are we paying too much for network infrastructure? Electricity networks are undeniably important. They…
Women are most likely to depend Centrelink payments. AAP

How the surplus drains the gender balance

FEDERAL BUDGET 2011: In recent decades, the budget surplus has become a goal in itself and an obsession for governments. In the process, we have lost some perspective on what kind of social and economic…
“And then children, we returned the budget to surplus…” AAP

Why Wayne and Julia are hooked on ‘deficit fetishism’

If pre-budget statements by Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan are an accurate guide, this year’s Federal Budget is shaping up as marking a change in the direction of Commonwealth taxing and spending priorities…
“It’s cyclical, no wait…” AAP

It’s the structural deficit, stupid

In order to understand why the government has committed itself to a budget surplus, we must distinguish what is known as the structural budget balance from the cyclical budget balance. We also need to…
On a wing and a prayer for the budget? AAP

Worshipping the debt-free mantra of surplus

To understand the political uses of budget surpluses, we need to go back to the early 1980s when Australia and New Zealand governments self-imposed a fiscal straitjacket. They decided that running a surplus…
Our relationship with China has been marked by misunderstandings and spats. AAP

When it comes to China, we don’t get it

Prime Minister Julia Gillard returned from her visit to China last month having locked down a series of cooperation agreements between countries - including a $600 million iron ore deal - which many hope…
New research links prolonged bottle feeding to obesity. http://www.flickr.com/photos/quitepeculiar

Children bottle-fed at two years are fatter at five: study

Children who are bottle-fed until the age of two are 30% more likely to be obese at five-and-a-half years of age, a new study has found. Of the 6750 children studied by researchers from Temple University…
SAD is often undiagnosed as a specific form of depression. Jeremy Brooks

Seasonal Affective Disorder: why you feel under the weather

As the days get shorter and we approach winter, many of us have a lowered mood, reduced energy levels and seem to need more sleep. Such seasonal changes in mood and energy are common and most of us adapt…
When people want timber but animals need trees, how do we compromise? AAP

Conservation vs communities: can’t we all get along?

In the developing world, there’s often a face-off between conservation needs and the needs of the community, with neither coming out all that well. Is it possible to “save more space for nature” without…
Victoria Police leave the inquest into the shooting death of Tyler Cassidy. AAP

Shoot first, spin later is the wrong approach for Victoria Police

This week two men were shot by members of Victoria Police. One on the street in St Kilda, the other in a Centrelink office in Windsor. The first was killed, the second seriously injured. Police media spokespersons…
Osama bin Laden masterminded the 9/11 attacks, but his death won’t mean an end to the terror threat. AFP/Doug Kanter

The death of bin Laden doesn’t mean the terror threat is over

The US military’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in North Pakistan is an important landmark in the “war on terror”. As the leader of al Qaeda he was the primary target of the military campaign to defeat…
An Australian carbon price needs to abide by a pile of international agreements. AAP

Laying down the law on the carbon price

Without a strong legal foundation, any carbon pricing scheme we come up with will be on shaky ground. And right now, the signs aren’t promising. While we don’t yet have a firm idea of what will be incorporated…
Pi pie

Are Pi’s days numbered?

Some people have argued that Pi’s days are numbered and that other tools, such as tau, could do its job more efficiently. As someone who has studied Pi throughout his entire working life, my response to…
Figures can mislead when it comes to the Melbourne model. flickr/Geoff Penaluna

In defence of the Melbourne Model

The world changes, but our categories fail to keep pace. We try to understand the new through the familiar, and become puzzled when things no longer make sense. Criticisms last week of the Melbourne Model…
Poking fun: singer Joss Stone at the last week’s royal wedding. AAP

Pomp and levity: why the royals aren’t going away

You don’t have to be a monarchist to see that the Royal wedding has been a triumph of cultural diplomacy for the United Kingdom, and a powerful statement to the world about the importance of tradition…