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Four major disruptions of urban transport are set to transform city life, but exactly how remains uncertain. Taras Makarenko/Pexels

Utopia or nightmare? The answer lies in how we embrace self-driving, electric and shared vehicles

Self-driving, shared, electric vehicles and increasing urban density represent four disruptions that will transform city life. But a transport utopia isn’t a guaranteed outcome of their interactions.
An echidna in the Western Granites at Jam Tree Gully. John Kinsella

Friday essay: species sightings

On his bush block in the WA wheatbelt, poet John Kinsella attempts habitat restoration and reflects on the responsibilities of the writer as a witness to species loss.
In July 2017, new research was published that pushed the opening chapters of Australian history back to 65,000 years ago. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation

Essays On Air: When did Australia’s human history begin?

When did Australia’s human history begin? The Conversation, CC BY16.6 MB (download)
Today's episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of our Friday essay series, seeks to move beyond the view of ancient Australia as a timeless and traditional foundation story.
Since sodium is abundant, battery technology that uses it side-steps many of the issues associated with lithium batteries. Paul Jones/UOW

Charging ahead: how Australia is innovating in battery technology

Demand for energy storage is increasing – both in Australia and around the world. But issues with the production of lithium-ion batteries mean the search is on for alternatives.
An artist’s impression of the predicted merger between our Milky Way (right) and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy (left). So which galaxy will dominate? NASA; ESA; Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI; T. Hallas; and A. Mellinger

When galaxies collide, size matters if you want to know the fate of our Milky Way

Bigger galaxies tend to dominate the smaller, when the two collide. But the pending battle between our Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy might be a much fairer fight than we previously thought.
Scotty James became the second Australian in Winter Olympic history to win a medal in the snowboard halfpipe event. EPA/Fazry Ismail

What makes a winning halfpipe snowboarder like Scotty James?

Halfpipe snowboarders like Scotty James may seem laid-back and relaxed, but they are subjected to high physical load and fatigue induced by training and competition.
Starting out as a set of demonstrations against university reform, the French uprisings of May 1968 quickly gathered momentum. AAP/EPA/Prefecture de Police Museum

Be realistic – demand the impossible: the legacy of 1968

The protesters who took to the streets of Paris didn’t know what they wanted: they just knew what they were against. But they did make us think that maybe there is another, better world.
One of the paradoxes of wage policy is that ultimately governments are held responsible and blamed for poor results, but governments are but one player in a complex system of wage adjustment. Lukas Coch/AAP

Governments shouldn’t be so hasty in declaring victory on wages policy

History tells us governments do not always get what they wish for, and in fact often perverse outcomes flow from policy choices.
In Altered Carbon, the streetscape reflects the sodden bitumen and garbled neon of Blade Runner’s Los Angeles. Mythology Entertainment, Skydance Television

The dystopian mash-up Altered Carbon is peak Anthropocene TV

The new Netflix sci-fi series, with a gumshoe cyborg as its chief protagonist, mines a host of contemporary anxieties and aesthetic influences.
By the time young people get to university, it’s far too late to be initiating education on sexual consent. Shutterstock

Making sexual consent matter: one-off courses are unlikely to help

Some Australian universities have introduced a one-off sexual consent program to combat sexual assault and harassment on campus, but one-off programs are unlikely to be effective in the long term.