Even the world’s best available training – used to train police, border control agents and other security personnel – does not compensate for natural talent in face recognition.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
Etchings over much earlier Aboriginal engravings show foreign whalers made contact with Australia's remote northwest long before colonial settlement of the area.
Modern animals took over our planet much more quickly than previously thought. This has both welcome and disturbing implications for the future of life on our rapidly changing planet
Rovers including 'Rosalind Franklin' will pick up where Opportunity left off – trying to answer the question of whether there is, or ever has been, life on Mars.
Imagine a future society where parents can choose the characteristics of their children. Does that turn babies into consumer products., and what choice does the child get?
Tech companies portray virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri as our helpers. In reality, we're helping them gather the behavioural data they need to turn a profit.
Australia has a well-earned reputation as a mining nation. Now we're moving towards mining 'off world', on the Moon.
Disorders affecting penis development are among the most common birth defects seen in humans, and rates are on the rise.
A study or more than 500,000 surveys shows university students demonstrate bias against women teachers, and particularly women from non-English speaking backgrounds.
We have robots that can walk and run but still a long way to go before the technology matches the cybernetic skills in the new science fiction film Alita: Battle Angel.
Don't pursue happiness as a goal, instead make sure what you do from day to day provides a sense of meaning in life.
A study or more than 500,000 surveys shows university students demonstrate bias against women teachers, and particularly women from non-English speaking backgrounds.
If dogs are bred with known health disorders, what role should vets play in discouraging potential owners from animals that could cost them both financially and emotionally?
Optical illusions appear when our brains have trouble moulding raw sensory data into shapes and patterns. Designers have been exploiting this process for centuries.
Be careful before you rush your kids into so-called "talent identification" sports programs – you might be putting a whole lifetime of enjoyable exercise at risk.
When you click on unverified links or download suspicious apps you increase the risk of exposure to malware. Here's what could happen if you do – and how you can minimise your risk.
Run, leap, scramble...it's parkour! Science can help you run up walls more efficiently, and chose the best way to land from a height.
A website for the parliamentary inquiry into Labor's policy to end franking credit cash rebates contains no privacy policy, or details of who the data will be shared with and how it will be used.
New Caledonian crows are famous for using tools to reach a reward. Now scientists have confirmed they can plan several steps ahead, like a chess player contemplating a series of moves.
Some Australian Facebook users are more worried about over-sharing by friends than the privacy and security of their personal information.
International standards ban publication of research that involves any biological material from executed prisoners, that lacks human research ethics committee approval and that lacks consent of donors.
Bees need flowers to live, and we need bees to pollinate our crops. Understanding bee vision can help us better support our buzzy friends and the critical pollination services they provide.
Research and News
For many of us, this hack seems to have come out of the blue. But cyber measures targeting Australian government infrastructure are the 'new normal'.
Australia has one of the most secure electoral systems imaginable thanks to paper ballots. Cybersecurity experts caution against e-voting.
Chinese-language social media in Australia are increasingly a focus for local political parties.
A lot of attention has been focused on Russia’s efforts to influence American politics, but Australia has also been a target – and continues to be a target – of covert foreign influence.
The wonders of bees
Bee brains contain less than one million neurons. Despite this, new research shows the honeybee can use symbols to perform basic maths, including addition and subtraction.
Bees need flowers to live, and we need bees to pollinate our crops. Understanding bee vision can help us better support our buzzy friends and the critical pollination services they provide.
Bees can pick up unique characteristics in paintings by zipping quickly back and forth in front of them to detect abrupt changes in the brightness of an image.
The Romans may not have had a symbol for zero, but bees understand what it means beyond just the simple assumption "there's nothing there".
Extra "eyes" on top of bee heads help them see colours the same way under all light conditions. And it's an approach that could help us design better cameras.
Curious Kids
Robots are not yet as good as humans at working with other humans or even working with other robots.
Shooting stars are not stars at all. They are tiny space adventurers who accidentally wander into our sky and get sucked toward us by Earth's gravity. Here's the story of a shooting star's journey.
There are three ways heat can be shared: conduction, convection and radiation. Find out which one lets heat travel through space.
We can't make it rain. But you are already helping if you don't use more water than you need. And you can talk to your parents about the planet getting warmer, because the heat makes drought worse.
As a police officer, I was involved in many pursuits, investigated serious accidents and later became a researcher. Here's what I've learned about how police make decisions in a pursuit.
As gas from your stomach comes up your food pipe, it makes the surface of the upper part of your oesophagus rattle and vibrate. It is a bit like windows that rattle during a windy storm.
Animals that evolved in cold parts of the world usually have lighter skin. If a light-skinned animal has blood vessels close to the surface of their ear skin, this will make the ears look pink.
Volcanologists study the formation and eruptions of volcanoes - surely one of the most interesting jobs around. However, it can also be very dangerous.
Scientists say humans are pretty similar to chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. So why don't we have fur like they do?
The students of class 3E, Ferny Grove State School, want to know if astronauts get space sick when travelling to the International Space Station.
X-rays are like light rays, but they can pass through more stuff. Some of the x-ray's energy is blocked by bone, which is why you can see bones so clearly on x-ray scans.
Ferns came along more than 200 million years before the dinosaurs walked the Earth. They were food for plant-eating dinosaurs and they're really great survivors. Heather, age 8, wants to know more.
While we move soap around, it lifts up invisible oil that holds germs onto your hand.
In the space of a few short years, deaf Nicaraguan school children created their own language. This example may give us a clue about how spoken language developed over thousands of years.
While making small volumes of pure water in a lab is possible, it’s not practical. The reaction is expensive, releases lots of energy, and can cause really massive explosions.
PhD scholarships
Research and Expert Database
Pet welfare
If dogs are bred with known health disorders, what role should vets play in discouraging potential owners from animals that could cost them both financially and emotionally?
Not what it seems
Optical illusions appear when our brains have trouble moulding raw sensory data into shapes and patterns. Designers have been exploiting this process for centuries.
Sporty kids
Be careful before you rush your kids into so-called "talent identification" sports programs – you might be putting a whole lifetime of enjoyable exercise at risk.
Parkour
Run, leap, scramble...it's parkour! Science can help you run up walls more efficiently, and chose the best way to land from a height.
Online scams
When victims report cybercrime they want an offender arrested and prosecuted, but a report finds that rarely happens.
Girls in science
Large gaps in the representation of women in science careers later in life are not due to lack of ability in the classroom.
Tumblr
Sexual subcultures create space for critical social conversations and the formation of meaningful political alliances.
Space agency
The headquarters of the Australian Space Agency will be in Adelaide. So how did we get to this point? Here are ten essential reads to fill you in.
Edge of the Universe
Voyager 2 launched in 1977 and visited all four gas giants in our Solar System. It's now almost 18 billion kilometres from Earth and has finally joined its twin in interstellar space.
Chinese media
Chinese-language social media in Australia are increasingly a focus for local political parties.
Hacking #auspol
A lot of attention has been focused on Russia’s efforts to influence American politics, but Australia has also been a target – and continues to be a target – of covert foreign influence.
Plane disaster
The flight data may only shed light on what happened. Investigators must systematically investigate other evidence to find out why JT-610 crashed.
God vs science
'I don't believe in God, I believe in science,' atheists often argue. But that doesn't mean their thinking is evidence-based.
The news that a former moderator is suing Facebook over unsafe work practices suggests it's time we finally took the mental health of moderators seriously.
Desert people
They were looking to study rock art at a remote desert site but what they found showed people had been using the place almost since the first people arrived in Australia.
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