How we inherit masculine and feminine behaviours: a new idea about environment and genes
A stable environment that teaches men to be men and women to be women could be helping to enforce gender across generations.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
From the edge of the Solar System, Voyager probes are still talking to Australia after 40 years
The Voyager space probes sent back some amazing images of the planets in the outer Solar System, and they're still talking to Earth every day via Australia's tracking station.
For sniffing out crime and missing persons, science backs blood-detection dogs
Blood-detection dogs work paw in hand with scientists and Australia's police to solve crimes and missing persons cases.
We all need to forget, even robots
Robots have a lot to learn from humans when it comes to memory.
When it comes to same-sex marriage, not all views deserve respect
Your ideas are not immune to criticism just because you express them with sincerity: people are worthy of respect, ideas are not.
When artists get involved in research, science benefits
When artists and scientists get together, they fuel each other's creativity and inquiry.
Bored reading science? Let’s change how scientists write
Science papers are supposed to be communication tools - and yet hardly anyone can understand them, even other scientists.
Curious Kids: Why don’t the planets closest to the Sun melt or burn up?
The planets closer to the Sun are indeed hotter than the Earth is. But they are still not hot enough to melt the rocks they are made from.
A fragmented streaming video market is good for everyone but the consumer
The cost and confusion of having content tied to so many different streaming platforms could ultimately provoke a return to bundling and a pay TV model.
Cyberspace aggression adds to North Korea’s threat to global security
Reports of North Korea's capability of firing nuclear weapons are not the only serious threat to global security. North Korea has also become an aggressive cyber power.
Research and News
Dancing brittle stars tell an ancient tale of life and death in brutal seas
Australia was a different place 275 million years ago - wild storms surged through icy seas, and marine animals lived a tenuous existence. But brittle stars had a survival strategy.
When dinosaurs walked the Earth they moved like modern birds
The footprints of dinosaurs can tell a lot about how they moved about many millions of years ago.
Human embryo CRISPR advances science but let’s focus on ethics, not world firsts
A world first study shows CRISPR can remove a target gene from early stage human embryos. But with the advance in science come weighty ethical dilemmas.
New Zealand focus
The legend of Poūwa: ancient myths of New Zealand’s black swan confirmed by fossil DNA
New research reveals that New Zealand once had its own species of black swan, the Poūwa.
Satellites reveal melting of rocks under volcanic zone, deep in Earth’s mantle
New research shows that satellite measurements of tiny movements of the Earth's surface can tell scientists what is happening in the deeper layers of our planet.
The future of batteries
To build better batteries, you need to catch them in the act
Emerging industries, from energy storage to electric cars, will need longer lasting batteries. Watching batteries in action will help us build them.
A guide to deconstructing the battery hype cycle
High energy, high power and endless life cycles: not all batteries are created equal.
From around the world
The real reason middle-aged men in Lycra dominate cycling (it’s not a mid-life crisis)
The so-called 'Mamils' are looking for good mental health – not a chance to relive their youth.
How do fire ants form amazing towers and rafts without a master plan?
Researchers identified simple behavioral rules that allow these tiny creatures to collaboratively build elaborate structures, with no one in charge.
Happy 10th birthday iPhone, the nearest thing to a secure pocket computer
Elon Musk releases details of plan to colonise Mars – here’s what a planetary expert thinks
Ancient DNA reveals how cats conquered the world
Are left-handed people more gifted than others? Our study suggests it may hold true for maths
The seven most extreme planets ever discovered
PhD scholarships
Columnists
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
Amazing caves
Naracoorte, where half a million years of biodiversity and climate history are trapped in caves
Layers and layers of sand and sediment collected in Naracoorte Caves create windows into what Australia was like in our recent past.
In the feathers
Hidden feather patterns tell the story of birds
Ordinary grey bird feathers placed under X-ray fluorescence reveal beautiful patterns of elements like zinc, telling a story of feather growth and the environments the birds have experienced.
In a spin
A new discovery of gravitational waves has black holes in a spin
Scientists have made a third detection of gravitational waves, again caused by the merger of two black holes. But they think there's something different about the black holes in this case.
Wibble wobble
Melting ice and satellites: how to measure the Earth’s ‘wiggle’
Driverless cars and drones will require pinpoint location accuracy, which means our methods for measuring the Earth's centre need an overhaul.
Saving the young
Pregnant rays and babies pay a price after ‘catch and release’ from fishing trawlers
Rays caught unintentionally by fishing trawlers often spend time on deck before being returned to the ocean. New research shows the stress of this experience affects pregnant rays, and their babies.
Happy 40th
Star Wars turns 40 and it still inspires our real life space junkies
Star Wars was a swashbuckling space fantasy that inspired some of the technology we see today, four decades after the film's release.
Pirates
Pirates of the Caribbean 5: there be some good science in that there film
Captain Jack Sparrow sails the high seas again in the fifth outing of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. So did the filmmakers get the science right in the action packed adventure?
FRBs
ASKAP telescope speeds up the hunt for new Fast Radio Bursts
It used to take weeks to find any of these mysterious signals from deep in space but when the new telescope started looking it found one within days. Then another.
Emotional
Explainer: how the internet knows if you’re happy or sad
Advertisers want to know how you feel online through a process known as sentiment analysis, but it still has its limitations.
Good hackers
An ethical hacker can help you beat a malicious one
Simply updating and patching an organisation's computer software may not be enough to fend off another cyber attack. You could engage an ethical hacker to help out.
All alone
Maybe we can, but should we? Deciding whether to bring back extinct species
The "decision science" approach helps avoid unanticipated consequences of programs to bring species such as New Zealand's little bush moa, Waitomo frog, or laughing owl back from extinction.
Staying with mum
The lengthy childhood of endangered orangutans is written in their teeth
Young orangutans are dependent on their mother's milk for many years and that could have an impact on the survival of the critically endangered species.
Data protection
Cloud, backup and storage devices: how best to protect your data
We have never been so connected and we are producing more data than ever before. But how can we manage our data effectively while making sure it remains safe?
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