When Vanguard 1 – the “grapefruit satellite” – was launched in 1958, its only companions were Explorer 1 and Sputnik 2. Soon it may have thousands of descendants swarming around it.
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Elaine Herzberg’s death will provide the impetus for clearer liability rules for self-driving cars. Australia is wise to adopt a wait-and-watch approach and maintain its human-first orientation.
Sensors that monitor everything a self-driving vehicle does can help determine who is responsible in the case of an accident – the manufacturer, the service centre or the vehicle owner.
Critics say that #MeToo has turned the legal principle of innocent until proven guilty on its head, but such comments privilege the rights of perpetrators over justice for victims.
Whether for police, ambulance or fire fighters, the future of emergency communication is expected to be digital-friendly, flexible and diversified.
How should privacy be protected in a world where data is gathered and shared with increasing speed and ingenuity? Differential privacy, a new model of cyber security, provides a potential solution.
Hawking’s life embodied what it means to have access to the human right of communication through communication technology.
Feeding wild birds is discouraged in Australia despite its popularity in other countries. But many Australians still put food out for the birds, and that’s not a problem if it’s the right food.
A statistical method widely used today by scientists and others is all thanks to a statistician at a Guinness brewery whose work was published anonymously more than a century ago.
Economist, author and MP Andrew Leigh spoke to Fiona Fidler about how we should be using randomised trials more to drive decisions and policy in public life.
Stephen Hawking was a highly creative scientist, pushing past assumptions and playing with “what if” scenarios to take physics to new levels.
Stephen Hawking inspired people with his work on black holes and other mysteries of the universe. Many were quick to pay tribute to the theoretical physicist who died today in the UK, aged 76.
Spoken language evolves differently and faster than written language, and there are good reasons why this is the case.
From Superman to Jurassic Park, green screen technology is what makes the jaw-dropping effects you see in blockbuster movies possible. But how does it work?
Even if they do eventually wake up, Sergei and Julia Skripal could suffer permanent damage as a result of their exposure to a Novichok nerve agent.
From a slow hum to a chirp or a bleep, what is that sound you hear whenever there’s a new detection of gravitational waves?
New laws, new tools and new research is required to combat the rise in online hate. That means both regulating social media companies, and making use of technology to help measure compliance.
The destruction of a massive haul of illegal ivory was supposed to send a message to poachers and those who trade in the tusks. Did they notice, or can the ivory be used to help elephant conservation?
An ambassador needs to do more than just encourage young girls to enter STEMM, the role must address structural and cultural issues that push women out of the pipeline mid-career.
Plato suggested we leave complex things to experts and Aristotle suggested we leave them to the people. That tension has carried through to modern debates about where expertise belongs.
Wild leopards that live in an Indian city park like to dine on stray dogs, which new research says may help reduce the number of potentially deadly dog bites on people.
Critics want social media platforms regulated like Big Tobacco, but our research shows that their impact on your health depends on how you use them.
Why is Papua New Guinea so susceptible to landslides? Steep terrain, earthquakes and aftershocks plus recent seasonal rains have created an environment that is prone to collapse.
Parents – stop panicking. Teens use secondary Instagram accounts not to be sneaky, but to show their “non-polished” selves and connect with small groups of true friends.
China has upped its defence spending and is investing heavily in revolutionary technologies that could transform its military into the world’s most powerful force by the middle of the century.