Detecting gravity waves is a major goal for astrophysicists. We know they should be there, but we haven’t found them yet. But today we are one step closer. By literally squeezing light on a quantum level…
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Recently my colleagues and I announced the discovery of a remarkable planet orbiting a special kind of star known as a pulsar. Based on the planet’s density, and the likely history of its system, we concluded…
Two recent hacking incidents have highlighted the increasing fragility of the internet’s core infrastructure. They serve as a stark reminder that online security is somewhat illusory. The weaknesses have…
Welcome to Peer Review, a series in which we ask leading academics to review books written by people working in the same field. Here Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sydney…
In the euphoria following the downfall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt, Wael Ghonim, the so-called “hero” of the revolution proclaimed: “Technology played a great role here. You know, it helped keeping…
Since its discovery in August 2008, the site of Malapa in Johannesburg has yielded more than 220 bones of early hominins representing at least six individuals, including the remains of babies, juveniles…
You might have heard about athletes and other sportspeople absconding to high-altitude locations for training. Indeed altitude training has become the training-method-du-jour for sporting codes around…
The world of weather forecasting is still dominated by government agencies and national weather services, but there’s now a steady drip-drip of private forecasters. While they’re not exactly flooding the…
Eyeless fish that have evolved underground, completely isolated from the day-night cycle, may offer clues to how our body clocks work up here on dry land. Authors of a report published today in the online…
Scientists hoping to fix a deadly cancer killing Tasmanian Devils and researchers behind a new needle-free immunisation technique were among the scores of Australian researchers celebrated at the Oscars…
A recent series of articles on The Conversation focused on the value of forensic science in criminal cases. Many specialities were covered. But what about forensic psychology? Professionals in this field…
We know, because it’s big news, that drug-resistant infections are on the rise globally. But could Australian mammals hold the key to a fightback? Our current crop of antibiotics is in danger of becoming…
It’s a scene reminiscent of a thousand police dramas: the FBI arrived at the door of 20-year-old journalism student Mercedes Haefer, guns drawn, at 6am one morning last July. She was still in her pyjamas…
Net neutrality was succinctly described in a recent study as “the belief that ISPs [internet service providers] must treat all internet content equally”. Without net neutrality we see situations such as…
Welcome back to If I had a blank cheque I’d …_ our series in which leading researchers reveal what they could do in their discipline if money were no object._ Today we hear from Brynn Hibbert, Professor…
Fossils from a new species of woolly rhinoceros found in Tibet have the potential to rock several cherished theories. According to the authors of a new paper published today in Science, the rhino showed…
The remains of iconic bushranger Ned Kelly have been positively identified by forensic scientists more than a century after his hanging in 1880. The identification was made after an exhaustive forensic…
It inspired the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics. It’s the best thermal conductor we know of. It’s a crystal stiffer than diamond, but able to stretch by 20% of its length, and can carry a current density one…
Why do females cheat on their partners? A new study of songbirds in the US – published today – suggests cheating females are more successful in the long-run and get more grandchildren. Why? Because the…
On July 19, Doctor Nefario, founder of the Global Bitcoin Stock Exchange, arrived at Seattle airport and was asked if he had enough money to cover his stay in the US. He replied that he did, but that it…
The latest salvo in the internet attention wars has come in the form of figures from StatCounter. A relatively small content driving service called StumbleUpon drove more than 50% of all social media referral…
String theory entered the public arena in 1988 when a BBC radio series Desperately Seeking Superstrings was broadcast. Thanks to good marketing and its inherently curious name and features, it’s now part…
Talk creative cultures and you may think high-end and low-end, the starving artist and the toast of Manhattan. But what about video game makers? Where do they fit in? The very idea of an independent video…
Just as medical researchers work to unlock the role our human genes play in disease, CSIRO investigates how plant genes can be used to boost the health benefits of food, increase crop yields and prevent…
I work on the mathematics of sharing resources, which has led me to consider emotions such as envy, behaviour such as risk-taking and the best way to cut a cake. Like, I suspect, many women, my wife enjoys…