Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia’s first tertiary education institution. It is committed to maximising the potential of its students, teachers and researchers for the benefit of Australia and the wider world.
Sydney in February displayed in full technicolor what is one of the big stories in Ireland - the latest phase of our history of being an emigrant race. As we walked around the city, stopped for coffee…
Your grandparents’ lifespan can offer some valuable clues.
joeduty/Flickr
It’s well known that humans are living longer than ever before, thanks partially to developments such as sanitation and modern medicine. But will it ever be possible for humans to live forever? The late…
Restricting junk food is just one element in reducing obesity.
Junk food is one of the mainstays of food advertising to children, who form the key market for junk food advertisers. Some of the more concerning marketing tactics are the ones that play on children’s…
The breast cancer research agenda is more balanced due to its public profile.
AAP
Some of the most serious forms of cancer are less likely to be the subject of a clinical trial than cancers with a less significant health impact. Research shows that even being a disease is a popularity…
We’ve got the time, if you’ve got the theory.
h.koppdelaney/Flickr
By now we’re used to the idea that the world has four dimensions: three spatial and one temporal. But what if there were a fifth dimension – what would that dimension look like, and how would it relate…
SAD is often undiagnosed as a specific form of depression.
Jeremy Brooks
As the days get shorter and we approach winter, many of us have a lowered mood, reduced energy levels and seem to need more sleep. Such seasonal changes in mood and energy are common and most of us adapt…
Osama bin Laden masterminded the 9/11 attacks, but his death won’t mean an end to the terror threat.
AFP/Doug Kanter
The US military’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in North Pakistan is an important landmark in the “war on terror”. As the leader of al Qaeda he was the primary target of the military campaign to defeat…
She’s happy… but we still understand little about how people make their choices.
AFP PHOTO/ASP/HO /KIRSTIN SCHOLTZ
The release of surveys such as the Gallup Global Well-Being Index produce vast column inches of what are fun but largely meaningless articles on how Australians are happier than New Zealanders (they are…
How hard can it be getting an object from A to B at great speed?
KARI/HANDOUT
You know, it’s odd being a rocket scientist. The people you meet assume you’re not just smart, but some super-colossal paragon of intelligence with the wits of an atomic lovechild of Albert Einstein and…
There’s more to infrastructure investment than laying down tarmac.
AAP
Pity the humble transport researcher who tries to understand how much Australian governments spend on roads and public transport! In this country, figuring out who gets most is next to impossible. The…
Would you behave differently if you knew when the crash was coming?
Dave Hunt/AAP
Economists and physicists may seem like unlikely bedfellows, but then opposites often attract. Their union has recently produced a peculiar baby, a field of research known as “econophysics”. Physicists…
Revolutions encourage people to see the world through different eyes.
AFP/STR
The lives of millions of people in the Arab-speaking world are changing. Often for the first time, women and men have jumped, danced, kissed strangers and sung in the streets. There is talk of dignity…
Paul Howes faces claims he has inflated the AWU membership figures.
AAP
This morning Fairfax newspapers delivered a savage hit to the reputation of Paul Howes, National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the country’s best-known union leader. The story carried…
Mentally ill Australians need help to return to the workforce.
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott today announced $430 million in to boost support mentally ill Australians in the workforce with employment services, research and professional development. It’s an…
Scientists need to do a better job of communicating with non-scientists.
Brewbooks/Flickr
Do scientists have a language problem? Do policy makers have hearing issues? It would certainly seem so. Of late there have been frequent lamentations about scientists’ failure to make their case to the…
Towards the end of the ABC-TV historical drama Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo,* a party is thrown to celebrate the magazine’s third anniversary. Cleo had launched in November 1972, the same month that…
A guy walks into a cafe … but what happens next depends on strategy.
nathancolquhoun/Flickr
Long before men asked themselves “What’s the meaning of life?”, they were scratching their heads and wondering “How do I get the girl?” And it’s not just humans who have been consumed with this question…
Unions are putting their members first, not the ALP.
AAP
Over the last few days, union officials past and present have strafed the Gillard government. Senator Doug Cameron felt compelled to attack the free trade agreement with the USA that Gillard’s government…
Publicly funded scientists have a responsibility to the public.
AAP
Australian science institutions and scientists must retain the confidence of the public and Australian governments. By blurring facts, disrespecting other institutions’ research processes and turning their…
In 1998, Professor Muhammad Yunus was the inaugural recipient of Australia’s only international award for peace, the Sydney Peace Prize. Almost nine years later, in December 2006, he received the Nobel…