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Economic modelling suggests raising fuel taxes could get cars off the road - and therefore save lives. Khongkit Wiriyachan/Shutterstock

Increasing fuel taxes could save thousands of lives worldwide

Road safety is a seriously important public policy issue. Around 1.3 million people die in road crashes around the world each year. Among teenagers and young adults, road crashes are the number-one cause…
From the Turkish side of the border, residents watch an attack on Islamic State positions in the Syrian town of Kobane. EPA/Sedat Suna

Turkey has its own good reasons for not intervening in Kobane

As the Kurdish town of Kobane continues to defy Islamic State (IS) forces, many pundits have condemned Turkey’s unwillingness to help the People’s Protection Units (YPG) keep the forces of “evil” at bay…
Different people behave in different ways behind the wheel of a car. Flickr/Nuno Sousa

Road rage much? Personality predicts our driving behaviour

Personality traits can be used to predict a lot about a person. They can tell about their probable career success, if they’re likely to get divorced, their risk at dying early from disease – and now, how…
Most drivers recognise the need to observe a lower speed in school zones, so why do many still break the limit? AAP/Paul Miller

Where drivers don’t mean to speed, it’s no good just fining them

Blaming motorists for their speeding may at times be undeserved. We have recently shown that, rather than intentional wrong-doing by drivers, cognitive factors can explain speeding behaviour. Policies…
Romance Was Born designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales join the trend for fashion exhibitions, at the NGV. Photo: Narelle Wilson

Fashion victims? How clothes took over our art galleries

Australia’s art galleries are currently enthralled by fashion. In Melbourne Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk and Express Yourself: Romance Was Born for Kids, are both at NGV; Adelaide’s…
We know deaths in families have a profound psychological impact. Why, then, do we expect grief to be a tidy process? Michael Shaffner/Flickr

Death and families – when ‘normal’ grief can last a lifetime

When I was three years old my brother was born. He had a heart condition, and after being in and out of hospital for the whole of his little life, he died when I was five. The time after he was gone was…
National registration would set educational and professional standards to better protect patients. AAP Image/Peter Scarf

Paramedics administer drugs and deliver babies, they deserve national registration

Paramedics are one of the few health practitioners who can administer drugs and anaesthetics, deliver babies and perform high-risk interventions, all with relative autonomy. Yet the paramedic profession…
The shared stance by Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and Canada’s Stephen Harper is a formidable barrier to a global climate deal. Office of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper

Making change happen in G20 climate talks: Beijing pact not enough

Having reached a landmark agreement with China this week to limit greenhouse gas emissions, US president Barack Obama heads to Australia for the G20 summit of economic superpowers. The China deal will…
Arguably for the first time, the United States and China have truly listened to one another on emissions cuts. EPA/Petar Kujundzic

US-China climate deal: at last, a real game-changer on emissions

The new US-China climate deal is a game-changer. The United States, the world’s biggest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, has pledged to cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025 relative to 2005 levels, while…
Protesters say the government’s planned cuts to the Renewable Energy Target will endanger Australian jobs in the sector. AAP Image/NewZulu/Josephine Lim

Why fixate on 20% renewables? It’s never been the actual target

Labor has walked away from negotiations with the government over changes to the Renewable Energy Target, saying the proposed cuts of almost 40% are too deep. Industry minister Ian Macfarlane says he is…
One sure-fire way to make sure your students are completing their assessment for themselves is to make them perform practical work exercises rather than write essays. AAP/Dean Lewins

Buying essays: how to make sure assessment is authentic

The essay, as the primary form of assessment, should be dead. This is the kind of comment that terrifies academics everywhere – but it is an idea that I think we all need to consider. The “news” that there…
No longer a ‘hipster thing’ … even governments are embracing typewriters. Christian Gonzalez/Flickr

Typewriters, not touchscreens … security the old-fashioned way

In writing, music, photography and other areas, “outdated” technologies have initially been valued for their retro, nostalgic appeal in the hipster culture. Vinyl is one of the most notable technologies…
The mental health problems of children with intellectual disabilities are largely undiagnosed and untreated. SriHarsha PVSS/Flickr

What about the mental health of kids with intellectual disability?

High-quality epidemiological research shows children and adolescents with intellectual disability are four times more likely to have diagnosable mental health problems compared to others their age. This…
Has firebrand Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie fallen into the populists’ trap of political overreach? AAP/Lukas Coch

Loose cannon Lambie risks being hoist by her own populist petard

Apart from the brouhaha over some Victorian schools bumping one minute’s silence to before or after the traditional 11am, Tuesday’s Remembrance Day commemorations went off without a hitch, soberly recognising…
The G20 represents 84% of the world economy. Jason Reed/AAP

The G20 economies explained in 12 charts

At the G20 meeting in Brisbane on the weekend we are going to hear a lot of talk about current accounts, GDP, CPI as well as a whole blizzard of more obscure acronyms and economic measures. To help you…
The clincher of the latest season of Doctor Who? The Doctor’s nemesis is a woman. ABC Publicity

The Doctor’s nemesis is a woman? It’s about Time, Lord

The latest series of Doctor Who wrapped up on the weekend with the completion of a startling two-episode finale: Dark Waters and Death in Heaven. This season we’ve seen what is perhaps the darkest, edgiest…
The growth of the French suburbs is critiqued in France’s pavilion – Modernity: promise or menace? Andrea Avezzù, la Biennale di Venezia

The Venice Architecture Biennale avoids lessons from the past

The 14th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice – la Biennale di Venezia – which runs until November 23 is best tackled in bite-sized chunks. It’s vast and expansive – both in theme and scale…
George Brandis argues that it is the government’s duty to investigate and prevent serious crimes – and that metadata can help. AAP/Alan Porritt

Metadata and privacy: surveillance state or business as usual?

Metadata, previously a word limited to the tech-savvy, is now not only a hot topic of public discussion but the focus of new national security legislation. The public discussion seems split between two…
The economic cost of Ebola is estimated at around 3% of GDP for Liberia, and this does not take into account human costs. Ahmed Jallanzo/ AAP

The economics of Ebola

Economists are being called upon to estimate the costs of the Ebola epidemic to West Africa and elsewhere. However, economists should also play a part in estimating the likelihood of the disease spreading…