What is pure mathematics? What do pure mathematicians do? Why is pure mathematics important? These are questions I’m often confronted with when people discover I do pure mathematics. I always manage to…
Ocean acidification is most acute in the polar regions.
Enzofloyd/flickr
Ocean acidification is often referred to as the “evil twin” of climate change. Greenhouse gasses are doing more than just warming the globe. Increasing C0₂ levels are also changing the chemical make-up…
A growing number of academic institutions are building free online databases of their scholarly output. But publication in a big name academic journal still holds cachet for most academics.
Flickr/mandiberg
As the cost of accessing academic journal articles increases, a growing number of academic institutions are building publicly accessible databases of scholarly work. But how much of a threat to the traditional…
Uncertainty about the US economy is driving investors back to the safe-haven metal.
AAP
The price of gold reached a record high of $US1607.01 an ounce on Tuesday as investors turn to the precious metal amid uncertain global economic conditions. University of Western Australian Professor of…
The Antarctic Treaty protects the continent from competing interests.
AAP
This year marks the 50th year of the Antarctic Treaty, a visionary document that for the first time set out a vision for an entire continent based on peace, science and co-operation. So how does it hold…
US Senator Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head but is said to be recovering well.
AAP
The human brain is often referred to as the most complex organ on the planet. It is responsible for an incalculable number of tasks, thoughts and functions every second of everyday of our lives. The brain…
Sadly, survival of the fittest does not mean anyone will survive.
Kaptain Kobold
The theory of evolution encompasses the well established scientific view that organic life on our planet has changed over long periods of time and continues to change by a process known as natural selection…
Psammomys obesus or the Israeli sand rat provides an insight into how the thrifty gene hypothesis may work.
Tino Strauss
In the last few decades, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled globally, making the combination of type 2 diabetes and obesity (known as diabesity) the largest epidemic the world has…
Netherlands has moved to ban ritual slaughter without stunning but is killing an animal for food ever ethical?
Flickr/Nick Saltmarsh
Ritual slaughter is an important part of Islamic and Jewish belief systems but, as recent TV footage showing cattle being butchered in Indonesian abattoirs demonstrated, there is great variation across…
Workers will see a percentage increase in their pay packet from today.
AAP/Greg Wood
Fair Work Australia’s annual wage determination takes effect today. Importantly, we’re set to see award wages rise not by a single dollar sum, as in the past, but by 3.4%. This goes someway to addressing…
An emissions trading scheme and a carbon tax are not the same thing.
AAP
Since July 2012, Australia has had in place its carbon pricing scheme. It is commonly referred to as a “carbon tax”, but also as an “Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) with a fixed price”. And the plan is…
Queensland authorities on Wedneday confirmed that a horse had died of Hendra virus on a farm south of Brisbane. The virus, which can spread from horses to humans, has killed four of the seven people ever infected.
AAP
Queensland authorities have confirmed a horse on a farm south of Brisbane has died of Hendra virus, which can spread from horses to humans and has killed four of the seven people ever known to have been…
Synthetic cannabis, known commercially as Kronic, K2, Kaos or Spice, was designed to circumvent drug laws and give users a “legal high”. But Western Australia banned the product earlier this month and…
A QANTAS A380 Airbus, one of the last international flights to depart Sydney International Airport shortly before a 3pm suspension of flights in Sydney on Tuesday.
AAP
A volcanic ash cloud produced by Chile’s Puyehue volcanic eruption has circumnavigated the globe and floated over Australia twice, disrupting flights and leaving over 120,000 passengers stranded. The Conversation…
Malaysian refugee activist Irene Fernandez protests outside the Australian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
AAP
The Gillard government’s proposed “Malaysian solution” for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat has come under considerable scrutiny. Under the agreement Australia will send 800…
Without quantum mechanics, we would not have the transistor.
IvyMike/Flickr
This might surprise you, but there may be literally thousands, or even tens of thousands, of devices and components surrounding you right now that work because of our understanding of quantum physics…
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…
As yet we can only guess what the Higgs boson might look like.
DESY Zeuthen
Theoretical physics is full of mysteries and unknowns. In the case of some particles, we can predict their existence even if we can’t find them. Such is the status of the Higgs boson. And yet detecting…
Manufacturers may be forced to accept profit margins will continue to narrow.
The Australian dollar has been striking new post-float highs against the US dollar in recent weeks, and according to a number of prominent market economists could reach US$1.10 before the end of this year…
Nanoparticles, as used in sunscreen, are readily absorbed by the body.
Tony Bartlett/AAP
For the public, the jury is still out on nanotechnology – the media simultaneously extols its promise and warns of the potential calamity facing humanity. But what is it? How does it work? Is it dangerous…