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Australian National University

ANU was established, in 1946, to advance the cause of learning and research for the nation. It is consistently ranked among the world’s best universities and many ANU graduates go on to become leaders in government, industry, research and academia.

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They aren’t just pretty birdies - superb fairy-wrens teach each other to identify and fend off parasitic species such as cuckoos. William Feeney

Superb fairy-wrens recognise an adult cuckoo … with some help

William Feeney, Australian National University

Can superb fairy-wrens learn to respond to brood-parasitic cuckoos by simply watching other fairy-wrens react to a cuckoo? That’s the question posed in a new Biology Letters study by myself and Naomi Langmore…
It’s hard to go places when no-one can agree on the road rules. Flickr/mike nowak

Think politics is frustrating? Welcome to climate negotiations

Luke Kemp, Australian National University

The latest climate negotiations in Bonn have been stalled for two full weeks and climate multilateralism is in crisis mode leading up to the next major gathering in 2015. So, what is the problem? There…
Going against your intuition could increase your chances of winning a car instead of a goat, according to the Monty Hall problem. mgbutterfly

The Monty Hall problem: going with your gut will get your goat

Adrian Dudek, Australian National University

The game show host adjusts his bow tie and flashes you an oh-so-wicked smile as he brings your attention to three closed doors. “Behind one of these doors is the prize of your dreams!” he announces excitedly…
Australia’s foreign aid commitments play an integral role in the nation’s ‘soft power’ and regional security. Marion Doss

Why soft power is so hard: the impact of aid cuts on regional security

Susan Harris Rimmer, Australian National University

Amidst the controversy over Julie Bishop’s Guardian interview earlier this week, many of the interesting facts about foreign policy under a putative Coalition government were lost. Notably, the opposition’s…
A recent report says CFCs, not carbon dioxide, are the culprit in climate change. weegeeboard/Flickr

Are CFCs responsible for global warming?

Andrew Glikson, Australian National University

On Monday, a report appeared in the Australian claiming a link between chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) in the atmosphere and global warming. The report claimed “banned aerosols” and not carbon dioxide were “responsible…
What manner of repercussions could Australia anticipate from any British withdrawal from the European Union? EPA/Andy Rain

What a UK referendum on the EU would mean for Australia

Annmarie Elijah, Australian National University and Ben Wellings, Monash University

British divisions over Europe have something of a “groundhog day” feel to them, even if the current Conservative rift seems like a particularly damaging instance. The stakes are high: the United Kingdom’s…
Not being able to give children the locally-manufactured vaccine leaves a hole in our pandemic preparations. Julian Smith/AAP

CSL’s flu vaccine leaves a hole in Australia’s pandemic plan

Heath Kelly, Australian National University

Facts about Flu - We often hear of an expected pandemic and had a scare in 2009 with the swine flu, but how well are we prepared? Although no longer considered an immediate risk, the recent outbreak of…
Galiwin'ku, Elcho Island, the Yolngu people’s customary land. The lead singer of Yothu Yindi, a Yolngu band, died yesterday, aged 56. Flickr/boobook48

Yothu Yindi and the Yolngu culture: dreaming of a brighter day

Samuel Curkpatrick, Australian National University

The lead singer of the band Yothu Yindi died yesterday of kidney disease, aged 56. Only a few decades after radio, popular music and electric guitars spread through Arnhem Land in the 1960s, Yothu Yindi…
Over the next twelve months, the Shadow Board members attach a 40% probability that the cash rate will need to increase, slightly more than the probability that the cash rate needs to fall. AAP

Boost growth, or counter a weaker dollar - which way should the RBA go?

Timo Henckel, Australian National University

Whither the Aussie dollar? Since the RBA dropped the cash rate to 2.75% last month the Australian dollar has fallen to below 96 US cents, a depreciation of more than 7% against the US dollar. With weaker…
Should we continue to increase the minimum wage, or are there more effective ways to protect low income earners? Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com

What future for the minimum wage?

Rob Bray, Australian National University

Shortly the Fair Work Commission will announce their decision on the minimum wage for 2013. This will be based on its own research and balancing the claims of employers, unions and others. The ACTU is…
Our fruit industry is struggling against cheap imports - but should we be doing more to protect our “food bowl to Asia”? AAP

Are we allowing our fruit industry to wither?

Michael Santhanam-Martin, The University of Melbourne; Jane Dixon, Australian National University, and Johanna Christensen, The University of Melbourne

The sight of Victorian fruit farmers bulldozing surplus trees due to the loss of supply contracts is a dramatic way to illustrate the quandary facing both Australian industry and growers. In April Victorian…
Mice have revealed many of biology’s secrets. Stuart Read/APN

Animals in research: mice

Michael Dobbie, Australian National University; Ruth Arkell, Australian National University, and Stuart Read, Australian National University

Our series, Animals in Research, profiles the top organisms used for science experimentation. Here, we look at a species familiar to most: Mus musculus, or the mouse. Mice have been close companions of…
The character of Superman has had a storied intellectual property history, having spawned countless imitations and emulations in comic books, films and popular culture. Wikimedia Commons

Who owns Superman? The Man of Steel fights trademark law

Matthew Rimmer, Australian National University

Who is Superman’s greatest threat? Evil genius Lex Luthor? General Zod from the Phantom Zone? The doppelganger Bizarro? Super-villain Brainiac? Kryptonite? Or is it intellectual property law? In 2013…
The lack of transparency for the economic modelling of the Galilee Coal Project means the public must rely on the word of Waratah Coal. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Can we trust Clive? Commercial-in-confidence coal mines

Richard Denniss, Australian National University

Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal claims its Galilee Coal Project, which will create four underground mines, two open-cut mines, and 468 kilometres of railway line in central Queensland, will bring economic…
There are many reasons a child could be held back from reaching their learning potential – will extra money help? Children image from www.shutterstock.com

Battling disadvantage through Gonski: will it work?

Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University

As the Gonski school funding debate heats up again, the political focus so far has been on the big billion dollar figures. In this crowded debate about who’s right or wrong on the numbers, there’s little…
Heading into the next climate treaty, it looks like getting everyone on board will be more important than reducing emissions. RB Reed

Universal and useless? The 2015 global climate agreement

Luke Kemp, Australian National University

It looks as though everyone will be happy to sign the next global climate agreement, due in 2015. Why? Because there will be very little in the agreement that will force countries to act on climate change…
Keeping the heat in the places you want it is the most important part of any heating plan. Wunkai/Flickr

How to heat your house efficiently

Will J Grant, Australian National University

Winter is coming, and all across the southern states eyes turn to energy bills and minds towards how to make them smaller. What is the most efficient way to heat your house? As with anything to do with…
Tony Abbott’s budget reply was a considered economic strategy amid fiscally challenging times for Australia.

Strong rhetoric underpins Abbott’s budget strategy

John Wanna, Australian National University

In last night’s budget reply, Tony Abbott crowed he will “put the house back in order” and that the “budget will be in better hands under a Coalition government than under Labor”. It was a very measured…
In his budget reply speech, Tony Abbott made the unpredicted announcement that he would maintain carbon tax compensation but still abolish the tax. AAP/Alan Porritt

Abbott’s balancing act: keeping the compensation while axing the carbon tax

Andrew Macintosh, Australian National University

In his federal budget reply speech, opposition leader Tony Abbott announced that a putative coalition government would maintain the revised tax-free threshold and other associated carbon tax compensation…

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