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Macquarie University

Macquarie University is ranked among the top one per cent of universities in the world and enjoys an enviable reputation for research excellence. It’s recognised for the way it uniquely fosters collaboration between students, academics, industry and society – producing graduates who aren’t just highly skilled, but multifaceted global citizens who are among the most sought-after professionals in the world.

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Displaying 1221 - 1240 of 1408 articles

Have you finished that novel yet? NaNoWriMo might be the answer. Sharon Drummond

NaNoWriMo and the art of speed writing

Let’s imagine I’m writing this article with my tomato-red Pomodoro timer gently ticking over in productive 25-minute intervals while taking a break from the novel I’m writing at a rate of 1,500 words a…
Australian university educators were recognised for their work last night at an awards ceremony in Canberra. Lecture image from www.shutterstock.com

Number cruncher named university teacher of the year

Professor John Croucher has won the Prime Minister’s University Teacher of the Year award. Croucher, a professor of statistics at Macquarie University’s Graduate School of Management, received the award…
We’re still not very good at acknowledging the importance of television sound. ABC

The Australians who created the sonic world of Doctor Who

It’s 50 years since the first episode aired on the BBC on November 23 1963 – and now Doctor Who is in promotion overdrive. We’ve been treated to online snippets of the 50th-anniversary special, pre-anniversary…
A brain the size of a sesame seed, such as that found in a honey bee, is still capable of weighing up decisions. macropoulos

What bees don’t know can help them: measuring insect indecision

Everyone knows what it’s like to be uncertain – at least, humans do. But are non-human animals ever uncertain? When we feel uncertainty, instead of risking the consequences of a bad or wrong decision…
Is Australia’s public sector delivering the right levels of ‘bang’ in return for our ‘bucks’? AAP/Tracey Nearmy

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? Short answer: very

How efficient is Australia’s public sector? This question is difficult to answer with precision, but important to all of us. After all, this is our money being spent on us and the things we care about…
We’re learning how the earliest rocks formed, and they’re providing a pretty weird picture of the young Earth. Taran Rampersad

Keep a lid on it: the controversy over Earth’s oldest rocks

New evidence is shedding light on the processes that formed Earth’s oldest rock and mineral record – processes that influenced the early evolution of life. Over the past 30 years our knowledge of the earliest…
Tobacco, like other substances, are likely to become part of the prison contraband trade. Image from shutterstock.com

Total smoking bans aren’t the answer to better prisoner health

From May next year, Queensland prisoners will no longer be able to smoke cigarettes. Smoking in cells was prohibited in Queensland facilities in 2008, but as of next year the prohibition will extend to…
Port developments shouldn’t be assessed individually. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

It all adds up: port development on the Great Barrier Reef

The Queensland and Australian government’s draft strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has been released today. The strategic assessment was prompted by the 2012 UNESCO-IUCN…
ASIC Chairman Greg Medcraft. Dan Peled/AAP

ASIC underwhelms with call for greater powers

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has called for more powers, including a broadening of the definition of “whistleblower”, in a paper defending its role as the corporate watchdog. ASIC’s…
We should worry less about emissions and more about getting people out of harm’s way. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Climate change and bushfires - you’re missing the point!

Climate change has yet again been blamed for another natural disaster, this time the recent bushfires in NSW. But much more important is the role of poor land-use planning decisions that are increasing…
When approaching a vertical surface, honey bees calibrate their speed to land safely. photophilde

How to land safely on a vertical surface, bee-style

Landing is arguably the most nerve-racking element of any flight. To execute a safe landing, a pilot needs to know the plane’s speed and its distance from the landing surface. The pilot’s challenge is…
Measuring animal intelligence is extremely complex, yet some animals may be smarter than we think. Rader of Gin

Are animals as smart, or as dumb, as we think they are?

Does my dog only think of eating, sleeping and chasing squirrels? Does my girlfriend’s cat really have the capacity to plot my accidental death? Are cows just walking hamburgers and pigeons intent on world…
Aborting a foetus just because of its sex seems repugnant to most of us. Shutterstock

What should we do about sex-selective abortion?

A Melbourne doctor is being investigated by the medical professional standards body for refusing to refer a woman to another GP after she sought an abortion. The case raises important questions about doctors…
Reed’s death – like his life – is generating headlines and strong emotions. appelogen.be

The art of rock remembrance: RIP Lou Reed

The death of Lou Reed today, aged 71, is unquestionably a sad day for popular music. Already Rolling Stone has compiled a genre-defined obit focusing on how Reed worked as a Transformer (pun intended…
Chinese demand for cheese has intensified, creating a boom for Australian producers. But international manufacturers have become interested, and want a slice. EPA/Jens Buettner

After wine, Chinese consumers want a slice of cheese

When I heard that Asia, and particularly China, started to show interest in cheese, I automatically assumed that the French would be leading the race of cheese exports to the region. How wrong I was. Australian…
Faster vehicle speeds are associated with more crashes, more fatalities, and more serious injuries. Image from shutterstock.com

Goodbye speed limits: the NT’s risky road safety strategy

There has been a flurry of calls for higher speed limits on Australian roads over recent weeks, from Queensland, South Australia, and for major east coast highways. So it’s no surprise the Northern Territory…
Rainbowfish embryos – at only four days old – can smell predators such as goldfish. Benson Kua

The nose knows: rainbowfish embryos ‘sniff out’ predators

Rainbowfish embryos, as young as only four days after fertilisation, are able to smell potential predatory threats, a new study by Australian researchers has found. Published today, the findings show these…
New P2P cameras, which calculate average speed, avoid fines for momentary lapses of concentration. Brooks was here

Point-to-point cameras: better than average at nabbing speeders

Speed cameras - love them or (more likely) hate them, they’re here to stay. And as with most technologies, there is room for improvement - highlighted most recently when Wheels magazine sponsored a journalist…
A lack of debate in Australia about nuclear power may mean we’re not seriously considering it. Flickr: CaptPiper

Why don’t Australians see nuclear as a climate change solution?

In a paper recently published in Energy Policy, we (along with another colleague from Cardiff University in Wales) reported our survey of Australians’ opinions about nuclear energy and global climate change…

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