Menu Close
The Conversation

The University of Queensland

The University of Queensland is a pace-setter in discovery and translational research, and is committed to teaching excellence and outstanding mentorship that leads to well-rounded graduates who are equipped to live and work effectively in a global environment. UQ is a global top 50 university and Queensland’s biggest.

Links

Displaying 2521 - 2540 of 2922 articles
You have nothing to hide – but does that mean you have nothing to worry about? JasonDGreat

Nine reasons you should care about NSA’s PRISM surveillance

Sean Rintel, The University of Queensland

In the wake of former CIA employee Edward Snowden’s revelations of the PRISM NSA mass surveillance, people are once again asking why the general public should care if they’ve got nothing to hide. “Nothing…
The 19-year-old ‘Boston bomber’ has become the focal point for a number of fan clubs on social media. martins.nunomiguel

One day my prince will bomb: why teenage girls love a killer

Linda Peach, The University of Queensland

Prince Charming and the boy accused of the Boston bombings may not seem to have much in common. But thousands of teenage American girls appear to be falling in love with 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev…
The danger to marine life from ghost nets is symptomatic of the threat to Australia’s northern marine environment from illegal practise and overfishing. AAP Image/Department of Heritage and Government

Australia’s northern waters: killer nets and flawed funding

Colin Hunt, The University of Queensland

Are we spending money on the wrong marine resources? While some $A100 million is being thrown at a new network of marine protected areas – a doubtful investment according to some commentators - the fabulous…
“Averted loss” biodiversity offsets rely on ongoing biodiversity declines to work. Kenneth Pinto

Biodiversity offsets could be locking in species decline

Martine Maron, The University of Queensland and Ascelin Gordon, RMIT University

In a recent interview, the Opposition environment spokesperson Greg Hunt promised to reverse biodiversity decline in five years if the Coalition wins the forthcoming election. Is this goal achievable…
A hydraulic fracturing drill rig in Pennsylvania. Fracking involves injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface to extract reserves of natural gas. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Report questions economic benefit of shale gas extraction

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

Australia may have over 1000 trillion cubic feet in undiscovered shale gas resource but the enormous cost of infrastructure needed to extract it may outweigh its economic benefit unless shale gas prices…
Climate change is just another variable for Queensland farmers. Lock the Gate Alliance

Australia’s farming future: Queensland

Daniel Rodriguez, The University of Queensland

Queensland farmers are used to dealing with variable seasons, but the long-term shifts of climate change are expected to create new challenges. Queensland farmers already do a good job of managing a variable…
Australia is already clearing land at world-leading rates. Ray Christie/Indigo Skies Photography

Clearing more land: we all lose

Kat Grigg, The University of Queensland and Jason Halford, The University of Queensland

Last week the Queensland parliament passed laws relaxing land clearing and opening up national parks to cattle grazing. Victoria has proposed similar clearing changes. It’s no surprise more clearing is…
We have to get smarter about the way we manage Australia’s national parks. Nic Prins

Our national parks must be more than playgrounds or paddocks

Euan Ritchie, Deakin University; Bill Laurance, James Cook University; Corey J. A. Bradshaw, University of Adelaide; David M Watson, Charles Sturt University; Emma Johnston, UNSW Sydney; Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland; Ian Lunt, Charles Sturt University, and Michael McCarthy, The University of Melbourne

It’s make or break time for Australia’s national parks. National parks on land and in the ocean are dying a death of a thousand cuts, in the form of bullets, hooks, hotels, logging concessions and grazing…
A patient with a drug addiction is in a very different situation to someone with Parkinson’s – and should be treated as such. killermonkeys

Deep brain stimulation: the hidden challenges of a technological fix

Adrian Carter, The University of Queensland and Wayne Hall, The University of Queensland

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a remarkable therapeutic innovation that has restored the lives of many individuals with intractable neurological disorders. Nowhere is this more evident than in crippling…
The role played in ‘normalising’ gambling in sport and society by the likes of online bookmaker Tom Waterhouse was examined by the ABC’s Four Corners program. AAP/Paul Miller

Born to bet? Four Corners on the Tom Waterhouse media effect

Fiona Nicoll, The University of Queensland

Last night, ABC’s Four Corners investigated Tom Waterhouse’s heavily marketed entrance to the online Australian sports wagering industry. Along the way it showed the ways in which the gambling industry…
Water is in short supply and high demand in Australia: who should have the final say on its use?

Regulating water: debate swirls around Commonwealth’s role

Chris McGrath, The University of Queensland

The release of a Senate report into a Commonwealth water trigger marks another chapter in a debate that has simmered and bubbled for 30 years in Australia. The report recommends that the main Commonwealth…
The belief that rugby league is a ‘hard sport’ played by ‘hard men’ made by insiders does little to advance the image of the game. AAP/Action Photographics

Masculinity and violence: the men who play rugby league

Robert Hogg, The University of Queensland

When his grandson was tragically killed while playing rugby league in April this year, former New South Wales and Australian halfback Tommy Raudonikis said: Everyone needs to understand that this was just…
Hands up if your research endorses the existence of human-caused climate change. Flickr

It’s true: 97% of research papers say climate change is happening

John Cook, The University of Queensland

Today, the most comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed climate research to date was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Our analysis found that among papers expressing a position…
Seagrass slows climate change by absorbing carbon but global warming is causing vast tracts of it to die off. http://www.flickr.com/photos/myfwc

Seagrass carbon sinks fast disappearing: study

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Pauline Ernesto, The Conversation

Rising sea levels will lead to a drastic decline in seagrass stocks, a new study has found, but reducing water pollution may help offset the effects. Seagrass is crucial to slowing climate change because…
Federal treasurer Wayne Swan’s election year budget has to reconcile huge revenue writedowns with spending promises for schools and the disability insurance scheme. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Federal budget 2013: expert reactions

Stephen Howes, Australian National University; Arusha Cooray, University of Wollongong; Ben Spies-Butcher, Macquarie University; Cameron Gordon, University of Canberra; Carol Johnson, University of Adelaide; Clive Bean, Queensland University of Technology; David Willis, Queensland University of Technology; Hal Swerissen, La Trobe University; John Quiggin, The University of Queensland; Lin Crase, La Trobe University; Matthew Bailes, Swinburne University of Technology; Paul Burke, Australian National University; Simon Marginson, The University of Melbourne; Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute, and Zareh Ghazarian, Monash University

Australian Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has handed down his sixth budget, facing an almost impossible task: how to reconcile an enormous revenue shortfall with big spending promises, all while keeping…
Despite much debate over the scope and efficiency of the GST, the major political parties have left the possibility of reform off the agenda. Image from www.shutterstock.com

The GST debate: is reform necessary?

John Mangan, The University of Queensland

Few taxes have been as politically fraught as the GST. The deal, brokered by the-then Prime Minister John Howard and the Democrats in 2000, was not only controversial for its political ramifications, but…
Both sides of politics need to take the carbon tax fight to the election. Flickr/Leonard John Matthews

Why Labor should fight the 2013 election on climate change

Matt McDonald, The University of Queensland

If climate change features prominently in the federal election campaign, it will almost certainly be driven by the Coalition. Under Tony Abbott, the Coalition has long smelled blood in the water on climate…
Influenza symptoms include high fevers and chills, as well as pains and aches in muscles and joints. Davide Taviani

Explainer: what is the flu?

Trent Yarwood, The University of Queensland

When people say they have “the flu”, what they’re experiencing most of the time is the common cold, which is not caused by the influenza virus at all. But the term “flu season”, which Australia is in the…
Restoring our southern wetlands as carbon farms would have many additional benefits to the ecosystem and the public. Catherine Lovelock

Carbon farming could restore Australia’s southern coastal wetlands

Catherine Lovelock, The University of Queensland; Justine Bell-James, The University of Queensland, and Kerrylee Rogers, University of Wollongong

Australia’s southern coastal wetlands are more diverse than most people realise. In a recent paper, Paul Boon suggests they provide valuable ecological services that exceed those of inland wetland ecosystems…
Defence minister Stephen Smith, prime minister Julia Gillard and Commander of Defence Forces David Hurley at the launch of the Defence White Paper. AAP/Lukas Coch

Defence White Paper: super-sizing Australia’s strategic geography for the Asian Century

Andrew Phillips, The University of Queensland

Australia’s new Defence White Paper reflects a revolution in the way in which Australia thinks about its strategic geography. The “Indo-Pacific” has now decisively displaced the “Asia-Pacific” as defence…

Authors

More Authors