Established in 1850, the University of Sydney was Australia’s first tertiary education institution. It is committed to maximising the potential of its students, teachers and researchers for the benefit of Australia and the wider world.
“I’m feeling a little delicate”, said Aung San Suu Kyi politely to the mainly foreign press pack, gathered like beginner pupils at her feet. She added, with a gentle smile, that “any tough questions and…
A food system designed for profits still works well when people go hungry. We need a different system.
AAP
Recent reports of a “salt-tolerant” wheat claimed the plant would “help tackle food shortages due to soil salinity”. Saline soils, and other types of land degradation, are indubitably a problem across…
Who’s responsible for this? Better disaster law could answer that question.
AAP
On 28 March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its full report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). The IPCC’s essential…
Using lab rats allows us to experiment in ways that would not be acceptable in humans.
ressaure
Many forms of mental illness can affect our moods. But that isn’t all they do: they can also damage our willpower. Problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity…
Huawei has trumpeted its private-sector credentials, but it is a critical supplier of technology to the People’s Liberation Army and has strong links to the CCP.
AAP
In response to the Australian government’s decision to prevent Huawei from tendering for National Broadband Network projects, Huawei Australia went on the offensive. Former foreign minister and current…
Conflict of interest management depends on the existence of a critical culture that recognises the issues.
Waldo Jaquith
TRANSPARENCY AND MEDICINE – A series examining issues from ethics to the evidence in evidence-based medicine, the influence of medical journals to the role of Big Pharma in our present and future health…
What’s the rush? That gas isn’t going anywhere.
zawtowers/Flickr
The rush is on to ramp-up Australia’s coal seam gas (CSG) production and exports at a frantic pace. This is no trivial undertaking. In addition to the huge projected expansion of CSG wells, there are roads…
Perhaps finance minister Bill Shorten and the Labor party should shout a bit louder about superannuation.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Labor’s devastating Queensland election result has prompted much soul searching within the party and questions about its fundamental approach. Do voters even know what the Labor party stands for? Or is…
While still on the subject of H.L. Mencken, it’s worth remembering one of his deliciously light-hearted jibes at parliamentary democracy. In the course of warning of the dangers of popular ignorance, especially…
The Australian government faces a difficult task in balancing relationships with China and the US.
EPA/Minoru Iwasaki/Pool
The recommendation by intelligence agency ASIO that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei be banned from tendering in the National Broadband Network because of cyber security concerns, raises serious…
Disquiet and disaffection, like a fast-moving swarm of sticky locusts, are spreading through the drought fields of democracy. Look around, beyond the borders in which you’re living. Public disenchantment…
Small branded gifts have the potential to influence doctors.
Toshiyuki IMAI/Flickr
TRANSPARENCY AND MEDICINE – A series examining issues from ethics to the evidence in evidence-based medicine, the influence of medical journals to the role of Big Pharma in our present and future health…
Sydneysiders are spotting - and “status updating” - urban cockatoos.
chris jd/Flickr
Loud, large and lovable, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo has become a well known inhabitant of Sydney. It has always been present around the fringes of Sydney and west of the Great Dividing Range, but over…
Greater Western Sydney may be a new team, but Sydney and AFL have firm historical ties.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
The AFL season kicks off today and there’s a new team in town – Greater Western Sydney. Some don’t like it – the cynics claim Aussie Rules has no historical foothold in western Sydney. I disagree. While…
Driving technology: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has outlined a $275 million package to keep Holden in Australia.
AAP
Carmaker Holden will receive a $275 million government package, in return for committing to stay in Australia until 2022 and promising it will invest $1 billion. Phillip Toner, senior research fellow…
Can we afford to be laissez faire about amoral economic behaviour?
Carrie Sloan
“Morally bankrupt” is how a recently departing Goldman Sachs executive described the culture of the investment bank. As noted in Business Day, this view “is common among the bank’s critics, many of whom…
Hyper-drives might be the stuff of science fiction, but they could be science fact too.
20th Century Fox
Fans of science fiction must be disheartened when introduced to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. Dreams of galactic empires, criss-crossed by roguish princesses and beautiful smugglers, go out…
After the election, healthcare reform needs to be a priority for the Queensland government.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
No matter who wins the Queensland election this Saturday, the next premier of Queensland will have to face up to some serious challenges within the state’s health system. There were improvements made under…
The conflict in Sri Lanka has not captured global attention but remains one of the bloodiest since WWII.
EPA/STR
There is a growing danger that the political leaders responsible for the greatest single atrocity of recent years will suffer no consequences. Journalists, not governments, have taken a lead in raising…
The community should look after the few unfortunate casualties of highly successful immunisation programs.
Sarah Gilbert
Reports on people suffering an adverse reaction to immunisation focus on the suffering of one over the safety of many. But immunisation benefits the whole community so we should all bear responsibility…