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The British First Fleet knew little of conditions in Port Jackson, later Sydney Cove, before their arrival. George Edwards Peacock, State Library of New South Wales.

Black skies and raging seas: how the First Fleet got a first taste of Australia’s unforgiving climate

When the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove in 1788, they entered an ancient and unforgiving landscape. A new book charts Australians’ relationship with one of the world’s most volatile climates.
Police teams bag up swabs from railings outside The Maltings shopping centre, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill. PA Images

Novichok: the deadly story behind the nerve agent

A long read on how nerve agents were developed – and used in an attack on a former Russian spy on the streets of Salisbury.
Blood has always been a symbol of life and has been thought to counteract the ageing process. Mai Lam/The Conversation NY-BD-CC

Young blood: magic or medicine?

Recent scientific studies have claimed that transfusions of blood from teenagers can help delay or reverse the ageing process. Do they stack up?
In the Global Biodiversity Information Facility there are 682,447 records of human encounters with dandelions. from www.shutterstock.com

AI is learning from our encounters with nature – and that’s a concern

Does big data threaten how humans explore the natural world? We need to protect our impulses to observe, compare, play, discover and love, no matter what technological capabilities are available.
Digging in Traders Cave in the iconic Niah Caves archaeological complex. Darren Curnoe excavates while Roshan Peiris observes. (Photo: Mhd. S. Sauffi/Darren Curnoe) Author provided

We found evidence of early humans in the jungles of Borneo

From the tropics of Borneo, Darren Curnoe posted a daily diary sharing his team’s dig to explore ancient cemeteries. Through two metres of clay, human bones and tools were discovered.
Humans and their technologies have evolved together over time. Anton Jankovoy / Shutterstock.com

As a human, I don’t do technology. I am technology

What does it mean to be a responsible, mature and wise technological being? Our future lies in seeking real answers to this type of question.
The Supreme Court’s decision in the Trinity Lutheran case is blurring the lines between church and state. aradaphotography/Shutterstock.com

The Supreme Court, religion and the future of school choice

The Trinity Lutheran case signals the Supreme Court’s willingness to interpret separation of church and state as religious discrimination. What will this mean for the future of vouchers and school choice?
Inmates at the California Institution for Men state prison in Chino, California in 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

What’s hidden behind the walls of America’s prisons

The University of Michigan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson explains why Americans must demand better access to the nation’s prisons.
A hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease is gradual deterioration of memory. Roman Kraft/Unsplash

What causes Alzheimer’s disease? What we know, don’t know and suspect

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, but treatments are still far from successful in clinical trials. Here is what we know about the disease, and what is yet to be uncovered.

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