Huge drop in men's sperm levels confirmed by new study – here are the facts

By Chris Barratt

Sperm count in men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand declined by 50-60% between 1973 and 2011, according to a new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Surprisingly, the study, which analysed...

From flying warehouses to robot toilets – five technologies that could shape the future

By Stephan Reiff-Marganiec Et Al

Flying warehouses, robot receptionists, smart toilets… do such innovations sound like science fiction or part of a possible reality? Technology has been evolving at such a rapid pace that, in the near future, our...

For Venezuela, there may be no happily ever after

By Miguel Angel Latouche

Last week, over seven million Venezuelans both at home and abroad voted against president Nicolas Maduros proposed Constituent Assembly, which would have empowered his administration to rewrite the countrys...

The healing power of hip hop

By Raphael Travis Jr. Et Al

Last year, New Yorks then police commissioner Willam Bratton was quick to blame rap music and the culture around it for a fatal backstage shooting at a concert by the rapper T.I. Ignoring wider issues of gun control,...

How electric vehicles could take a bite out of the oil market

By Lewis Fulton Et Al

When will cars powered by gas-guzzling internal combustion engines become obsolete? Not as soon as it seems, even with the latest automotive news out of Europe. First, Volvo announced it would begin to phase out the...

Three big problems with Trump's new NAFTA plan

By Iván Farías Pelcastre Et Al

The Trump administration has outlined its plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It says the US will seek a much better agreement that reduces the trade deficit between the US and its...

The big business revolution: why the future is blockchain

By Jukka Aminoff Et Al

The value of one bitcoin recently hit a record high of US$3,025, a staggering rise of over 200% in value this year alone. Aswath Damodaran, professor of finance at the New York University, known as Wall Streets dean of...

Squatting against oppression: how refugees are fighting back against border controls

By Deanna Dadusc

Sorting out what happened in UNHCR and government talks on refugees important for credibility of both sides

By Michelle Grattan

The fracas between the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) and the government over whether Australia agreed to settle a handful of the Manus/Nauru boat people with family here goes to questions of fact...

Using forests to manage carbon: a heated debate

By Michael Tausz Et Al

The best way of managing trees and forests for climate change and accounting for contributions of forests and forestry activities in carbon budgets remains hotly contested. Forests can either take up carbon dioxide (CO₂)...

Want to be happier, healthier, save money? It's time to get cooking

By Clare Collins

Research shows people who cook more have healthier eating patterns, spend less money on take away foods and have indicators of better health. Cooking makes you happy A study in 160 adults examined whether eating...

On the origins of environmental bullshit

By David Schlosberg

This article is part of an ongoing series from the Post-Truth Initiative, a Strategic Research Excellence Initiative at the University of Sydney. The series examines todays post-truth problem in public discourse: the...

What influences American giving?

By Una Osili

Several nonprofits, such as the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, have reported a surge in donations as some Americans respond to their political concerns by supporting causes they...

Hong Kong's democratic struggle and the rise of Chinese authoritarianism

By Kelly Chernin

In July, a Hong Kong court purged four pro-democracy politicians from its Legislative Council. This move comes after two other Hong Kong lawmakers were expelled from the Legislative Council earlier this year and at the...

A bold, bipartisan plan to return the US to the vanguard of 21st-century technological innovation

By Sascha Meinrath

Digital technologies like the internet and smartphones are transforming our lives and society. They are proving to be powerful tools for liberating individuals creative and entrepreneurial potential, as well as providing...

Biologics: The pricey drugs transforming medicine

By Ian Haydon

In a factory just outside San Francisco, theres an upright stainless steel vat the size of a small car, and its got something swirling inside. The vat is studded with gauges, hoses and pipes. Inside, its hot just under...

More women are becoming game developers, but there's a long way to go

By Brooke Maggs

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows a rise in the number of women working in the Australian games industry. In 2011-2012, only 8.7% of game developers identified as female, with that amount almost...

The next pharmaceutical revolution could be 3D bioprinted

By Tim Dargaville Et Al

Body organs such as kidneys, livers and hearts are incredibly complex tissues. Each is made up of many different cell types, plus other components that give the organs their structure and allow them to function as we need...

Small nuclear power reactors: Future or folly?

By MV Ramana

Nuclear energy companies are proposing small nuclear reactors as a safer and cheaper source of electricity. In June, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories put out a call for a discussion around Small Modular Reactor (SMRs) in...

Explainer: what's actually in our blood?

By Denese Marks

Blood is vitally important for our body. As its pumped around our body through veins and arteries, it transports oxygen from our lungs to all of the other organs, tissues and cells that need it. Blood also removes waste...

Inside the tech that makes 'near-miss' air collisions almost impossible

By Davide Crivelli

The sky is a crowded place. In June 2017, there were on average 33,000 flights every day over Europe alone. Surely then, its not surprising that we hear of near-misses between passenger jets, and of hero pilots avoiding...

The UK's online porn crackdown could harm young people more than it helps

By Rosie Hodsdon

Wont somebody please think of the children!? The UK government seems to be using this catchphrase from The Simpsons as the basis for its proposed new pornography laws. Its recently announced plan to force pornographic...

UNHCR accuses government of breaching undertaking over refugee cases

By Michelle Grattan

The United Nations high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has accused Australia of breaking its word by refusing to allow refugees on Manus Island and Nauru with family in Australia to settle here a claim denied...

MasterCard survives £14 billion class action but more could follow

By Joanne Atkinson

Convenience often comes at a cost. As consumers, many of us are resigned to seeing a surcharge or processing fee on goods and services when we pay by credit or debit card. At present, it is lawful for businesses to charge...

For some kids school holidays mean hunger and isolation

By Greta Defeyter

The school holidays, the best times of your life, right? Maybe not if youre one of many families struggling to cope with the extra costs of food, activities and childcare. In fact for many families, rather than a summer...

How activist artists on the US-Mexico border contest Trump's wall

By Claire Taylor

In recent years we have seen a rise of what has been termed artivism: the bringing together of art and activism. Artivists see art as a social practice. They address particular societal concerns or inequalities and involve...

Britain better fix its identity crisis fast – or risk a disastrous Brexit

By Timothy Oliver

There are lots of productive ways to analyse Brexit why it happened, how its developing, and how it might turn out. One of the most interesting is to use the idea of an identity to understand both why the process is...

Sharkathon 2017 is here: How to watch it like a scientist

By George Burgess

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your television, the Discovery Channels Shark Week and National Geographic Wilds SharkFest are hitting the air with competing daily programming. As director of the Florida...

From self-driving cars to Zoomtubes: an expert imagines the evolution of transport in Mega City One

By Guy Walker

Each year, more than 100,000 people descend on San Diego for Comic-Con International. The largest annual comic and pop culture convention in the world. San Diego Comic-Con offers fans a chance to immerse themselves in the...

Why the advertising industry should cheer new rules on gender stereotypes

By Karen Middleton

Britains advertising watchdog is introducing tough new standards, which could ban adverts which feature potentially harmful gender stereotypes. This could not have come at a better time for the industry. Companies have...

Bleached girls: India and its love for light skin

By Neha Mishra Et Al

Lets scrub out that tan is a common refrain in beauty parlours in India, where girls grow up with constant reminders that only fair skin is beautiful. From Sunday classified ads touting the marriageability of an MBA...

Both franchisees and franchisors benefit from company-owned stores

By Maurice Roussety

Some franchisees of hardware chain Mitre 10 are calling for an end to company-owned stores. These are stores owned and run by Metcash, which owns the Mitre 10 brand and is a supplier to the franchisees. But research...

If the UK is going to make more people retire later, it needs to get creative

By Jane Parry

The UK government has made a surprise announcement that the rise in state pension age to 68 is to be phased in from 2037, instead of 2044. Made just days before the end of an unusually troubled parliamentary session, it is...

Is austerity really to blame for stalling life expectancy in England?

By Richard Faragher

Over the 20th century, life expectancy in the UK increased from 46 to 76 years. But since 2010, that rate of increase is close to having ground to a halt. At any point in living memory this finding would cause serious...

Emmanuel Macron is already showing he is no progressive

By Fraser McQueen

At the Vel dHiv commemoration ceremony on July 16, Frances new president Emmanuel Macron insisted that France must acknowledge its responsibility for deporting thousands of Jews to concentration camps during World War II....

Brexit lessons from Britain's 19th century push for free trade

By Anthony Howe

As Britain prepares to enter what have been widely described as the most complex negotiations in recent history, politicians and civil servants dealing with Brexit can look to the 19th century for inspiration when it comes...

Lions and lambs: can you solve this classic game theory puzzle?

By Amirlan Seksenbayev

How many lions does it take to kill a lamb? The answer isnt as straightforward as you might think. Not, at least, according to game theory. Game theory is a branch of maths that studies and predicts decision-making. It...

Who's who in the Godfather version of Trump's White House

By Martin Carter

The never-ending scandals surrounding the Trump administration reached hysterical levels recently with the allegation that in 2016 Trumps eldest son, Donald Jr., met with Russians allegedly linked with the Kremlin to...

Antidepressants and pregnancy: study didn't find they actually cause autism

By Helen Leonard

A new paper published today has reported a small increase in the number of children born with autism in mothers who were using antidepressant medication while pregnant. But the increase was small, and the study did not...

Why the US doesn't understand Chinese thought – and must

By Bryan W. Van Norden

The need for the U.S. to understand China is obvious. The Chinese economy is on track to become the largest in the world by 2030, Chinese leadership may be the key to resolving the nuclear crisis with North Korea and China...

Why the US's 1994 deal with North Korea failed – and what Trump can learn from it

By Maria Ryan

After more than two decades of testing, North Korea finally has a missile that is powerful enough to deliver a nuclear warhead to US territory that is, to Alaska and/or Hawaii, if estimates are to be believed. This is an...

Where the boundaries lie in workplace relationships

By Paul Harpur

In recent weeks two prominent news stories have highlighted workplace romances blowing up into costly public scandals. The romantic relationship between CEO of Seven West Media, Tim Worner, and former executive assistant...

How history can challenge the narrative of blame for homelessness

By Anne O'Brien

Homelessness is a pressing humanitarian problem one that is increasingly in the public eye. The evictions, protests, personal histories and statistical profiles of people experiencing it appear regularly in the...

How we think about our past experiences affects how we can help others

By Adam Gerace

Have you ever told a friend experiencing a troubling situation I know exactly how you feel? This empathic response is usually driven by a connection weve made with our own similar experiences. Having been there, we...

Inaction on climate change risks leaving future generations $530 trillion in debt

By James Dyke

By continuing to delay significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we risk handing young people alive today a bill of up to US$535 trillion. This would be the cost of the negative emissions technologies required to...

Populism is splitting Britain but it could herald change for Wales

By Huw L Williams

Split over Brexit, austerity and its place in the world, an unconventional situation has emerged in Britain: both the ruling party and the main opposition have adopted populist politics. Populism traditionally pits the...

A new vaccine is promising to advance the frontier of eliminating malaria

By Simon Kariuki

More than 30 malaria vaccine candidates are at various stages of development. The RTS,S vaccine is at the most advanced stage. The World Health Organisation has recommended the introduction of the vaccine in Ghana,...

A spate of acid attacks in London is part of an international problem

By Brett Edwards Et Al

A series of five acid attacks in one night in London has created a moment for the British government to take a more public stance on this growing problem. A teenager has been charged with 15 offences relating to the...

The gig economy is nothing new – it was standard practice in the 18th century

By Tawny Paul

The Taylor Report, the UK governments recent major review of modern work, paid particular attention to the gig economy. This is the idea that the traditional model of work where people often have a clear career...

Could talking help tackle organised crime?

By Xavier L'Hoiry Et Al

Organised criminals are often portrayed in media and popular culture as ruthless, violent and intent on making money at all costs. Think The Godfather, or the Kray twins. But these stereotypes are unhelpful and often dont...