Even when it's sitting in storage, coal threatens human health

By Akshaya Jha

President Trump and his appointees have pledged to end what they call the war on coal policies designed to reduce the health and environmental impacts from producing and burning coal, such as toxic air pollution and mine...

How solar power can protect the US military from threats to the electric grid

By Joshua M. Pearce

As the U.S. military increases its use of drones in surveillance and combat overseas, the danger posed by a threat back at home grows. Many drone flights are piloted by soldiers located in the U.S., even when the drones...

Legal weed: What your kids really need to know

By Geraint Osborne

Weed, pot, grass, marijuana or cannabis to use the proper terminology will be legal in Canada from July 1, 2018. Anyone over the age of 18 will be able to walk into a store and buy up to 30 grams of regulated product....

North Korea tests not just a bomb but the global nuclear monitoring system

By Trevor Findlay

North Koreas apparent nuclear detonation on September 3 has drawn our attention to a remarkable international organisation that helps detect and identify nuclear tests. For the Vienna-based Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty...

Income inequality ticks down as the rich see their incomes fall: ABS

By Peter Whiteford

Income inequality has dropped slightly in Australia, largely driven by a fall in incomes for the richest 20% of the population, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Survey of Household Income and...

How gamification can boost student success

By Aaron Langille

In a perfect world, students would be self-motivated to focus during lectures and practice or study the material. Unfortunately, this is often not the case for many reasons. Recognizing that engagement is one of the key...

How can companies doing business overseas reduce the risk of corrupt practices?

By Florencio Travieso

The terms compliance, anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies and procedures have recently become trendier. Businesses in general and multinational corporations in particular are becoming more concerned about these...

Britain's offshore boom is concentrating power in the hands of a few very large developers

By Bridget Woodman

The price of offshore wind continues to fall dramatically. The UK governments latest round of contracts for renewable generation have just been announced, and they show the costs of subsidies have halved in just two years....

Why businesses fail to detect modern slavery at work

By Genevieve LeBaron Et Al

I can tell you the farm where the steak on your plate came from. Probably even the name of the cow. But we have no idea where the workers came from that work in our kitchens. That was the very frank admission from a...

As corruption scandals spread, Brazil struggles to uphold the rule of law

By Octavio Luiz Motta Ferraz

With the current president Michel Temer under suspicion and two former presidents, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) and his successor Dilma Rousseff, now facing fresh corruption charges, Brazils political crisis is...

We need to close legal loopholes to ensure everyone is safe when going under anaesthesia

By Kara Allen

A young woman tragically died recently after a cosmetic operation carried out at a beauty clinic. Manslaughter charges have been brought against the practitioner, who allegedly has qualifications obtained overseas but was...

Fake news and god's wrath: extreme hurricane politics in the US

By David Holmes

The devastating scenes of destruction and flooding in the Bahamas and the southern states of the US have captivated the world for many weeks now. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and Hurricane Jose soon to follow, have stolen...

The only safe email is text-only email

By Anna Shubina Et Al

Its troubling to think that at any moment you might open an email that looks like it comes from your employer, a relative or your bank, only to fall for a phishing scam. Any one of the endless stream of innocent-looking...

Why al-Qaida is still strong 16 years after 9/11

By Tricia Bacon

Sixteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, al-Qaida conducted the most destructive terrorist attack in history. An unprecedented onslaught from the U.S. followed. One-third of al-Qaidas leadership was killed or captured...

Does marijuana affect your sleep?

By Deirdre Conroy

If you speak to someone who has suffered from insomnia at all as an adult, chances are good that person has either tried using marijuana, or cannabis, for sleep or has thought about it. This is reflected in the many...

9/11 anniversary: Understanding extremist motives could stop further violence

By André Gagné

Monday marks the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States that claimed 2,977 lives. Whats changed since 9/11? How has our view of Islamist terrorists been transformed since that dreadful...

Time for pragmatism, not panic, for the electricity market

By David Blowers

There was a familiar kneejerk reaction to last weeks announcement by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) that there are risks to our electricity supply after the scheduled closure of the Liddell coal-fired power...

The economics of ticket scalping

By Paul Crosby Et Al

Allegations that tickets to recent AFL and NRL finals matches were being resold for up to three times their initial price raises questions of why ticket scalping happens, and whether anything can be done about it. To an...

What about the people missing out on renewables? Here's what planners can do about energy justice

By Jason Byrne Et Al

The rapid shift to new energy sources is outpacing land use planning in cities. As interest in renewable energy burgeons, another concern has emerged energy justice. Improvements in renewable energy generation, energy...

As your car becomes more like an iPhone, get ready to update its software regularly

By David Glance

In response to millions of people fleeing Florida in the face of Hurricane Irma, Tesla has flipped a switch in some of its cars to temporarily extend their range. Tesla is able to do this because its cars receive...

Explainer: after an earthquake, how does a tsunami happen?

By Jane Cunneen

Fridays earthquake off Mexico was the largest in that region in over a century, and will add pressure to a region already being battered by several other natural disasters. The earthquake occurred off the west coast of...

'Is truth overrated?' What the experts say

By Troy Campbell Et Al

Editors note: As part of our collaboration with Third Rail with OZY, we asked scholars from a variety of disciplines to answer the question: Is truth overrated? Objectivity and truth in the fake news era Maryanne...

Why social media apps should be in your disaster kit

By Courtney M. Page Et Al

With floodwaters at four feet and rising, a family in Houston, Texas abandoned their possessions and scrambled to their roof during Hurricane Harvey to sit with their pets and await rescue. Unable to reach first responders...

Not lovin' it: how insecure work creates insecure lifestyles for the poorest in society

By Pete Robertson

The claim that Eskimos have 50 words for snow may be apocryphal, but it neatly illustrates the truism that our vocabulary becomes more extensive and nuanced for phenomena we encounter frequently. The bog-standard job of...

Macron's woes: French unions are gearing up for major strikes

By Ruth Reaney

Emmanuel Macrons honeymoon period as French president is over. Five months into office and summer has seen his popularity slide. Nonetheless, the new leader is on the move with his commitment to reform Frances strict...

Caught between Trump and Kim, Japan is nervous and alone

By Taku Tamaki

North Koreas nuclear test, by far its largest, came less than a week after it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that flew over northern Japan, triggering a national text-message system known as the...

How market forces and weakened institutions are keeping our wages low

By John Buchanan

Within the political class there is a low level moral panic about low wages growth. The irony is that those lamenting this situation are simply witnessing the ultimate outcome of policies they have long advocated. While...

What the West gets wrong about North Korea's motives, and why some South Koreans admire the North

By B.R. Myers

North Koreas sixth nuclear test on September 3 of what was possibly a hydrogen bomb prompted a flurry of Western media think pieces attempting to explain the past and predict the future. Most left out important...

Extreme weather makes homelessness even worse. Here's how we can help

By Danielle Every

The images of Hurricane Harvey in Texas have shown how extreme weather can rob people of their homes. But what about those who have no home to begin with, or whose living situation is already precarious? Almost...

Progressive politics is losing to a fantasy state of mind

By MIck Chisnall

Why are we increasingly seeing voters support policies that, superficially at least, are against their own interests? In California, Central Valley farmers face a crisis. Despite their livelihoods depending on large...

How diseases can be targeted using nanotechnology – and why it's difficult

By Frank Caruso Et Al

Scientists are designing materials that are a thousand times smaller than the width of a hair. Known as nanomaterials or nanoparticles, some could help treat diseases. However, the engineering of particles for...

6 rules for rebuilding infrastructure in an era of 'unprecedented' weather events

By Mikhail Chester Et Al

Before Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, there was little doubt that its impact would be devastating and wide-ranging. Unfortunately, Harvey delivered and then some with early estimates of the damage at over...

Teen suicide is on the rise and this is why

By Dr. Mike Sosteric

Every 40 seconds, another human life is taken by suicide, according to World Health Organization data. In Canada, a new report reveals that young people between the ages of 15 and 19, who are struggling with mental...

Apple and 7-Eleven show why Trump's threat to sever China trade over Korea rings hollow

By Greg Wright

President Donald Trump tweeted on September 3 that the U.S. is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea after it performed a nuclear test. Though...

‘Indicator frenzy’ : the ‘economicist’ tendency of public policy and alternative indicators

By Anne Le Roy Et Al

The craze for quantitative data has become a hallmark of public policy on both national and local levels. Exploring the limits of quantification allows us to better understand the importance of developing alternative...

What Hurricane Harvey says about risk, climate and resilience

By Daniel Cohan Et Al

Hurricane Harvey has taught us many lessons, but the most valuable may be the oldest lesson of all, one we humans have been learning and forgetting since the dawn of time: how much we all have to lose when climate and...

Kenya targets Whatsapp administrators in its fight against hate speech

By Mercy Muendo

The Kenyan government is waging a war against online hate mongers with what would appear to be a zero-tolerance policy. In an unprecedented move two chat group administrators have been arrested. They were charged with...

Milton Keynes is bidding to be 2023 Capital of Culture – it should be taken seriously

By Darren Umney Et Al

The British city of Milton Keynes is probably not the most obvious contender for the title of 2023 European Capital of Culture. It hasnt exactly got a reputation for being a cultural hot spot: jokes about the blandness of...

How vanishing debt costs helped the UK forget about a never-ending deficit

By Alan Shipman

When the UK government found 1 billion to for Northern Ireland to secure Democratic Unionist parliamentary support, critics accused it of turning to the same magic money tree it had previously mocked others for believing...

New app detects pancreatic cancer in the early stages

By Pinar Uysal-Onganer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. It has a five-year survival of just 3%, and a ten-year survival of less than 1%. The prime reason for these depressing figures is that the disease is very difficult to...

Could gene editing tools such as CRIPSR be used as a biological weapon?

By James Revill

The gene editing technique CRISPR has been in the limelight after scientists reported they had used it to safely remove disease in human embryos for the first time. This follows a CRISPR craze over the last couple of...

Smart cities present risks, opportunities

By Sylvie Albert

Emergent technologies are poised to radically change how we work and live. They will transform our cities and workplaces, shifting jobs and entrepreneurship in new directions, and spur new ways to manage our lives. All of...

From diarrhoea to heart damage, ultra endurance sports put a huge strain on the body

By Nick Tiller

From The Race Across America, a 3,000-mile 12-day cycle demanding more than 20 hours per day in the saddle, to the Iditarod Trail Invitational, where participants run, bike, sled, or ski their way across 1,000 miles of...

Is it ethical to take a luxury holiday in a ‘developing’ country?

By Paul Hanna

Thinking of booking a luxury holiday to a developing country so you can experience the authenticity of a culture untouched by Western influences? And are you hoping to help the underprivileged in the country to lift them...

Artificial intelligence researchers must learn ethics

By James Harland

Scientists who build artificial intelligence and autonomous systems need a strong ethical understanding of the impact their work could have. More than 100 technology pioneers recently published an open letter to the...

As it launches another missile, we must realise there are no easy options for dealing with North Korea

By Tony Walker

Heres the script accompanied by a lot of bombast, signifying not much. North Korea launches another missile its 18th for the year and 80th since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011. This time it travels over Japan...

How to make robots that we can trust

By Michael Winikoff

Self-driving cars, personal assistants, cleaning robots, smart homes - these are just some examples of autonomous systems. With many such systems already in use or under development, a key question concerns trust. My...

How governments have widened the gap between generations in home ownership

By Rachel Ong

Various government policies have fuelled the demand for housing over time, expanding the wealth of older home owners and pushing it further and further beyond the reach of young would-be home buyers. A new study highlights...

'Build to rent' could be the missing piece of the affordable housing puzzle

By Matthew Palm

Australias state governments, as well as some ambitious local councils, community housing providers and forward-looking private developers, are finally taking note of the housing affordability crisis in our cities. One...

The world protests as Amazon forests are opened to mining

By Beatriz Garcia

The Amazon, often described as the lungs of the Earth, is the largest rainforest in the world. Its extraordinary biodiversity and sheer scale has made it a globally significant resource in the fight against climate...