Why the Supreme Court's football decision is a game-changer on school prayer
By Charles J. Russo
The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently banned school-sponsored prayer in public schools. At the same time, lower courts have generally forbidden public school employees from openly praying in the workplace, even if no...
What does equity in schools look like? And how is it tied to growing teacher shortages?
By Lucas Walsh
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared victory on election night, he said he wanted to unite Australians around our shared values of fairness and opportunity, and hard work and kindness to those in need.
So what...
Drones and DNA tracking: we show how these high-tech tools are helping nature heal
By Jake M Robinson Et Al
Technology has undoubtedly contributed to global biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Where forests once stood, artificial lights now illuminate vast urban jungles. Where animals once roamed, huge factories now...
The dangers of big data extend to farming
By Kelly Bronson
Most internet users are by now aware of the vulnerability of their personal data. When the news broke that tech companies misuse and manipulate our personal data, there was a widespread techlash against the corporate...
Market research is essential for entrepreneurs who want their businesses to succeed
By Philippe Massiera
According to the U.S. research and consulting firm CB Insights, most entrepreneurs fail because they lack sufficient financing. The second reason they fail is because the market for their product is too small.
Yet many...
Ukraine and Moldova gain EU candidate status but face a long road to full membership
By Stephen Hall3
For four months, Ukraine has been fighting for its very existence. Having successfully forced Russia to shift focus from a four-fronted offensive to concentrating on the Donbas region in the east of the country, Ukraine is...
Social Security benefits play key role in preventing older Americans from lacking enough quality food
By Sophie Mitra Et Al
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The big idea
Social Security benefits make it easier for older Americans to afford the food they need to live a healthy, active life, according to...
Business schools get a bad rap – but a closer look shows they're often a force for good
By George Siedel
There is no shortage of books critical of business schools. The titles leave little doubt about how much disdain the authors have for the schools meant to prepare future leaders in business.
Consider books like Shut...
I watched hundreds of flat-Earth videos to learn how conspiracy theories spread – and what it could mean for fighting disinformation
By Carlos Diaz Ruiz
Around the world, and against all scientific evidence, a segment of the population believes that Earths round shape is either an unproven theory or an elaborate hoax. Polls by YouGov America in 2018 and FDU in 2022 found...
How Rising festival brought us dance in times of plague
By Angela Conquet
Three years in the making, Risings much-anticipated first edition brought to Melbournes festival-deprived audiences a rich program featuring 225 events.
With former Chunky Move founder and choreographer Gideon Obarzanek...
LIV Golf: Sportwashing vs. the commercial value of public attention
By Brad Millington Et Al
The LIV Golf Invitational Series held its first event recently at Centurion Club in St. Albans, England.
LIV is a challenger to established tours in mens golf most notably the PGA Tour. Golfers have seemingly been...
Our current methods of food production are unsustainable – in his latest book, George Monbiot considers the alternatives
By Petra Marschner
In his new book Regenesis, journalist and environmental activist George Monbiot describes problems associated with agriculture now and into the future. He also gives examples of how agriculture can be improved to produce...
Female finance leaders outperform their male peers, so why so few of them in academia and beyond?
By Jing Xu Et Al
The gender diversity of thought leadership in finance is lower than in most other academic fields, our research shows. Finance ranks 132nd out of 175 fields with a representation of only 10.3% women among its thought...
Why capping food prices won't work – and will actually make things worse
By Phil Lewis
Australian shoppers are facing a crisis in the fresh-food aisles.
Iceberg lettuces that cost $2.80 a year ago have doubled, or tripled, in price. Brussel sprouts that cost $4 to $6 a kilogram are now $7 to $14. Beans...
Russia’s Ukraine invasion won’t be over soon – and Putin is counting on the West’s short attention span
By Matthew Sussex
As Russias war in Ukraine becomes a quagmire of attrition, Western leaders are slowly coming to two realisations about Vladimir Putins intentions.
First, Russias war against Ukraine wont be over soon, and is likely to...
US Capitol attack: how the public reaction to the January 6 hearings reflects deep divisions in the US
By Eliza Bechtold
After nearly a year of investigating the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021, the Democrat-led House Select committee is holding a series of public hearings to present its findings to the US public. These findings...
At what point is a disease deemed to be a global threat? Here's the answer
By C Raina MacIntyre Et Al
Whenever there is an outbreak of a disease in the world such as monkeypox it is up to the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider what sort of weight to give it, including whether or not it constitutes a public...
How to combat the unethical and costly use of deepfakes
By Audrey de Rancourt-Raymond1 Et Al
Deepfakes are video, audio and image content generated by artificial intelligence. This technology can produce false images, videos or sounds of a person, place or event that appear authentic.
In 2018, there were...
Vegan cheese: what you should know
By Richard Hoffman
For many people who go vegan, one of the hardest things to give up is cheese. Fortunately, thanks to the increasing popularity of veganism, food manufacturers have begun producing a greater variety of vegan cheeses with...
Crypto crash: market volatility is testing investor will but crypto-enthusiasts still see a future for the asset class
By Andrew Urquhart Et Al
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, remains a bellweather for the sector. It hit an all-time high of more than US$68,000 (55,600) in November 2021, when the overall value of the cryptocurrency market was close to US$3...
What is a heat dome? An atmospheric scientist explains the weather phenomenon baking large parts of the country
By William Gallus
A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area. The heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer...
What is curtailment? An electricity market expert explains
By Theodore J. Kury
Curtailment has a special meaning in electric power systems. It describes any action that reduces the amount of electricity generated to maintain the balance between supply and demand which is critical for avoiding...
Pandemic's impacts on how people live and work may change city centers for decades to come
By Eunjee Kwon Et Al
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The big idea
If companies allowed more of their employees to permanently work from home, businesses would gravitate toward city centers, while...
Celibacy: its surprising evolutionary advantages – new research
By Ruth Mace Et Al
Why would someone join an institution that removed the option of family life and required them to be celibate? Reproduction, after all, is at the very heart of the evolution that shaped us. Yet many religious institutions...
How digital tech can help people with asthma manage their meds and reduce the risk of attacks
By Amy Chan
Modern medical science has made remarkable progress in the treatment of asthma. Inhalers containing steroids are particularly effective in preventing an asthma attack. But getting people to take these preventive medicines...
Levelling up: why Netflix and TikTok are turning to gaming to secure their future
By James Birt
The streaming wars are heating up. In March, Disney delayed the release date of Obi-Wan Kenobi to May 27 to coincide with the launch of Netflixs top show, Stranger Things. This on the back of Googles announcement YouTube...
The national electricity market is a failed 1990s experiment. It's time the grid returned to public hands
By John Quiggin
A crisis, as the saying has it, combines danger and opportunity. The dangers of the current electricity crisis are obvious. The opportunity it presents is to end to the failed experiment of the national electricity...
Why Russia demonizes Ukrainian diasporas
By Vic Satzewich Et Al
Were now almost into the fifth month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and one of the consistent features of Russias associated information war is its continuing efforts to defame and demonize Ukrainian diasporas around...
UK work visa for elite graduates is exclusive and based on flawed assumptions
By Orla Quinlan
The UK governments announcement of a new work visa option aimed at attracting top graduates has elicited some backlash because the list of eligible institutions features no universities from Africa, Latin America or South...
Want to run for office in Kenya? Here's how much it'll cost you
By Karuti Kanyinga
Kenyas constitution provides for election of the president and 47 governors to head the executive organs at national and county levels, respectively. Also to be elected are legislators: 47 senators, 290 MPs and 1,450...
Ukraine war: fears that Belarus might invade on Russia's side are growing
By Stefan Wolff
As the war in Ukraine drags on and Russias attempts to gain significant ground in Donbas stall, concerns are being raised once again about the possibility of Belarus opening a second front. This, so the logic goes, would...
How monkeypox epidemic is likely to play out – in four graphs
By Adam Kleczkowski
The first case of monkeypox in a human was reported in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, there have been many monkeypox outbreaks, but they have been self-limiting, with chains of human transmission...
Why including coal in a new ‘capacity mechanism’ will make Australia's energy crisis worse
By Tim Nelson
Australias electricity generators would be paid extra money to be available even if they dont actually generate any energy, under a new mechanism proposed by the federal governments Energy Security Board...
In an energy crisis, every watt counts. So yes, turning off your dishwasher can make a difference
By Anna Malos
Australias east coast energy market has been on a rocky road for the past few weeks. It begs the question: how could the market change to avoid the next crisis?
To date, discussion has largely focused on the need to...
BTS take a break: world’s biggest K-pop group is caught between Korea’s soft power ambitions and national security
By Sarah A. Son
The decision by K-pop sensations, BTS, to take a hiatus is breaking hearts globally. But, unlike the Beatles or One Direction, their decision is tied to Korean peninsula politics and the challenge of balancing national...
Online dating fatigue – why some people are turning to face-to-face apps first
By Martin Graff
For the last two-plus years, people hoping to meet their soulmate in person have had a rough time. Lockdowns and uncertainty about social gatherings have led many people to turn to dating apps. People who feel they have...
A new farming proposal to reduce carbon emissions involves a lot of trust – and a lot of uncertainty
By Ralph Sims
After decades of avoiding inclusion in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), New Zealands primary production sector has begrudgingly acknowledged that reducing on-farm emissions of greenhouse gases is an...
Insurance firms can skim your online data to price your insurance — and there's little in the law to stop this
By Zofia Bednarz Et Al
What if your insurer was tracking your online data to price your car insurance? Seems far-fetched, right?
Yet there is predictive value in the digital traces we leave online. And insurers may use data collection and...
How are PhD students meant to survive on two-thirds of the minimum wage?
By Shaun Belward Et Al
Over the decades, supportive parents of Australian students on the cusp of graduating from their undergraduate studies have occasionally been struck by a bewildering decision by their pride and joy. Instead of pursuing an...
What's driving the surge in South Africa's fuel price
By Jannie Rossouw
Increases in the domestic price of fuel are big news in South Africa, with the price of petrol, diesel and paraffin reaching new highs. The underlying reason for the price increases is movements in the international price...
Is a major recession unavoidable? Three economists give their views
By Jonathan Perraton Et Al
We are in a double bind right now. Prices are going through the roof but all the signs suggest that the economy is weakening. The answer to higher prices is normally to raise interest rates, but this also induces people...
The latest Bank of England rate rise won't do much to tackle inflation - here's what could work
By Michael Jacobs
There wasnt much dramatic tension as markets waited for the Bank of Englands latest decision on interest rates. The fifth monthly quarter-point hike in a row was largely expected, taking the base rate to 1.25% in June...
Canadians' trust in the news media hits a new low
By Colette Brin Et Al
According to the Reuters Institutes 2022 Digital News Report, trust in the Canadian news media has sunk to its lowest point in seven years.
The study, produced by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the...
5 things to know about the Fed's interest rate increase and how it will affect you
By D. Brian Blank
The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates for the third time this year, on June 15, 2022, as it seeks to counter inflation running at the fastest pace in over 40 years. The big question is how much it will lift rates....
Five of the world's tiniest robots
By Joao Filipe Ferreira
Allow me to take you on a trip down my memory lane. As a young lad, a film I saw captured my imagination: Fantastic Voyage, a 1966 release about people shrunk to microscopic size and sent into the body of an injured...
Local efforts have cut plastic waste on Australia's beaches by almost 30% in 6 years
By Kathryn Willis Et Al
Its common to hear about large amounts of plastic waste floating around our oceans. But while the problem of plastic waste is growing globally, in Australia its going the other way.
This is because most plastic rubbish...
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at 40 – a deep meditation on loneliness, and Spielberg's most exhilarating film
By Ben McCann
40 years ago this month saw the release of Steven Spielbergs E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial a film about a stranded alien, the boy called Elliott who discovers it and a bond of friendship that remains as magical and...
'Food sequencing' really can help your glucose levels. Here's what science says about eating salad before carbs
By Leonie Heilbronn
Biochemist and author of the Glucose Revolution Jessie Inchauspé says tweaking your diet can change your life.
Among her recommendations in the mainstream media and on Instagram, the founder of the Glucose...
Conservative Supreme Court justices disagree about how to read the law
By Jeb Barnes
With a 6-3 majority, conservative justices on the Supreme Court may appear poised to hand down decisions that the Republican presidents who appointed them would applaud.
As a political scientist who has published...
Small green spaces can help keep cities cool during heat waves
By Lingshan Li
A recent World Meterological Organization report called heat waves the deadliest meteorological hazard from 2015 to 2019, affecting people living on all continents, and setting new national heat records in many regions....
