Curious Kids: What is dew?

By Dylan Korczynskyj

Curious Kids is a series for children in which we ask experts to answer questions from kids. You might also like the podcast Imagine This, a co-production between ABC KIDS listen and The Conversation, based on Curious...

There are many good ideas to tackle inequality – it's time we acted on them

By Marianna Brungs

This is the final article in the Reclaiming the Fair Go series, a collaboration between The Conversation, the Sydney Democracy Network and the Sydney Peace Foundation to mark the awarding of the 2018 Sydney Peace Prize to...

Sticker shock: Conservation costs and policy complications

By Andrea Olive

Earlier this year, a heartbreaking drama played out near Vancouver Island. An endangered orca named J35 carried her dead calf for weeks in an apparent mourning ritual captivating onlookers around the world. But lurking...

The urgent need for Canada to diversify its trade

By Tiff Macklem

With the difficult renegotiation of the trade agreement with Canadas largest trading partner now resolved, its time for Canada to get serious about trade diversification. The experience of renegotiating NAFTA or USMCA...

The resilience of Barbados counters Trump's 'sh-thole' remarks

By J.M. Opal

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, former attorney and future inmate Michael Cohen revealed some of the uglier things Donald Trump said to him during their many years together. Among the alleged quotes: Name one...

Stamp duty fever: the bad economics behind swapping stamp duty for land tax

By Cameron Murray

To paraphrase former prime minister Paul Keating, walk into any pet shop in the country and youll find the resident galah saying we should swap stamp duty for a land value tax. Just about every economic think tank in...

In his first major foreign policy test, Morrison needs to stick to the script

By Susan Harris Rimmer

Attending a global leaders summit might look easy all interesting shirts, family-style photos and unusual handshakes but these occasions can prove extremely difficult for leaders who focus solely on domestic politics or...

The bitter lesson of the Californian fires

By David Bowman

California is burning, again. Dozens of peoples have been killed and thousands of buildings destroyed in several fires, the most destructive in the states history. The California fires are just the most recent in a...

Why is everyone talking about natural sequence farming?

By Ian Rutherfurd

On the eve of the recent National Drought Summit, prime minister Scott Morrison and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack visited Mulloon Creek near Canberra, shown recently on the ABCs Australian Story. They were there...

Revolution 50: The Beatles’ White Album remixed

By David McCooey

Last year, the 50th anniversary remix of The Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band gained considerable respect from critics and fans alike. Now we have the 50th anniversary remix of The Beatles, universally known as...

Like many Marvel characters, Stan Lee was a flawed hero

By Christopher Murray

Stan Lee was the voice of my childhood. As I sat transfixed by Spider-Man cartoons on Saturday mornings, his energetic narration welcomed me into the story; made me feel part of the gang. Never mind that the animation...

The culture of silence that allows sexual harassment in the workplace to continue

By Dulini Fernando

The #MeToo movement has led to women the world over coming forward with stories of harassment. This issue is not confined to a single company or industry. It is an endemic problem which spreads far beyond the cases of...

Prince Charles: the conventions that will stop him from meddling as King

By Stephen Clear

Categorised by some as a meddler, for decades constitutional lawyers have debated whether Prince Charles will be a reformist when he succeeds the Queen. Specifically, his spider memos to government ministers which...

Terrorism in Tunisia and how it's evidence of an increasingly unstable North Africa

By Omar Safi

A terrorist attack hit the heart of the city of Tunis last month, wounding nine people. The explosion struck Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the Tunisian Whitehall, when a female suicide bomber detonated herself near the Ministry...

Trauma and truth on the frontline: revealing new biography of war reporter Marie Colvin is compelling stuff

By Idrees Ahmad

For Marie Colvin, it was Lebanons War of the Camps that brought home the power of journalism. In April 1987 Burj al Barajneh, a Palestinian refugee camp, was besieged by Amal, a Shia militia backed by the Syrian...

Book on Steinhoff's demise shows danger of 'big men' business leaders

By Mills Soko

The collapse of Steinhoff International, the multi-billion dollar global business group, has been rightly described as the biggest corporate scandal in South African history. The companys history, and its subsequent...

British Muslims will live with an intolerable burden of uncertainty under new counter-terrorism bill

By Tarek Younis

Imagine a small, rat-infested town. Everyone is complaining about the rats and it dawns on the mayor she might gain some political advantage from dealing with the issue. So, she poisons the towns water. Lo, all the rats...

Broken government promises to blame for Nigeria university strike

By Oludayo Tade

All 37,504 academic staff of Nigerias public universities have been on an indefinite strike since early November. This followed a meeting of the unions national executive council which ruled that no substantial progress...

Food security in Africa depends on rethinking outdated water law

By Barbara van Koppen

A new study has found that outdated, colonial-era water permit systems across Africa are unintentionally criminalising millions of small farmers who cant obtain permits. This undermines efforts to boost farming production...

Why giving South Africans title deeds isn't the panacea for land reform

By Simon Hull

The land reform debate in South Africa has become increasingly polarised since Parliament resolved to consider amending the countrys Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. But the slow...

Knife crime: how former offenders can make great mentors for at-risk teens

By Sean Creaney

Its widely reported that theres been an increase in street violence, particularly in London - with the number of knife and gun crimes rising. While the causes are complex and multifaceted, victims and perpetrators of...

Michelle Obama's Becoming is an insight into inequality, feminism and a FLOTUS who broke the mould

By Clodagh Harrington

Time magazine described it as a tour fit for a rock star. This is not how book promotional outings are usually billed but then this is no ordinary tome. The memoirs of Michelle Obama comprise one half of a US$65m joint...

Life in South Africa's economic hub is improving -- but big challenges remain

By Julia de Kadt Et Al

More than 14 million people live in South Africas economic hub, the Gauteng City-Region. Thats 25% of the countrys population. A lot of media reporting and public discussion about Gauteng is negative. Service delivery...

Catalonia: a year on, political prisoners go unnoticed by the rest of the world

By Georgina Blakeley

After an unofficial referendum in October 2017, the pro-independence political parties in the Catalan parliament unilaterally declared independence from Spain. In response, the Spanish government invoked Article 155 of the...

Four ways children say their well-being can be improved

By Charlotte Todd Et Al

Good emotional health as a child lays the foundation for good life satisfaction in adulthood. However, in the UK children and young peoples happiness with their life is now at its lowest since 2010. Our research team,...

Neuroscientists identify a surprising low-tech fix to the problem of sleep-deprived teens

By Adriana Galván

Healthy sleep leads to healthy brains. Neuroscientists have gotten that message out. But parents, doctors and educators alike have struggled to identify what to do to improve sleep. Some have called for delaying school...

Move more, sit less – great advice, but how can we make time for exercise?

By David E. Conroy Et Al

Its that time again. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released a new edition of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. That sound you hear is Americans collectively sighing. Lets be honest:...

Trump's new Iranian oil sanctions may inflict pain at home without serving strategic objectives

By Gregory Brew

The Trump administration has formally imposed new sanctions on Iran aimed at hindering Irans oil exports a move that had been in the works for six months. The U.S. government has also made a second, more surprising,...

The world's plastic problem is bigger than the ocean

By Christopher J. Preston

As you read this, a strange object that looks like a 2,000-foot floating pool noodle is drifting slowly through the central north Pacific Ocean. This object is designed to solve an enormous environmental problem. But in so...

Why space debris cleanup might be a national security threat

By Saadia Pekkanen

As an international relations scholar who studies space law and policy, I have come to realize what most people do not fully appreciate: Dealing with space debris is as much a national security issue as it is a technical...

Volcanic eruptions once caused mass extinctions in the oceans – could climate change do the same?

By Jeremy D. Owens Et Al

All animals, whether they live on land or in the water, require oxygen to breathe. But today the worlds oceans are losing oxygen, due to a combination of rising temperatures and changing ocean currents. Both factors are...

Measuring racial profiling: Why it's hard to tell where police are treating minorities unfairly

By Liberty Vittert Et Al

Donald Trump has waved the words stop and frisk around like a banner call to cure violent crime in American cities. That means its time to take a look back at one of the primary criticisms of this police practice:...

Wearing the poppy has always been a political act – here's why

By Sam Edwards

The annual argument over the politics of the red poppy is well and truly underway. LBC host James OBrien recently declared that supporters of the far-right have no business wearing the national symbol of remembrance,...

How to keep slave-caught seafood off your plate

By Jessica Meeuwig Et Al

How would you feel if you knew that slavery had helped provide the fish on your plate? Our new research reveals that imported seafood raises the risk of Australians consuming fish caught or processed by workers under slave...

Blasts from the past: how massive solar eruptions 'probably' detonated dozens of US sea mines

By Brett Carter

An extraordinary account of the impact space weather had on military operations in Vietnam in 1972 was found buried in the US Navy archives, according to a newly published article in Space Weather. On August 4, 1972,...

Dark tourism: why atrocity tourism is neither new nor weird

By Caroline Bennett

Recently a new show appeared on my Netflix recommendations and drew my attention. Dark Tourist sells itself as a provocative and quirky documentary series, in which New Zealand journalist David Farrier visits sites...

What it means when scientists say their results are 'significant'

By Yazad Irani

This article is part of the series This is research, where we ask academics to share and discuss open access articles that reveal important aspects of science. Todays piece looks at statistics, and how to interpret them...

The votes have been counted, the results are (mostly) in: What’s next for health care?

By Simon F. Haeder

Ever since the legislative battle over the passage of the Affordable Care Act, health care has dominated the political landscape in the United States. First, the bruising fight to enact the Affordable Care Act. It was...

Left behind: The midterm view from Iowa

By Paul Lasley

Now that the midterm election is over, many of my fellow Iowans are looking forward to resuming normal daily activities, finishing up the fall harvest, raking their lawns without the nuisance of political yard signs and...

Attractive restaurant servers can influence what we think of our meals

By Lily Lin

More than ever, dining out is an activity woven into our daily lives. At their best, restaurants hold the publics attention because they reflect and radiate taste, culture and a vision of the good life. Yet despite all...

A wealth tax forces those responsible for climate change to pay for it

By D.T Cochrane

The costs of climate change are mounting. A wealth tax would provide funds to address both the climate crisis and poverty. Carbon prices implemented by Canadas federal and provincial governments will end the free...

'Boy Erased' -- why conversion therapies and ex-gay ministries should be outlawed

By Gerald Walton

Pray the gay away is shorthand for Christian programs that, disguised as love, purport that God heals homosexuality. Through the lens of sexual sin, homosexuality is construed as something in need of healing, a disease in...

The argument from cyberspace for eliminating nuclear weapons

By Lauren J. Borja Et Al

At the height of the Cold War in 1982, American psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton argued that the central existential fact of the nuclear age is vulnerability. That warning predated the proliferation of computers into almost...

The US government has huge debts, and House Democrats could lead the way on solutions – an economist explains how

By Laurence J. Kotlikoff

Now that Democrats control the House, the question on many minds is what they will do with it. Incoming Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi says Democrats will focus on corruption, money in politics, drug prices, gun control...

Little Women at 150 and the patriarch who shaped the book's tone

By Ryna Ordynat

Its 150 years since Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was published and in the time since, the book has never been out of print. The story of the March sisters struck a chord with readers - especially young girls - early...

Borneo cave discovery: is the world's oldest rock art in Southeast Asia?

By Adam Brumm Et Al

Cave paintings in remote mountains in Borneo have been dated to at least 40,000 years ago much earlier than first thought according to a study published today in Nature. These artworks include a painting of what seems...

The Google walkout is a watershed moment in 21st century labour activism

By Michael Walker

That 20,000 Google employees walked off the job last week is a watershed event, a hugely significant symbolic development for labour relations in the 21st century. Granted, the action itself was limited. More than seven...

Learning music early can make your child a better reader

By Anita Collins Et Al

Neuroscience has found a clear relationship between music and language acquisition. Put simply, learning music in the early years of schooling can help children learn to read. Music, language and the brain Music...

Who wins and who loses when platforms like Airbnb disrupt housing? And how do you regulate it?

By Laura Crommelin Et Al

Short-term letting platforms like Airbnb are changing property owners and investors views and behaviour in the Sydney and Melbourne rental markets. These changes are directly affecting housing availability in localised...

Pain isn't just physical: why many are using painkillers for emotional relief

By Kev Dertadian

Australians are increasingly using prescription or over-the-counter painkillers to ease emotional, rather than physical, pain. Our cultural understanding of pain is changing, and as a result its becoming more difficult to...