Atomic Swaps: Are they even a reality? What problems do we need to overcome to implement the tech?

By Andrew Zimine

Atomic swaps are an innovative technology that some speculate to be the future of crypto trading. This new technology, also known as atomic cross-chain trading, allows peer-to-peer trades between two cryptocurrencies from...

Five ways to reduce the risk of stillbirth

By Vicki Flenady Et Al

Six Australian babies are stillborn each day. This equates to more than 2,000 babies each year. Stillbirth is defined as the death of a baby of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams in weight. Most stillbirths occur...

The best thing about the new Oz horror film The School is its poster

By Ari Mattes

Review: The School Theres something about the Australian context that lends itself to explorations of horror. As I have argued elsewhere, the combination of what historian Geoffrey Blainey famously described as the...

Why biodiversity is key to our survival

By Eric Muraille

Diversity, be it genetic, morphological, behavioural or ecological, is at the heart of many controversies. It fascinates us or worries us, depending on the context. But what is biological diversity? How useful is it, how...

Opening Pandora's Box: Gene editing and its consequences

By John Bergeron

Today, the scientific community is aghast at the prospect of gene editing to create designer humans. Gene editing may be of greater consequence than climate change, or even the consequences of unleashing the energy of the...

Gay men who use crystal meth need integrated care

By Rod Knight

The use of cheap and potent crystal methamphetamine (meth) is reaching a crisis point in Canada and globally, replacing opioids as the drug of choice in some areas. In media and policy conversations about this drug, one...

Why universities need homerooms

By Eva Pomeroy

What kind of education can give us hope for the future? As an experiential educator for the past 20 years who focused my doctoral research on school exclusion, this is a question close to my heart. Over 20 years ago,...

The 1989 Polytechnique Massacre was an act of terrorism against all women

By Francis Dupuis-Déri Et Al

Late on the afternoon of Dec. 6, 1989, 25-year-old Marc Lépine entered École Polytechnique de Montréal armed with a semi-automatic weapon. He went into a classroom and ordered the men to leave....

The double juggle: how working parents manage school holidays and their jobs

By Candice Harris Et Al

The countdown is on towards the summer school holidays a time many working parents approach with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. School holidays are important for children as they offer a break from the routine...

Men get postnatal depression too, and as the mother's main support, they need help

By Richard Fletcher1 Et Al

Englands National Health Service (NHS) this week announced it will offer mental health screening and treatment for new and expectant fathers whose partners are suffering from mental illness. The NHS described this as a...

Love hurts – on a life of sports fandom

By Sally Breen

When you grow up with no books in the house except maybe the full Readers Digest set of Catherine Cooksons and Bert Ryans Guide to Fishing you worship other heroes. The great battles in life are not going down in drama...

Australians love their sport, but investing in new venues is another matter

By Jessica Richards Et Al

For Australians, the accolade sporting capital of the world is arguably more prized than worlds most liveable city. Australian cities (and the states) have appeared hell-bent on outdoing one another in building bigger...

Remembering Pearl Harbor and America's entry into the theatre of war

By James H. Liu

December 7, 1941. A date which will live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation and,...

Vital Signs: 35 extraordinary years. What the float of Australian dollar bought us

By Richard Holden

If a week is a long time in politics, then 35 years must be an eternity. 35 years ago, on Monday December 12, 1983, the Hawke-Keating government announced the Australian dollar would be floated. That is, the prices...

Darwin port's sale is a blueprint for China's future economic expansion

By John Garrick

An agreement between Darwins city council and an overseas municipal counterpart normally wouldnt attract much attention. Local government officials love signing such deals. Darwin already has no less than six sister city...

Perth's brief abalone season is a time of delicacies and danger

By John Charles Ryan

Starting on December 8, recreational abalone fishing will be allowed in Perth. Fishing will be limited to one hour on four Saturday mornings between December and February. The maximum catch is still 15 per person per day....

Geckos walk on water – we filmed them to find out how

By Jasmine Nirody

Anyone whos seen a gecko will likely know they can climb walls. But these common lizards can also run across water nearly as fast as they can move on solid ground. Yet while we know how geckos scale smooth vertical...

Was Tolkien really racist?

By Dimitra Fimi

In demonising orcs, the ugly, monstrous enemy of the elves, did JRR Tolkien betray a belief that some races are worse than others? Thats the debate that has been at the heart of claims in the Britsh press recently accusing...

Syria: is Europe’s influence in the region finished?

By Richard Youngs

The Assad regime has inched closer to winning the Syrian conflict during 2018. With Russian and Iranian support, the regime has reestablished strong and authoritarian rule, at least outside the deescalation zones where its...

Badger cull alone won't work for eradicating bovine TB – but this might

By Malcolm Bennett

Controlling the epidemic of tuberculosis in English cattle is a hugely controversial issue. The role badgers play in that epidemic and how to prevent their infection spreading to cattle is also hotly contested. The...

Abiy's big steps shouldn't obscure undercurrents in Ethiopia

By Stig Jarle Hansen Et Al

Positive headlines about Ethiopia have been frequent since the countrys new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over in early April. One of the biggest steps hes taken has been the rapprochement with Eritrea, which ended the...

What puts children in Ethiopia more at risk of being injured

By Qingfeng Li

Children in poorer countries are far more at risk of death and disability from injuries than their developed-world peers. These injuries include; road traffic injuries, drownings, poisoning, falls, burns and intentional...

South Africa's children aren't getting the mental health care they need

By Renata Schoeman

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has received increased scientific, clinical and public attention over the past few decades. Its the most common psychiatric disorder in children affecting 2% to 16% of the...

Hokey-pokey politics as the government is shaken all about

By Michelle Grattan

In the topsy turvy Liberal universe, just when the right is trying to tighten its grip on the throat of the party, the government is haring off to the left, with this weeks legislation to allow it to break up recalcitrant...

What happens after Brexit vote? Four possible scenarios explained

By Louise Thompson1

MPs have started to debate the final Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of a meaningful vote at the end of the day on December 11. That is about the only part of the current situation about which we can be sure. There are...

Syria may be using chemical weapons against its citizens again – here's how international law has changed to help countries intervene

By Michael Scharf

New reports have emerged from the Syrian civil war that banned chemical weapons are being used in Aleppo, a city on the edge of the last remaining rebel stronghold, Idlib province. Since 2011, the war has been the...

Why a 14th-century mystic appeals to today's 'spiritual but not religious' Americans

By Joel Harrington

The percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religious tradition continues to rise annually. Not all of them, however, are atheists or agnostics. Many of these people believe in a higher power, if not organized...

We've been studying a glacier in Peru for 14 years – and it may reach the point of no return in the next 30

By Mathias Vuille

High mountain environments in South America, which in many locations encompass peaks that reach 21,000 feet (6,500 meters) or more in altitude, are home to some of the most spectacular glaciers on our planet. My research...

Jay-Z's $200-million clothing battle could be game changer for black lawyers the world over

By Gbenga Oduntan

Millionaire rapper Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, has proved yet again why he is larger than life. He is embroiled in a contractual dispute over the US$204m (159m) sale of his clothing brand to Iconix Brand Group a decade...

From pledges to action: Cities need to show their climate progress with hard data

By Conor K Gately Et Al

As world leaders negotiate rules for cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the COP24 meeting in Poland, U.S. cities have a vested interest in the outcome. About 85 percent of Americans live in cities, and urban areas produce...

The John Birch Society is still influencing American politics, 60 years after its founding

By Christopher Towler

The retired candy entrepreneur Robert Welch founded the John Birch Society 60 years ago to push back against what he perceived as a growing American welfare state modeled on communism and the federal governments push to...

Getting to the heart of coal seam gas protests – it's not just the technical risks

By Hedda Ransan-Cooper Et Al

Opposition to coal seam gas (CSG) in Australia is remarkable. CSG proposals mostly affecting rural areas have spawned hundreds of opposition groups across the country. Some are now household names, like Lock the Gate and...

NZ is home to species found nowhere else but biodiversity losses match global crisis

By Robert McLachlan Et Al

The recently released 2018 Living Planet report is among the most comprehensive global analyses of biodiversity yet. It is based on published data on 4,000 out of the 70,000 known species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles...

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians: what it is and why it needs updating

By Don Carter

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has announced the government will update the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. This document sets out the agreed national purposes and role of schooling...

Educating nurses to support digital health

By Tracie Risling

Canadas healthcare system is undergoing a digital revolution. The technology is new, but it must be used by the existing health workforce. A recent report by the British National Health Service found that a lack of...

Married by default? Why Alberta's proposed new law is misguided

By Erez Aloni Et Al

Imagine that you move in with your intimate partner. Three years later, you get a letter from the province: Congratulations! From now on, we view you as a married couple. While you might not actually find such a letter...

Why we should stop labelling people climate change deniers

By Chui-Ling Tam

In the westernmost reaches of Nunavut, on the Northwest Passage, Inuit hunters have told me some pithy things about climate change. The land is changing. It isnt climate change. This is part of cycles. Our elders saw...

The promise of the “learn to code” movement

By Ivan Ruby Et Al

This week, educators, students and the public around the world are participating in Computer Science Education Week by organizing and leading one-hour coding tutorials. By the start of the week, more than 2,700 Canadian...

We all buy slave-made products: here's how we avoid feeling guilty

By Michal Carrington Et Al

We consume the products of slavery every day. All of us. Todays globalised supply chains make it is almost impossible to avoid goods or services free of the fingerprints of slavery. Electronic gadgets, clothing, fish,...

Australians think immigration should be cut? Well, it depends on how you ask

By Andrew Markus

Over the past 12 months, immigration policy has been increasingly contested in Australian politics and the media. Former prime minister Tony Abbott has been prominent with his advocacy of a reduction in the permanent...

Fracking policies are wildly inconsistent across Australia, from gung-ho development to total bans

By Hanabeth Luke Et Al

Last week, the Western Australian Government lifted its state-wide moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Unconventional gas industries were given the green light to develop on existing petroleum leases, especially...

Health Check: I’m taking antibiotics – when will they start working?

By Christine Carson Et Al

So youve got an infection (probably), feel terrible, saw your doctor and now have a freshly filled prescription for antibiotics. Once you start taking them, when will you feel better? This is difficult to predict. Each...

Health impacts and murky decision-making feed public distrust of projects like WestConnex

By Patrick Harris Et Al

WestConnex, the most expensive piece of transport infrastructure being built in Australia, looms large over the next New South Wales election. Construction is well under way, fuelling community concern about the projects...

Escher x nendo will surprise, delight and challenge

By Sasha Grishin

Review: Escher x nendo, National Gallery of Victoria. M. C. Escher (1898-1972) is an artist whose name is synonymous with mathematically challenging, optically intriguing and intellectually perplexing prints. This...

NASA spacecraft gets up close with an asteroid that could one day collide with Earth

By Kathryn Harriss

NASAs spacecraft OSIRIS-REx has finally reached the asteroid 101955 Bennu which may be on collision course with the Earth after travelling for just over two years since its launch in September 2016. This mission, which...

COP24: 12 years from disaster, here's where we are and what needs to be done to fight climate change

By Khalil A. Cassimally

World leaders are gathering in Katowice, Poland, to negotiate the worlds response to climate change. The 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) will last from December 3-14 and its primary aim is to reach agreement on how...

How the neoliberal obsession with valuing nature changes our understanding of it

By John Henneberry

Over the last decade, an industry has developed that values different aspects of nature in different ways. Its growth has been underpinned by the argument that, in a neoliberal world where the market is the dominant...

Why UNESCO was right to add reggae to its cultural heritage list

By Christopher Partridge

When UNESCO announced that the reggae music of Jamaica had been added to its list of cultural products considered worthy of recognition, it was a reflection on the fact that reggae, which grew from its roots in the...

Why France's ‘gilets jaunes’ protesters are so angry

By Claude Poissenot

Frances gilets jaunes protests of December 1 were marked not only by their anger and violence, but also by the variety of those taking part. The violence of the protests named after the yellow bibs worn by those on the...

Wizard of Oz: why this extraordinary movie has been so influential

By Brian Hoyle

Film director Joel Coen one half of the famed Coen Brothers once quipped that every movie ever made is an attempt to remake The Wizard of Oz and while, strictly speaking, theres a bit of artistic licence in this...