Climate change and poverty are as much of a threat as terrorism for many young people

Mar 27, 2017 14:47 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

It will probably come as little surprise that recent surveys have found the majority of adults in Europe think that international terrorism is the most pressing threat to the continent. Though this is valuable...

How our autistic ancestors played an important role in human evolution

Mar 27, 2017 13:46 pm UTC| Nature

When you think of someone with autism, what do you think of? It might be someone with a special set of talents or unique skills such as natural artistic ability or a remarkable memory. It could also be someone with...

How 19th century fairy tales expressed anxieties about ecological devastation

Mar 23, 2017 04:59 am UTC| Nature

Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was one of the most popular European fairy tale authors in 19th century England. While today Andersen is known for his agonised mermaids, disabled tin soldiers and disenfranchised...

How recycled water could revolutionise sustainable development

Mar 22, 2017 08:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

By 2025, absolute water scarcity will be a daily reality for an estimated 1.8 billion people. In a world where vital resources are increasingly scarce, nations cannot afford to flush them down the drain. But that is...

Government needs to front up billions, not millions, to save Australia's threatened species

Mar 21, 2017 09:17 am UTC| Nature

Southern cassowaries, orange-bellied parrots, Leadbeaters possums, and Australias only purple wattle are among the threatened species the government is seeking conservation investment for under its recently released...

Humans may have transformed the Sahara from lush paradise to barren desert

Mar 16, 2017 08:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Once upon a time, the Sahara was green. There were vast lakes. Hippos and giraffe lived there, and large human populations of fishers foraged for food alongside the lakeshores. The African Humid Period or Green Sahara...

How do animals see in the dark?

Mar 14, 2017 07:27 am UTC| Nature

On a moonless night, light levels can by more than 100m times dimmer than in bright daylight. Yet while we are nearly blind and quite helpless in the dark, cats are out stalking prey, and moths are flying agilely between...