Known unknowns: controversy over CSIRO’s electricity report reveals an uncomfortable truth

By Bruce Mountain

CSIROs latest annual GenCost update, released last month, was billed as Australias most comprehensive electricity generation cost report. GenCost has proven to be highly controversial. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton...

The secrets of Maya child sacrifice at Chichén Itzá uncovered using ancient DNA

By Adam "Ben" Rohrlach Et Al

In some parts of Australia, local roads are falling apart. Here’s an easy federal fix

By Dominic Jones Et Al

There are local councils in Australia that cant afford to fix their roads, part of the problem is simply that they arent in Australias biggest states. The problem arises from the archaic way grants to councils are...

An ounce of prevention: Now is the time to take action on H5N1 avian flu, because the stakes are enormous

By Matthew Miller

Bird flu poses a massive threat, and the potential for a catastrophic new pandemic is imminent. We still have a chance to stop a possible humanitarian disaster, but only if we get to work urgently, carefully and...

Malawi farming experiment shows how simple changes can boost maize yields and improve soil

By Alan Dixon

Malawis increasingly unpredictable rainfall and higher than usual temperatures are causing problems for smallholder farmers. Soil erosion has increased, causing soil fertility and water availability to decline. Crops often...

South Africa’s biggest arts festival turns 50 – we assess its impact

By Jen Snowball

The National Arts Festival was established in 1974 in Grahamstown (now Makhanda) in South Africas Eastern Cape province. Each year, in winter, the rural town transforms into a hive of theatres, galleries, markets and...

Sudan food emergency: local researcher unpacks scale of the disaster and what action is needed

By Oliver Kiptoo Kirui

The UN recently warned of the risk of famine in Sudan. The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed civilians and devastated livelihoods on a massive scale. Around 18 million people are...

Microrobots made of algae carry chemo directly to lung tumors, improving cancer treatment

By Zhengxing Li

Tumors that travel to the lungs, or lung metastases, pose a formidable challenge in the realm of cancer treatment. Conventional chemotherapy often falls short because its inefficient. It doesnt directly target the lungs...

Canada must make communication more inclusive for deaf people

By Paula Bath

I am a hearing person married to a deaf person. In 2015, I remember going to the midwife clinic for our first babys appointment. We arranged for our own sign language interpreter because we knew there would be...

How the health of honeybee hives can inform environmental policies in Canadian cities

By Mischa Young Et Al

In recent years, there has been a notable surge in Canada and around the world in the popularity of urban beekeeping. Driven by a heightened awareness of the vital role of pollinators and the practices increasing...

Bridgerton: tips on how to dress and hold yourself in London society straight from the Regency period

By Lisa Smith

As viewers of Bridgerton know, finding the right suitor is an art, requiring charm and beauty. It helped to be a diamond (the most eligible woman of the season, as chosen by the Queen), but all young ladies benefited from...

African swine fever: are there better ways to manage the disease than Italy’s mass pig culls?

By Frédéric Keck

Prime Minister Giorgia Melonis attacks on Italys cultural heritage from libel suits against intellectuals to her governments censorship of texts critical of Mussolini have made headlines across Europe. Less attention,...

Mental health services are scarce in Nigeria but there’s a huge need: what we learnt from callers to a hotline

By Aloysius Odii Et Al

Emergency hotlines have a crucial role to play in improving access to mental health services, particularly in countries where these services are in short supply. This is the case in Nigeria, where in one study one in...

Columbia Law Review article critical of Israel sparks battle between student editors and their board − highlighting fragility of academic freedom

By Neal H. Hutchens

Editors of Columbia Law Review, a prominent journal run by students from the prestigious universitys law school, say the publications board of directors urged them on June 2, 2024, to refrain from publishing an article...

Politics is still both local and personal – but only for independents, not for Democrats or Republicans

By Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz Et Al

Independent voters who live in communities with lots of gun violence are very concerned about gun safety and gun regulations, our research has found. That should not be surprising. But what is surprising is our...

Ontario expanding alcohol to convenience stores is a covert union avoidance strategy

By Steven Tufts

The Ontario government has announced its expediting its plan to get beer into thousands of convenience stores. The announcement received immediate backlash, primarily against the $225 million given to the Beer Store to...

Climate holdout Japan drove Australia’s LNG boom. Could the partnership go green?

By Wesley Morgan

Without funding from Japan, many of Australias gas projects wouldnt have gone ahead. Massive public loans from Japanese taxpayers are propping up Australias now-enormous fossil gas industry. Japan is also becoming a major...

Food has a climate problem: Nitrous oxide emissions are accelerating with growing demand for fertilizer and meat – but there are solutions

By Hanqin Tian Et Al

Foods role in climate change has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our time. The journey of a steak, fruit or salad from the vast expanses of agricultural lands to the plates on our tables leaves a significant...

Some online platforms are starting to measure ‘student engagement’ at school. Here’s what you need to know

By Chris Zomer

There is increasing concern children are less focused in school. This is often blamed on smartphones and social media. At the same time, there is significant pressure on schools to deliver academic results, with...

No, AI doesn’t mean human-made music is doomed. Here’s why

By Alexander Crooke

Recently we have seen the launch of artificial intelligence programs such as SOUNDRAW and Loudly that can create musical compositions in the style of almost any artist. Were also seeing big stars use AI in their own...

Why spending time and money creating TikToks probably won’t pay off for Labour and Conservatives

By Steven Buckley

In a few short years, TikTok has moved from being an app for teens doing dance routines in their bedroom to a key part of political campaigning. Both Labour and the Conservatives are on the app (with 191,000 and 58,000...

No matter who wins, both Biden and Trump can likely agree on one thing: doing less in the Middle East

By Jared Mondschein

Prior to the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan posited that the Middle East had been quieter than it has been for decades. This is obviously no longer the case. On the...

Age verification for pornography access? Our research shows it fails on many levels

By Zahra Stardust Et Al

The Australian government has announced a A$6.5 million trial of age assurance technology to restrict minors access to pornography. Its part of a $1 billion package to address gendered violence. And it now comes alongside...

What’s the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia?

By Nikki-Anne Wilson

Whats the difference? is a new editorial product that explains the similarities and differences between commonly confused health and medical terms, and why they matter. Changes in thinking and memory as we age can occur...

We have a moral responsibility to help low-income nations restore coral reefs

By Mark Gibbs

The fourth global coral bleaching event is underway. It wont be the last. Even if we reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, excess heat will remain in the ocean. I believe high-income nations...

Investors have bid against each other to buy Australia’s first green bond. Here’s why that’s a great sign

By Gordon Noble1

You might think government debt is bad, but it actually plays a crucial role in modern finance. Back when he was treasurer, Peter Costello famously declared that April 21 2006 would be known as Australias Debt Free Day....

EU elections: far-right parties surge, but less than had been expected

By Gilles Ivaldi

The results of the 2024 European elections have confirmed the surge of far-right parties in EU member states. However, while many recorded significant scores, the wave was not a groundswell, and the shifts vary from...

Can the US give cricket a lasting embrace – or will it always be dogged by comparisons with baseball?

By Richard Thomas1

Within a congested sporting summer, we might have already witnessed the most unexpected sporting moment of 2024. In what has been dubbed one of the biggest shocks in cricket history, the ICC Mens T20 World Cup co-hosts USA...

Do unemployment benefits stifle entrepreneurship? It’s complicated

By Daragh O'Leary

Unemployment in the UK rose to 4.3% at the end of March 2024. While this is by no means a worrying level of joblessness for an economy, it is the highest since September 2021, in the second year of the COVID pandemic, when...

2024 European elections: Who are young Europeans voting for?

By Jesús Palomar i Baget

Over the last five European Parliament elections, young peoples participation and preferences have changed significantly in response to various socio-economic, political and cultural factors. Of course, the European Union...

What toilet paper and game shows can teach us about the spread of epidemics

By Matthew Ryan2 Et Al

How can we explain and predict human behaviour? Are mathematics and probability up to the task, or are humans too complex and irrational? Often, peoples actions take us by surprise, particularly when they seem...

The UK’s nature restoration plans have some big holes – here’s how to fill them

By Eleanor Jane Milner-Gulland Et Al

Have you heard anything about nature as a political priority in the upcoming UK general election? We havent. And as biodiversity researchers, that troubles us. The UK is already one of the worlds most nature-depleted...

Blade Runner soundtrack at 30: how Vangelis used electronic music to explore what it means to be human

By Alison Cole

In June 1994 the late composer Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou better known as Vangelis released his soundtrack for the 1982 film Blade Runner. It would go on to become emblematic of his skills, with only a handful of...

A shocking 79% of female scientists have negative experiences during polar field work

By Rebecca Duncan

Every day, women are working on frontier science in Earths unforgiving polar environments. Our study, published today in PLOS Climate, investigated what their experiences are actually like. Fieldwork in the Arctic and...

Yes, carbon capture and storage is controversial – but it’s going to be crucial

By Tianyi Ma

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are vital tools to help us make cuts to the 36 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases we emit each year. But renewables alone cant get us to net zero. Sectors such as cement,...

Super funds are set to use ‘nudges’ to help you make financial decisions. How do they work?

By Fernanda Mata Et Al

Late last year the federal government announced measuresmake it easier for Australians to access financial advice? As part of this, the government wants super funds to use nudges to get members to engage more with their...

Solar farms can eat up farmland – but ‘agrivoltaics’ could mean the best of both worlds for NZ farmers

By Alan Brent Et Al

New Zealand plans to commission about eight gigawatts of solar photovoltaic projects more than the maximum power demand of the whole country on a typical winters day by 2028, according to the governments latest...

Hydration is really important for learning. How much do kids need to drink?

By Talitha Best

Last month, Ballarat Clarendon College began a trial to ban water bottles in the classroom for students in Years 5 to 9. According to the school, early feedback indicated it had reduced noise and bathroom breaks during...

Biden’s immigration order won’t fix problems quickly – 4 things to know about what’s changing

By Jean Lantz Reisz

Immigration is a top issue in the upcoming presidential election and President Joe Bidens new executive order restricting migrants ability to apply for asylum is likely to further elevate the subject in national...

Meet the ‘new consumer’: How shopper behaviour is changing in a post-inflation world

By Omar H. Fares Et Al

After a long anticipated wait, the Bank of Canada has finally decided to cut interest rates by 25 basis points. The decision marks a departure from the series of interest rate hikes that were previously implemented to curb...

Indian election: why Modi may now need to switch his economic ambitions to new businesses and small firms

By Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada

India looks set to return Narendra Modi as prime minister for a third term. But not in the way that he might have wished or expected. Modi had hoped to win 400 of the 543 seats available in the Indian parliament. Yet...

Welcome to the age of space scepticism – and a growing revolt against elites

By Tony Milligan

Over the past decade, a new form of scepticism about human activities in space has emerged. It seems to be based exclusively in the western world, and centred around the idea that increasingly ambitious space plans will...

Iran: meet the men – and women – lining up to contest the early presidential election

By Scott Lucas

The death in a helicopter crash of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, on May 19 has triggered a presidential election one year earlier than expected. Its a consequential moment in Iranian politics as many believed that...

Does voting help the climate?

By Jack Marley

The worlds biggest election took place in heat so severe it claimed the lives of several poll workers. Nearly one billion people were eligible to vote in the election that returned Narendra Modi to power in India, but...

Lebanon’s Hezbollah is proving to be a serious problem for Israel

By Zainab Younes

Hezbollah intensified its attacks in northern Israel on June 2, firing barrages of rockets over the border that set off massive wildfires. This came two days after the Lebanese armed group revealed that it had downed one...

Spa holidays in France: ‘taking the waters’ with a doctor’s prescription

By Mazarine Wairy Dupuich

From Italy to Germany, Spain to the Balkans, many cultures swear by the use of hot water for its curative properties. France sets itself apart from many European neighbours, however, as doctors can prescribe spa stays,...

The power of belief: How expectations influence workplace well-being interventions

By Mehak Bharti Et Al

In todays fast-paced work environments, the quest for inner peace can feel like an elusive dream. In 2021, 62 per cent of health-care workers reported having burnout, while 70 per cent reported depressive symptoms and 29...

Foreign healthcare volunteers in Africa can harm local relationships – Zambian study

By James Wintrup

Thousands of global health volunteers, most from the United States, travel to Africa every year. These volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and have varying levels of experience. They include surgeons,...

Why India and Pakistan’s T20 cricket showdown in New York is such a big deal

By Umer Hussain Et Al

Americans might be surprised to learn that cricket not baseball, nor football holds the title of the nations first modern team sport. European immigration fueled the sports popularity in the first half of the 19th...

Why American investors are pouring money into European football

By Christina Philippou

Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan) were crowned champions of this years Serie A, the top flight of Italian football, on April 22. A month later, they were back in the news having been taken over by US investment firm...