Free speech on campus means universities must protect the dignity of all students

By Sigal Ben-Porath

The following is an edited excerpt from a talk to be given at the Magna Charta at McMaster University on Oct. 16, 2019. Free speech, a staple of modern democracy, has become the focal point for political and cultural...

As Turkish troops move in to Syria, the risks are great - including for Turkey itself

By Mehmet Ozalp

Turkey did not waste much time in launching an attack on Syrian soil just days after US President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw US forces from northern Syria. As this development opens a new chapter in Syria,...

Coal miners and urban greenies have one thing in common, and Labor must use it

By Fabio Mattioli Et Al

Months after Labors shock election loss, it is still pondering how the Liberals metamorphosed from party of the bosses to party of the workers - one that stole an election win from under them. At the May 18 federal...

Shh! Don't mention the public housing shortage. But no serious action on homelessness can ignore it

By David Kelly Et Al

Today, October 10, is World Homeless Day. Next week the Council to Homeless Persons will convene the Victorian Homelessness Conference to discuss options for ending homelessness. On the program are presentations and...

The latest medical assistance in dying decision needs to be appealed: Here's why

By Trudo Lemmens Et Al

The federal and Québec governments appear reluctant to appeal whats known as the Truchon decision, which invalidated Canadas reasonable foreseeable death and end of life access criteria for medical assistance in...

PhD students should prepare for careers beyond becoming professors

By Jonathan Malloy Et Al

Every year, a new wave of students begin PhD programs in Canada, often aiming for a future academic career. Yet despite hopeful beginnings, large numbers dont achieve this goal. Many PhD students do not complete their...

Curators translate visual art into beautiful things you can touch

By Patricia Bérubé

A shift is taking place in museums and the way art history is presented globally. More museums now value visitor experience and at the same time, there is a growing emphasis on accessibility in Canadian public...

Why we need 'crazy' ideas for new city parks

By Wendy Walls

Two seemingly unrelated but important things happened in Melbourne last week. One was a memorial service for David Yencken AO; the other was the exhibition opening of the Future Park Design Ideas Competition. The...

For Russia, talk of Trump impeachment is the gift that keeps on giving

By Cynthia Hooper

The Russians are calling it Ukrainegate. I never thought Id say it, but CNN is right, remarked one pundit on Russia 1, the countys most-watched television station. The person who wins in this situation is...

Coal mines can be closed without destroying livelihoods – here's how

By Owen Douglas Et Al

Countries across the globe are trying to wind down coal production. While this will help in the battle against climate change, those communities that have specialised in coal mining may see their local job market decline...

6 ways to establish a productive homework routine

By Janine L. Nieroda-Madden

Homework. Whether youre a fifth-grader or a freshman in college, the mere thought of homework can be overwhelming. And actually doing homework can be quite difficult. But homework doesnt have to be something a student...

Games blamed for moral decline and addiction throughout history

By Lindsay Grace

Video games are often blamed for unemployment, violence in society and addiction including by partisan politicians raising moral concerns. Blaming video games for social or moral decline might feel like something new....

Curious Kids: why is the sea salty?

By Sally Little

Why is the sea salty? Torben, aged nine, Sussex, UK. Two thirds of the Earths surface is covered in water, and 97% of that is salty seawater. Only 3% of our planets water is fresh, and 2% is trapped, frozen in ice...

When doctors and parents disagree on how to treat a sick child the emotional and financial costs can be huge

By Forbat Forbat

When a child is sick and parents and doctors disagree about what to do next, who is best placed to make that decision? This is a tricky but not uncommon question with a number of recent high-profile legal cases...

British people hardly ever thought about the EU before Brexit, now it dominates their lives

By Barry Richards

The polling agency Ipsos MORI has, for many years, asked people in Britain every month what they think are the most important issues facing the country. In December 2015, only six months before the EU referendum and after...

Fake news: emotions and experiences, not more data, could be the antidote

By David Knights Et Al

At a time when public debate around the world is suffering from a collision between facts and alternative facts, experts must find new ways to reach people. According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump has made more...

What are hives, the common skin condition that gives you itchy, red bumps?

By Rodney Sinclair

Have you ever wondered who buys those huge boxes of antihistamines prominently displayed all year round in your local pharmacy? If antihistamines were just used for hay fever, youd think sales would be good in spring, but...

Cosmic theorist and planet-hunters share physics prize as Nobels reward otherworldly discoveries

By Michael Cowley

This years Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three researchers for their contributions to two unique fields. Half of the 9 million Swedish krona (A$1.34 million) award goes to James Peebles, a Canadian...

Fast evolution explains the tiny stature of extinct 'Hobbit' from Flores Island

By José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho Et Al

Its not every day that scientists discover a new human species. But thats just what happened back in 2004, when archaeologists uncovered some very well-preserved fossil remains in the Liang Bua cave on Flores Island,...

Who's responsible for the smart city? Sidewalk Labs' proposal poses regulation challenges

By Natasha Tusikov

Sidewalk Labs nearly 1,500-page Master Innovation and Development Plan was released in June 2019. The document exhaustively detailed proposals for a smart city on Torontos eastern waterfront. Following nearly two years...

Compassionate 'zero-suicide' prevention on campuses urgently needed

By Debbie Bruckner Et Al

Even with a concerted response to improve mental health at universities, mental health crises still occur. The issue of suicide has been in the news lately, and students are looking to universities to respond. The...

Nobel Prize in Physics for two breakthroughs: Evidence for the Big Bang and a way to find exoplanets

By Robert T. Fisher

Did the universe really begin with a Big Bang? And if so, is there evidence? Are there planets around other stars? Can they support life? The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to three scientists who have provided deep...

Can hiding likes make Facebook fairer and rein in fake news? The science says maybe

By Marian-Andrei Rizoiu

This is the first article in a series looking at the attention economy and how online content gets in front of your eyeballs. You may have read about or already seen, depending on where you are the latest tweak to...

Looking to rent a home? 6 things that will help or hinder you

By Bronwyn Bate

Two-thirds of tenants in Australia rent through a real estate agent. A national shortage of private rental housing forces these tenants to impress the real estate agent to secure a property their application needs to...

Honk if you love Untitled Goose Game: why we should invest more in our indie game creators

By Luke Brook

A new comedic video game about a mischievous goose has become a viral sensation - reaching the top of the digital sales charts, inspiring a steadily increasing stream of memes and fan-art, and earning celebrity...

Nobel Prize in Physics: James Peebles, master of the universe, shares award

By James Geach

During the press conference in which he was revealed as one of the winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics, James (Jim) Peebles was asked to point to a single discovery or breakthrough from his long career that would...

A deep dive into what drives protests in Ghana

By Lewis Abedi Asante

The history of protests in Ghana reveals three persisting themes. These may suggest what Ghana and some other countries could do to avoid protest action in future. My study found that over time, Ghanaians have tended to...

What is a healthy blood pressure?

By Sandra Jones1 Et Al

More than 7m people in the UK have high blood pressure; it is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes, associated with one in four deaths. As many as 5.6m...

Electric cars are here - but we’ll still need fuel for a long time

By David Reiner Et Al

Electric cars are often seen as one of the great hopes for tackling climate change. With new models arriving in showrooms, major carmakers retooling for an electric future, and a small but growing number of consumers eager...

Investigations usually hurt a president's public reputation – but Trump isn't usual

By Douglas L. Kriner Et Al

Will the House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump ultimately have any effect? Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi had long resisted calls for impeachment, arguing that it is just not worth it. However, the Trump...

Fundamentalism turns 100, a landmark for the Christian Right

By William Trollinger

These days, the term fundamentalism is often associated with a militant form of Islam. But the original fundamentalist movement was actually Christian. And it was born in the United States a century ago this...

Government restrictions on labeling products as 'meat' aren't likely to help anyone

By Trey Malone Et Al

Substitutes for traditional meat products have captured the attention of investors, the media and consumers. Plant-based meat options are showing up in grocery stores and on the menus at fast food chains like Burger King...

Food labels too complicated for most shoppers to understand – new research

By Dawn Liu

Think back to the last time you went food shopping, did you check the labels for nutritional information? If you did, chances are it still felt tricky to know exactly what was in your food: how do you decide between a can...

The surprising decline of entrepreneurship and innovation in the West

By Wim Naudé

The idea that we are living in an entrepreneurial age, experiencing rapid disruptive technological innovation on a scale amounting to a new industrial revolution is a pervasive modern myth. Scholars have written academic...

What Donald Trump's decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Syria means for the Kurds, Assad and Russia

By Ali Bilgic

In a move likely to further destabilise the situation in Syria and the Middle East, Donald Trump appeared to give Turkey the green light on October 6 for a military operation into northern Syria. The area is currently...

The UK doesn't spend enough on the mental health of young people – we found out why

By Stephen Rocks Et Al

In 2016 the then health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, declared child mental health services the biggest single area of weakness in the NHS. He might have added that it is also vastly underfunded. The mental health of children...

Still at war with the tobacco epidemic, Indonesia must control e-cigarettes too

By Beladenta Amalia

Several countries are banning e-cigarettes due to revelations of health risks to both users and bystanders. But in Indonesia, the worlds second-largest cigarette market, the government has yet to put in place policies...

How sports and arts can help prevent youth homelessness

By Tristan Hopper Et Al

Despite decades of policy and programming, youth homelessness remains an urgent issue in many communities across Canada. Almost 50 per cent of adults experiencing homelessness first became homeless before the age of 25,...

Governments took the hard road on clean energy – and consumers are feeling the bumps

By Guy Dundas

More than two years on from the sudden closure of Victorias Hazelwood coal power station, quite a mess remains. It is clear the federal governments market interventions have not worked. Electricity prices are higher and...

Domain name fraud: is the global Internet in danger?

By Hervé Debar

In late February 2019, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that manages the IP addresses and domain names used on the web, issued a warning on the risks of systemic Internet...

Red meat study caused a stir – here's what wasn't discussed

By Richard Hoffman

Accurate, consistent dietary advice seems increasingly hard to find. For instance, a widely reported study recently claimed that people dont need to reduce their consumption of red and processed meat for health reasons....

B Corp certification won't guarantee companies really care for people, planet and profit

By Michael O'Regan

Weeks after the collapse of his restaurant group and the loss of 1,000 jobs, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver announced that he was creating an ethical B Corporation or B Corp, a sort of company certification designed to show...

Facial recognition is being used in job interviews – it will probably reinforce inequality

By Ivan Manokha

Artificial intelligence and facial analysis software is becoming commonplace in job interviews. The technology, developed by US company HireVue, analyses the language and tone of a candidates voice and records their facial...

Conservatives poll lead continues, despite Brexit turmoil

By Paul Whiteley Et Al

Trends in vote intention polls show that the Conservatives continue to have a sizeable lead over their rivals. As of October 1, the Conservatives were on 33%, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats running well behind, tied...

Ben Ali: the Tunisian autocrat who laid the foundations for his demise

By Pamela Abbott

Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisias former long-time president who died in mid-September, will probably be remembered best as the first autocrat to fall during the popular uprisings that spread across the Middle East in...

The Supreme Court and refugees at the southern border: 5 questions answered

By Karla Mari McKanders

I sat in a small room in Tijuana, Mexico with a 13-year-old indigenous Mayan Guatemalan girl. She left Guatemala after a cartel murdered her friend and threatened to rape her. Her mother wanted her to live and believed...

Trump’s America shines bright for Europe's radical New Right

By Sylvia Taschka

Donald Trump might not be as popular in Europe as Barack Obama was, but for many groups on the far-right of Europes political spectrum, he has become a heroic figure. With Trump, the pride of a whole population has...

Indonesia's huge fires and toxic haze will cause health problems for years to come

By Maria C. Lo Bue

Indonesia is currently in the throes of an environmental emergency. Thousands of hectares of forest are burning across the vast country, causing toxic smoke to be released into the atmosphere. This has led to eerie...

It takes 21 litres of water to produce a small chocolate bar. How water-wise is your diet?

By Brad Ridoutt

Our diets can have a big environmental impact. The greenhouse gas emissions involved in producing and transporting various foods has been well researched, but have you ever thought about the water-scarcity impacts of...

Myth busted: China’s status as a developing country gives it few benefits in the World Trade Organisation

By Henry Gao Et Al

Whether China is a developing or a developed country for the purposes of the World Trade Organisation matters a lot to the US president. President Donald Trump ignited a new front in the US-China trade war in July by...