Mueller report: How Congress can and will follow up on an incomplete and redacted document

By Charles Tiefer

The release on April 18 of a redacted version of the Mueller report came after two years of allegations, speculation and insinuation but not a lot of official information about what really happened between the Trump...

Notre Dame: a history of medieval cathedrals and fire

By Jenny Alexander

Many great churches and cathedrals have suffered catastrophic fires over their long histories and medieval chronicles are full of stories of devastation and ruin as a result but they also tell of how the buildings were...

Cities and countries aim to slash plastic waste within a decade

By Chelsea Rochman Et Al

If all goes well, 2030 will be quite a special year. Global and local community leaders from more than 170 countries have pledged to significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastic products by 2030. Success would...

A taxing problem: Canadian cities desperately need new sources of revenue

By Sunil Johal Et Al

Canadas municipalities are at the forefront of delivering a growing array of vital services to citizens, ranging from affordable housing, transit and child care to managing more than a trillion dollars of...

Canada's approach to lunar exploration needs to be strategic or we'll be left behind

By Alex Ellery

Should Canada go to the moon? Whats there for Canadians? It is these questions that we should ponder when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canada will be participating in the new space exploration...

Earth Day: Colonialism's role in the overexploitation of natural resources

By Joseph McQuade

We are currently experiencing the worst environmental crisis in human history, including a biological annihilation of wildlife and dire risks for the future of human civilization. The scale of that environmental...

Notre Dame: how Christ's Crown of Thorns has survived crusades, political upheaval and a fire (but only just)

By Dr Emily Guerry

When the spire of Notre Dame cathedral collapsed in a fiery blaze on Monday 15 April, it looked as if the priceless treasures inside would be lost forever. This includes sacred paintings, tapestries, sculpture, stained...

Notre Dame: the public and private lives of France's spiritual home

By Michael Rapport

While flames engulfed Notre Dame on the evening of April 15 and the world watched in despair, French president Emmanuel Macron told news cameras that the Paris cathedral was part of the history of all French...

Easter: eggs, hares, lamb and the return of warmth and sunshine – a Christian festival that feels pagan

By Jane Stevenson

Theres a lot of confusion about Easter not least because this most important of all Christian festivals moves around so much from year to year, decided by a complex set of calculations based on the vernal equinox and the...

Nicotine replacement: when quitting cigarettes, consider using more nicotine, not less

By Jamie Hartmann-Boyce Et Al

When delivered through cigarettes, nicotine is considered to be one of the most addictive substances on Earth, so it may seem odd to suggest that people should use more, rather than less, to quit smoking. A recent review...

The legal profession has a mental health problem – which is an issue for everyone

By Neil Graffin Et Al

Set in a fictional firm in New York, the TV series Suits glamorises the life of lawyers working in a modern corporate firm. One of the main characters, Harvey Specter, dresses impeccably in an expensive designer suit and...

Brexit party: Nigel Farage's threat to disrupt EU business is a waste of his energy

By Charlotte O'Brien

The UK has been catapulted into a rather unusual position as a result of the latest Article 50 extension. The European parliament election, which is typically characterised by low turn out and its treatment as a second...

Employers wary of hiring refugees and migrants to help fill shortages need help understanding the law

By Catherine Harris

A recent survey I conducted of employers in Coventry in the West Midlands found that while 80% of the businesses we interviewed had hard-to-fill job vacancies, less than 5% had employed a refugee and nearly one-third had...

A comedian who played a president on TV might actually become Ukraine's president

By Lena Surzhko-Harned

Imagine Martin Sheen, inspired by his role as President Jed Bartlet in The West Wing, tossing his hat into the 2020 U.S. presidential race. Or Julia Louis-Dreyfus, capitalizing on her role as Vice President Selina Mayer in...

Bolsonaro's approval rating is worse than any past Brazilian president at the 100-day mark

By Helder Ferreira do Vale

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was elected last year on a wave of popular anger at the countrys stagnant economy and political chaos, promising voters a better future. After just over 100 days in office, many...

If my measles shot was years ago, am I still protected? 5 questions answered

By Eyal Amiel

As the measles outbreaks spread, many people are growing concerned. New York City declared a public health emergency and mandated vaccinations in four ZIP codes where vaccination rates have been low. A Israeli flight...

Jokowi wins Indonesia's election, polls indicate – what does that mean for human rights?

By Asmin Fransiska Et Al

Joko Jokowi Widodo will keep his position as Indonesias president for another term, now with a senior Islamic cleric Maruf Amin as his vice president, according to early results from polling companies that surveyed the...

The quest to save the banana from extinction

By Stuart Thompson

Panama disease, an infection that ravages banana plants, has been sweeping across Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. The impact has been devastating. In the Philippines alone, losses have totalled US$400m. And...

Tribute to biggest collection of artists' books in the southern hemisphere

By David Paton1

There is a very special section of artworks known as artists books. These are artworks in the form of books rather than books about art. South African art collector and philanthropist Jack Ginsberg began collecting in this...

Welcome to the latest wave of 'modernizing,' 'progressive' school reforms in Ontario

By Theodore Christou

In Ontarios recent 2019 budget, the minister of finance says because the previous government failed at teaching the basics, a lack of foundational knowledge has left too many of our kids ill‐prepared for the challenges of...

And now for a newsflash: politicians actually do keep their promises

By Andrea Carson Et Al

A quick scan of political headlines over recent election campaigns will tell you that there is a trust deficit in Australian politics. Alarmingly, surveys uniformly find that public trust is falling in Australia. The...

Here's why electric cars have plenty of grunt, oomph and torque

By Jake Whitehead

Australian politicians, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, have raised the question of electric vehicles capacity for grunt. Now Im by no means a grunt expert, but when it comes to performance, electric cars are...

High-dose, immune-boosting or four-strain? A guide to flu vaccines for over-65s

By Allen Cheng Et Al

Flu vaccines work by exposing the body to a component of the virus so it can practise fighting it off, without risking infection. The immune system can then mount a more rapid and effective response when faced with a real...

Business-as-usual record on transport leaves next government plenty of room to improve

By Marion Terrill

This article is part of a series examining the Coalition governments record on key issues while in power and what Labor is promising if it wins the 2019 federal election. Election season means transport season: just...

The swamp foxtail's origin is hidden in its DNA

By Roderick John Fensham

Sign up to the Beating Around the Bush newsletter here, and suggest a plant we should cover at [email protected] Swamp foxtail (Cenchrus purpurascens) is a delightful grass that forms a neat tussock up to a...

Music streaming has a far worse carbon footprint than the heyday of records and CDs – new findings

By Matt Brennan Et Al

It is easy to get nostalgic for the era when most music lovers bought LPs. They would save their pennies for a Saturday trip to the local record store, before heading home clutching their glorious new vinyl in a plastic...

$500m for station car parks? Other transport solutions could do much more for the money

By Nathan Pittman Et Al

Half a billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, but that really depends on what youre spending it on. In Tuesdays federal budget, the Coalition government announced its Commuter Car Park Fund, a A$500 million package...

We asked five experts: should we nap during the day?

By Alexandra Hansen

Often during the day I feel the need to have a bit of a lie-down. Whether its been a busy day, I didnt sleep well the night before, or for no particular reason I know of. But some will warn that youll be ruined for sleep...

Mercury pollution from decades past may have been re-released by Tasmania's bushfires

By Larissa Schneider Et Al

Tasmanias bushfires may have resulted in the release of significant amounts of mercury from burnt trees into the atmosphere. Our research shows that industrial mercury pollution from decades past has been locked up in west...

Casual academics aren't going anywhere, so what can universities do to ensure learning isn't affected?

By Dorothy Wardale Et Al

More Australian universities are relying on casual academics to teach their students. Its difficult to estimate the exact proportion of academic staff on casual contracts, but reports suggest up to 80% of undergraduate...

Chinese investment in Australia is down 36%. It's time for a more balanced debate about the national interest

By Hans Hendrischke

Chinese investment in Australia fell 36% in 2018, to A$8.2 billion (US$6.2 billion) from A$13 billion (US$10 billion) in 2017, according to research by KPMG and the University of Sydney Business School. This is despite...

In Québec, Christian liberalism becomes the religious authority

By Hannah Dick

The Québec government is proposing a secularism law to prohibit any new public servants in a position of authority including teachers, lawyers and police officers from wearing religious symbols while at...

The new Brazilian government is devoid of ideas

By Lenin Cavalcanti Brito Gue

Brazil, Latin Americas largest country, had some good years between 2003 and 2013. In 2010, the Brazilian GDP increased 7.5 per cent, two times more than the world average of 4.3 per cent and three times North Americas...

Cutting cancer costs is a worthy policy, but we need to try to prevent it too

By Terry Slevin Et Al

Removing the financial worries from Australians diagnosed with cancer is bound to be a popular move. The Oppositions A$2.3 billion cancer care plan announced in Bill Shortens budget reply speech on Thursday night aims...

In the name of 'amateurism,' college athletes make money for everyone except themselves

By Jasmine Harris

As millions of people tune in to watch the Final Four, much of their focus will be on the numbers on the scoreboard. But a March 2019 report from U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, calls attention to...

Boxing: can the sport really help turn young men away from violent crime?

By Deborah Jump Et Al

Boxing is often praised as a way of teaching discipline, anger management and teamwork. Now, with violent crime on the rise in English cities especially among young men and boys the sport is being used to support those...

Evolution: how the theory is inspiring a new way of understanding language

By Glenn Hadikin

Words are often seen as the building blocks of languages. But as children we dont learn lists of words like we might in a school language class. We learn longer strings of sounds and break them up into words as we grow up....

Artificial intelligence can now emulate human behaviors – soon it will be dangerously good

By Ana Santos Rutschman

When artificial intelligence systems start getting creative, they can create great things and scary ones. Take, for instance, an AI program that let web users compose music along with a virtual Johann Sebastian Bach by...

Smokeless tobacco products flying under the radar of regulation in many countries

By Kamran Siddiqi

Smokeless tobacco products are addictive and cause cancer, yet only a few countries have adequate policies to regulate them. As a result, the global efforts to control smokeless tobacco use are lagging behind the progress...

Those future tax cut promises... they're nowhere near as big as you'd think

By Matthew Gray Et Al

The 2018 budget contained big tax measures worth A$143 billion over the next decade initially targeted at lower and middle income Australians, but after five or so years to be heavily weighted towards higher income...

The 'painless woman' helps us see how anxiety and fear fit in the big picture of pain

By Colin Klein

Imagine a life without pain. No toothache. No period pain. No arthritis. A woman who feels no pain has been in the news recently, linked to a case study published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia. Jo Cameron...

Why it might be time for New Zealand to reconsider the legal definition of murder

By Brenda Midson

The man arrested over the Christchurch terror attacks has appeared in court today, facing 50 charges of murder and 39 of attempted murder. Although further charges relating to terrorism are possible, I argue, as I have...

Seeing the smart city: Mapping technologies in Canada

By Angela K Orasch

The plan for Googles Sidewalk Labs in Toronto has continued to attract criticism. The company has yet to release a clear picture or detailed explanation of what the smart neighbourhood on Torontos waterfront will include....

Most of us support mandatory vaccines for schoolkids, but is it good policy?

By Alison Braley-Rattai

Recently, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including a measles outbreak in British Columbia, have ignited a firestorm of public debate about childhood vaccination and what should be done about current...

The new truth about Aspirin, and your doctor's slow uptake of medical evidence

By Inderveer Mahal

For decades, millions of patients have been taking a daily Aspirin in an attempt to prevent hearts attacks and strokes. But in March 2019, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association released...

What just happened to our tax? Here's an explanation you'll understand

By Peter Martin1

With all the announcements on tax over the past few days its hard to keep track. So here goes. A year ago the then treasurer Scott Morrison unveiled a seven year personal tax. Some of it involved tax cuts way out...

Invasive ants: federal budget takes aim but will it be a lethal shot?

By Lori Lach

Amid all the usual items we expect to see in the federal budget was one that raised eyebrows: A$28.8 million for three ant eradication programs. Yet amid the inevitable media puns about the government upping the ant-e,...

Why do we mix up faces? Game of Thrones might help us find the answer

By Christel Devue Et Al

In the Game of Thrones universe, confusing a photograph of actor Jack Gleeson, who played the popular HBO TV shows despised sadist Joffrey Baratheon, for one of Maisie Williams, the beloved Arya Stark, is an egregious case...

Cyclone Idai showed how some countries battle to handle disasters

By Femi Amao

Cyclone Idai has caused enormous damage in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Hundreds of people have died, about 400,000 people lost their homes and an estimated 2.9 million people have been affected by the...

Japan: spring and prosperity the watchwords as country announces a new era

By Nicolas Tranter

When Emperor Akihito abdicates on April 30 it will, quite literally, be the end of an era for Japan. Crown Prince Naruhito will formally accede to the Chrysanthemum Throne and the event will be marked by a change of era...