Scientific fraud is rising, and automated systems won't stop it. We need research detectives

By Adrian Barnett

Fraud in science is alarmingly common. Sometimes researchers lie about results and invent data to win funding and prestige. Other times, researchers might pay to stage and publish entirely bogus studies to win an...

Is it anxiety or ADHD, or both? How to tell the difference and why it matters

By Alison Poulton

Cassie is an anxious adult. She stresses and puts off tasks that should be simple. Seeing others succeed makes her feel inadequate. Its easier to avoid challenges than risk failing again. She has taken anxiety medication...

Global average sea and air temperatures are spiking in 2023, before El Niño has fully arrived. We should be very concerned

By Steve Turton

Recent spikes in ocean heat content and average global air temperature have left climate scientists across the world scrambling to find the cause. The global average air temperature, relative to 1850-1900, exceeded the...

Canadians are losing their appetite for news — and trusting it less

By Sébastien Charlton Et Al

Canadians have less appetite for news and are less inclined to pay for news online, according to the latest findings from the 2023 Digital News Report survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the...

Hurricanes push heat deeper into the ocean than scientists realized, boosting long-term ocean warming, new research shows

By Noel Gutiérrez Brizuela Et Al

When a hurricane hits land, the destruction can be visible for years or even decades. Less obvious, but also powerful, is the effect hurricanes have on the oceans. In a new study, we show through real-time measurements...

Microsoft and Google rivalry could supercharge development of AI

By Yali Du

Microsoft and Google have recently made big investments in two of the most valuable companies in artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, has received a staggering investment of US$10 billion (7.8...

Ang Lee and six other filmmakers on how Ingmar Bergman inspired them

By Maaret Koskinen Et Al

While writing our book, Ingmar Bergman at the Crossroads: Between Theory and Practice, several filmmakers shared stories with us of the impact the legendary Swedish director had on their own work. One was the...

Police forces across England plan to respond to fewer mental health calls -- here's why

By Claire Warrington

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has announced that the London police force is to attend fewer mental health emergencies. As part of an approach called Right Care, Right Person, police officers will only...

Unprecedented marine heatwave underlines the urgency to clean up UK rivers and coasts

By Richard K.F. Unsworth Et Al

Thousands of people took to the UKs seas and rivers recently in a nationwide paddle-out protest to demand an end to sewage spilling into the countrys waterways. The campaigners were largely concerned about the consequences...

Ukraine war: Kremlin's threat to interfere with undersea data cables may be bluster, but must be taken seriously

By Christian Bueger

In what is more than likely to turn out to be an attempt at escalation in the confrontation between Nato and Russia over the war in Ukraine, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev argued recently on his Telegram channel...

Milisuthando: a powerful documentary that will get South Africans talking about identity

By Julia Cain

Milisuthando is a debut feature length documentary film by Milisuthando Bongela. Taking the form of a personal essay, its an intimate story about family and ancestors, about inside apartheids experiment and negotiating the...

Why the Scottish ferry system is in crisis again this summer

By Laura Stewart

Scottish ferry operator CalMac cancelled all direct sailings from the mainland to South Uist, the second largest island in the Outer Hebrides, off the north-west coast of Scotland on June 1 2023. Cancellations are expected...

US charitable donations fell to $499 billion in 2022 as stocks slumped and inflation surged

By Patrick Rooney Et Al

Charitable giving in the U.S. fell to US$499 billion in 2022, as donors dealt with their losses in the stock market and coped with 40-year high inflation rates. For only the fourth time on record, Americans gave less...

Passengers whose flights are canceled or delayed may soon get better treatment in the US -- where airlines have long set their own rules

By Janet Bednarek

U.S. airline passengers in early 2023 faced the highest rate of flight delays since 2014. That heightened level of delays came shortly after December 2022, when Southwest Airlines experienced an epic meltdown, canceling...

AI could shore up democracy – here's one way

By Bruce Schneier Et Al

Its become fashionable to think of artificial intelligence as an inherently dehumanizing technology, a ruthless force of automation that has unleashed legions of virtual skilled laborers in faceless form. But what if AI...

The tree of life has been a powerful image in Jewish tradition for thousands of years – signifying much more than immortality

By Samuel L. Boyd

After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16, 2023, for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next...

Nigeria's new foreign exchange policy is good news - but it can't work wonders for the economy on its own

By Stephen Onyeiwu

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently announced changes to the way the countrys foreign exchange market will work. Foreign currencies can now be bought and sold at rates determined by the market not by the central...

Why US 'dollar doomsayers' could be wrong about its imminent demise

By Daniel Gros

The position of the US dollar in the global league table of foreign exchange reserves held by other countries is closely watched. Every slight fall in its share is interpreted as confirmation of its imminent demise as the...

China and the US are talking again – so, where does the relationship go from here?

By David S G Goodman

A potentially significant meeting took place in Beijing this week when Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinkens visit to Beijing was ostensibly to meet his Chinese counterpart,...

Why are we paying so much for alcohol-free drinks that aren't taxed?

By Cameron Shackell

Dry July, an Australian fundraising campaign to support people affected by cancer, is almost here again. The premise is that abstaining from booze and hangovers for a month frees up money to donate. But with prices in...

AI is already being used in healthcare. But not all of it is 'medical grade'

By Karin Verspoor Et Al

Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere these days, and healthcare is no exception. There are computer vision tools that can detect suspicious skin lesions as well as a specialist dermatologist can. Other...

What’s a fair price to pay for music?

By Rod Davies

The campaign argues artists and rights holders arent getting paid fairly for songs played on radio, in reference to the license fees radio stations pay for the use of songs in their broadcasts. In Australia, sound...

The world's fish are shrinking as the climate warms. We're trying to figure out why

By Timothy Clark

Fish are the most diverse group of vertebrates, ranging from tiny gobies and zebrafish to gigantic tunas and whale sharks. They provide vital sustenance to billions of people worldwide via fisheries and aquaculture, and...

Supermarket shelves were empty for months after the Lismore floods. Here's how to make supply chains more resilient

By Fiona Berry Et Al

From the outside, the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales seems idyllic. Rainforests, mountains, beaches and Byron Bay. But the past few years have made life harder for many who live there, with Black Summer...

Conspiracy theories aren't on the rise – we need to stop panicking

By Magda Osman

Several polls in the past couple of years (including from Ipsos, YouGov and most recently Savanta on behalf of Kings College Policy Institute and the BBC) have been examining the kinds of conspiratorial beliefs people...

We asked ChatGPT to write a company HR policy – and the results were promising

By Maria Kutar Et Al

With the release of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT in November last year, the world of machine learning and AI has opened up to anyone who wants to use the bot to answer questions. And when OpenAI the...

Big money bought the PGA Tour, but can it make golf a popular sport in Saudi Arabia?

By Josh Woods

The recent merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi-funded LIV Golf now being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice over antitrust concerns stunned the golf community. A year ago, the idea that Saudi...

How do spices get their flavor?

By Beronda L. Montgomery

I love savory and spicy foods. Lasagna laden with basil and oregano. Beautifully golden curries infused with turmeric, or rice flavored with saffron. I cant pass up a cinnamon-dusted snickerdoodle cookie. And some of my...

Iranian protesters remain defiant in the face of violent and brutal regime oppression

By Afshin Shahi

The vibrant, brave and unyielding voice of dissent remains strong in Iran despite months of brutal repression by the clerical regime. The women, life, freedom movement is an insistent call for change that is meeting the...

How a 'pot-smoking, acid-gobbling smart-arse' became the producer behind some of Australia's greatest music

By John Willsteed

Maybe hes someone only musicians know about. Which is criminal. Or maybe this excellent memoir by engineer and producer Tony Cohen, who died in 2017, will fling him into the spotlight. Which is appropriate. Cohen, who...

Know thyself, know thy finances: which of the 5 money personalities are you?

By Ayesha Scott Et Al

When it comes to money, are you a big spender or a fearful saver? Do you give away all your money or ignore financial demands until they become urgent? After decades of focus on financial literacy, it has become clear...

Tired of shrinking pay? The real drain on Australians' productivity is falling wages

By Mark Humphery-Jenner

When was the last time you got a pay increase? Was it anywhere near the rate of inflation? If it feels as if your wage is shrinking and cost of living pressures are growing, youre in good company. And it might just be...

All-electric homes are better for your hip pocket and the planet. Here's how governments can help us get off gas

By Esther Suckling

If every Australian household that uses gas went all-electric today, we would save more than 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the next ten years. Thats because there are more than 5 million households on...

Why is the sky dark at night? The 200-year history of a question that transformed our understanding of the Universe

By Jonathan Biteau Et Al

As dawn rose over the German city of Bremen on May 7 1823, Heinrich Olbers put the finishing touches to an article that left his name in history. After the deaths of his wife and daughter, Dr Olbers had recently given up...

A reciprocating engine of money, power and influence: how Australia's 'media monsters' used journalism to cement their empires

By Denis Muller

Carl Sagan said that in order to understand the present, its necessary to know the past. Nowhere does this apply with greater force than to the Australian media and its place in the nations power structure. Media...

Gold fraud: the Goldenberg scam that cost Kenya billions of dollars in the 1990s – and no one was jailed

By Roman Grynberg Et Al

The Goldenberg scandal in the early 1990s is Kenyas largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and diamonds, and in exchange received substantial...

Artificial intelligence can support architects but lacks empathy and ethics

By Farzam Sepanta

Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized many different industries in recent years. It gained a lot of attention and popularity with the launch of ChatGPT, a tool capable of writing poems, solving equations and...

Department stores survived the pandemic by being adaptable and innovative

By Ruifeng Wang Et Al

The retail industry has experienced major upheavals over the past few years due to the rise of online retailing and the decline of shopping malls. One retail sector that has been hit especially hard is department...

South Africa's ruling party is performing dismally, but a flawed opposition keeps it in power

By Collette Schulz-Herzenberg Et Al

As power cuts continue, the economy falters, unemployment rises and the currency tumbles, South Africas political commentators tend to agree that support for the governing African National Congress (ANC) will fall under...

Referendum bill to pass on Monday while government pulls out stops to try to secure housing fund

By Michelle Grattan

Federal parliament enters its last week before the winter break ready to approve legislation for the Voice referendum but with the governments proposed $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund still in the...

Scientists have created embryos from stem cells – it could help us better understand infertility and miscarriage

By Roger Sturmey

Scientists recently announced that they have developed embryos using just stem cells. No sperm or egg cells (oocytes) were involved. These new research findings were presented by Professor Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz of...

Semaglutide: beware of buying the weight-loss drug online

By Margaret Steele

A few years ago, celebrity weight-control practices were out of most peoples reach. Live-in chefs and personal trainers, not to mention elaborate surgical procedures like the Brazilian butt lift, were not real options for...

Keto diet may slow cancer tumour growth in mice – but not without potentially deadly consequences

By Mhairi Morris

The ketogenic (keto) diet has been popular in recent years among people looking to lose weight and keep fit. But what many people dont realise is that this low carb, high-fat diet has actually been used for centuries in...

US regulators continue crypto crackdown - but here's why the latest charges are different

By Andrew Urquhart

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase shortly after launching a lawsuit against the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. This isnt the first time Binance...

The secret of Novak Djokovic’s record-breaking tennis success is his mental resilience – expert explains

By Sahen Gupta

It comes as no surprise to anyone who follows tennis that Novak Djokovic won his 23rd Grand Slam at the French Open this month, making him the most successful mens tennis player in history. The Serbian player is...

Can we train our taste buds for health? A neuroscientist explains how genes and diet shape taste

By Monica Dus

Have you ever wondered why only hummingbirds sip nectar from feeders? Unlike sparrows, finches and most other birds, hummingbirds can taste sweetness because they carry the genetic instructions necessary to detect sugar...

The US will send depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine – a health physicist explains their military, health and environmental effects

By Kathryn Higley

The Biden administration has agreed to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium shells to equip M1A1 Abrams tanks that the U.S. is sending there. Britain has already delivered tanks to Ukraine equipped with depleted-uranium...

The Global South is forging a new foreign policy in the face of war in Ukraine, China-US tensions: Active nonalignment

By Jorge Heine

What does the Ukraine war have to do with Brazil? On the face of it, perhaps not much. Yet, in his first six months in office, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva now in his third nonconsecutive term ...

George Soros hands control over his family's philanthropy to son Alex, after giving away billions and enduring years of antisemitic attacks and conspiracy theories

By Armin Langer

Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros is handing control of his US$25 billion holdings, including his Open Society Foundations, to one of his sons, Alexander Soros. As a sociologist who researches...

How the fashion of the Windrush generation shaped British style

By Carol Tulloch

The outfits that new Caribbean arrivals to Britain wore as they disembarked the HMT Empire Windrush and all the other boats that followed served as a reassurance of their sense of self. They had left their previous...