How to break up with plastics (using behavioural science)

Jul 14, 2018 11:03 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Australia is responsible for over 13 thousand tonnes of plastic litter per year. At the end of June 2018, the Australian government released an inquiry report on the waste and recycling industry in Australia. One of the...

Long live the Europe of scientists!

Jul 10, 2018 00:31 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

This article is published as part of the EuroScience Open Festival (ESOF), of which The Conversation France is a partner. Since its inception, the European project has benefitted citizens from all walks of life in every...

Discovering dopamine's role in the brain: Arvid Carlsson's important legacy

Jul 09, 2018 14:25 pm UTC| Science

Arvid Carlsson, the Swedish neuroscientist and Nobel laureate, died on June 29, 2018 at the age of 95. He had devoted his life to understanding how the brain works and was awarded the Nobel for his research into dopamine ...

How Novichok is different from radioactive poisons – and what this means for decontamination

Jul 09, 2018 14:25 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

A man and a woman were found unconscious in Wiltshire, England, on July, after having been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. This is the same substance that was used to poison the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and...

We need a bank of DNA from dirt and water to protect Australia's environment

Jul 09, 2018 14:05 pm UTC| Science Nature

Measuring biodiversity used to mean laboriously collecting samples and manually identifying the plants, animals and fungi. This might involve careful inspection under a microscope to spot identifying features. This takes a...

Curious Kids: Where do black holes lead to?

Jul 09, 2018 08:15 am UTC| Science

This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions theyd like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome serious, weird or wacky! You might also like...

Real, Live Mad Scientists Send Electric Shocks to People's Brains to Make Them Less Violent

Jul 04, 2018 00:50 am UTC| Science

For centuries, the fearful image that the common folk has had of innovators is the Mad Scientist persona. Surrounded by all kinds of strange contraptions, these scientists would experiment on live subjects with abandon....