Dug up in Australia, burned around the world – exporting fossil fuels undermines climate targets
By Bill Hare
Australia is one of the worlds largest exporters of fossil fuels. While this coal and gas is burned beyond our borders, the climate-warming carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions affect us all.
My colleagues and I at global...
Urban growth is leading to more intense droughts for most of the world’s cities – and Sydney is a case study for areas at risk
By Ian A. Wright
The growth of cities worldwide is contributing to more intense drought conditions in many cities, including Sydney, a new Chinese study has found. This is adding to urban heat and water stress. These important findings...
Giving feedback can be daunting for new leaders — here’s how to provide it thoughtfully
By Leda Stawnychko Et Al
Giving performance feedback at work can be a stressful experience, especially for new leaders and their employees. It often evokes feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and defensiveness.
Leaders might worry about how their...
Women are less interested in AI than men, but using it would help them advance at work
By Louise Champoux-Paillé Et Al
Women use generative artificial intelligence tools less than men do.
The World Economic Forum recently published an article on the subject. It reported that 59 per cent of male workers aged between 18 and 65 use...
Cameroon spends 90% of Chinese development loans on its French region: this could deepen the country’s divisions
By Afa’anwi Ma’abo Che
In Cameroon, violent clashes between government forces and separatists from the English-speaking parts of the country started in 2017. Since then, at least 598,000 people have had to leave their homes and about 2 million...
Raising revenue from land: what African cities might learn from Hong Kong’s unique land-lease system
By Astrid R.N. Haas1
Land prices across many African cities are soaring. This is because land is a citys key asset. As urbanisation progresses, demand for land will rise, and therefore so will land prices, because the supply of land in cities...
Wagner Group setback in Mali challenges Moscow’s strategy in Africa and the region’s faith in Russian mercenaries
By Christopher Faulkner Et Al
While Russias army is bogged down in Ukraine, its mercenaries are faring no better in Africa.
In late July 2024, mercenaries from the the Wagner Group, a Moscow-aligned private military company, accompanied the Malian...
A carry crash also kicked off the global financial crisis 17 years ago — here’s why it’s unlikely to get as bad this time
By Charles Read
Many casual readers of the financial press will have learned a new term in the past few days: the carry trade. This is the culprit for the rollercoaster state of markets, many market commentators and journalists have...
Rat poison is moving up through food chains, threatening carnivores around the world
By Meghan P. Keating
Rats thrive around humans, for good reason: They feed off crops and garbage and readily adapt to many settings, from farms to the worlds largest cities. To control them, people often resort to poisons. But chemicals that...
The problem with pronatalism: Pushing baby booms to boost economic growth amounts to a Ponzi scheme
By Emily Klancher Merchant
In the face of shrinking populations, many of the worlds major economies are trying to engineer higher birth rates.
Policymakers from South Korea, Japan and Italy, for example, have all adopted so-called pronatalist...
Why Olympic success can come at the cost of mental health for youth athletes
By Lisa O'halloran
Skateboarder Zheng Haohao is 11. She is also one of the youngest competitors at the Paris Olympics. That may be an impressively tender age to be an elite athlete but Zheng isnt unique in her youth: shes one of a clutch of...
Paris Games herald a new anti-corruption era, but carrying the torch may pose an Olympic challenge for the US
By Andy Spalding
The world has grown cynical about the integrity of major international sports, and not without reason. From the Olympics bribery scandal of the 1990s which implicated the hosts of Nagano 1998, Sydney 2000 and Salt Lake...
‘Fake news of the highest order’: Donald Trump team refutes racism revelations in new family memoir
By Alexander Howard
Donald was pissed. Boy, was he pissed.
This is how Fred C. Trump III describes the moment, sometime in the early 1970s, when his uncle, Donald J. Trump, came stomping back into the family home in Queens, New York.
As...
Do plastics cause autism? Here’s what the latest study really says
By Elisa Hill-Yardin
A study out recently has prompted much media attention about the role of plastics in developing autism.
In particular, the study focused on exposure to a component of hard plastics bisphenol A, or BPA in the womb and...
Disaster season looms, but the senate inquiry has failed to empower communities
By Monica Taylor Et Al
This week, a Senate committee examining Australias disaster resilience tabled its long-awaited report in parliament.
The 151-page report makes ten recommendations. These concern funding arrangements, mental health...
Only 100 years ago the Milky Way was visible from central Paris. Here’s how we can get the night sky back
By Brad E Tucker
For the more than 100,000 years humans have been on Earth, we have looked up at night and seen the stars and our celestial home, the Milky Way galaxy. Cultures all around the world have stories and records incorporating...
The Paris Olympics horse-whipping scandal shows the dangers of ‘Disneyfication’ in horse sports
By Susan Hopkins
Over the course of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Charlotte Dujardin went from being Great Britains most successful Olympics dressage rider to one of the most digitally shamed athletes in the history of the internet.
A video...
Making workers return to the office might not make them any more productive, despite what the NSW premier says
By David A Hensher
Announcing the directive to work primarily in an approved office, NSW Premier Chris Minns said overseas studies showed people were less productive when working from home.
There is a drop in mentorship. There is less of...
Film and its music cannot exist without each other – that’s why I love seeing films in a concert hall
By Will Jeffery
A loved activity of mine is experiencing one of my favourite films with a live orchestra in a concert hall.
Even though Ive seen these films many times, either in the theatre or at home, and listened to their...
Pneumatic compression therapy – can it really help Olympians (or you) recover after exercise?
By Rob Newton
As the Paris 2024 Olympics come to a close, athletes whove pushed themselves to their limits and beyond will be focused on recovery. Even weekend warriors know the value of careful management after a long run or gym...
The World Court says Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land is illegal: 4 steps NZ can take now
By Myra Williamson
Peace in the Middle East seems further away than ever. The assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the threat of Iranian retaliation against Israel, and the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza have all put the region on a...
Phryge, the friendly Paris Olympics 2024 mascot, and the real meaning of red liberty caps
By Kelly Summers
The Paris 2024 mascots have charmed and perplexed fans of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Mascot creators were inspired by the famous Phrygian cap a symbol of freedom.
The red Olympic Phryge (pronounced FREE-juh)...
Many men diagnosed with prostate cancer experience poor mental health. We need to support them better
By Tenaw Tiruye Et Al
Every year more than 24,000 Australian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, making it the most frequently diagnosed cancer among Australian men.
Despite high survival rates around 96% of men diagnosed with prostate...
From science fiction to telemedicine: the surprising 150-year history of long-range medical treatment
By Debbie Passey
In 1874, a surgeon in South Australia telegraphed wound care instructions for a patient 2,000 kilometres away. A few years later, in 1879, a letter in The Lancet medical journal suggested physicians use the telephone to...
How do 4,500 people become 250? The stark reality of life on Japan’s rapidly depopulating Gotō Islands
By Gwyn McClelland
Japans population crisis isnt letting up, despite ongoing efforts by its government to boost fertility rates. According to data released in June, birth rates fell for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, reaching a record...
Gaza update: Hamas appoints new leader as Middle East braces for more violence
By Jonathan Este Et Al
Iran is going to launch a retaliatory strike against Israel for the dual assassinations of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31 and Hezbollahs number two, Fuad Shukr, just hours before. The only questions are when,...
How do breakdancers avoid breaking their necks?
By Aliza Rudavsky
For the first time, street dancers from 15 countries, in addition to one woman from the Refugee Olympic Team, will be competing for gold, silver and bronze, as breaking makes its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The...
The trouble with England – why rioting in the UK has not spread to Scotland and Wales
By Marco Antonsich Et Al
The violent unrest that has caused so much damage in the UK has not in fact happened across the UK. It has almost been exclusively confined to England.
True, violent riots also took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland,...
The success of an adaptive sport program in Pakistan has lessons for inclusivity in Canada
By Umair Asif Et Al
Almost 350,000 people live with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Pakistan. Many face exclusion from education and social activities and opportunities for education and sports are rare for them. In addition, social stigma...
Gen X and millennials at greater risk of 17 types of cancer compared to previous generations – here’s what you need to know
By Sarah Allinson
A worrying new study by the American Cancer Society has revealed that generation X and millennials are at more risk of developing many types of cancer than their predecessors. This is in line with a growing body of...
Interview with the Vampire season two: a hyperintelligent musing on trauma and immortality
By Catherine Spooner
The question facing vampires Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia (Delainey Hayles) as season two of Interview with the Vampire launches on the BBC is: how can you stay relevant if you live forever? Fail to adapt to the...
Five wonderful and weird comics to read if you love Umbrella Academy
By Geraint D'Arcy
The Umbrella Academy is the story of seven adopted superhuman misfits and their super-rich father, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (AKA the Monocle). If you have watched the television adaptation, which is barrelling into its last...
Barcelona protests: holiday hotspots need fairer tourism for local communities
By Linda Osti
It all appeared to begin in early July with angry Barceloni residents squirting tourists with water as they sat on restaurant terraces. Tourists go home! shouted locals to bemused diners in the busy Las Ramblas district,...
Ceasefire in Gaza more remote with the assassination of Haniyeh and promotion of Sinwar
By Leonie Fleischmann
Yahya Sinwar has been unanimously chosen as the successor to Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran on July 31. Sinwar is reported to be more extreme than his predecessor and is widely...
Social media: Disinformation expert offers 3 safety tips in a time of fake news and dodgy influencers
By Fabrice Lollia
Social networks have revolutionised the way we communicate, stay informed and share moments of our daily lives. We use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok to keep in touch with our friends and family,...
Young Nigerians’ push for change must go beyond street protests – historian
By Toyin Falola
Nigerians began a 10-day #EndBadGovernance protest on 1 August 2024 and are expected to continue until 10 August. They took to the streets to demand economic and political reforms, including the reversal of some government...
Playing to prosper: How sports participation leads to long-term success for girls
By Katie Lebel Et Al
The 2024 Paris Olympics mark the first gender-equitable Olympic Games in history, with equal numbers of men and women athletes. Audiences today are being exposed to the phenomenal accomplishments of women athletes more...
How to know when it’s time to start therapy
By Dr. Simon Sherry
People go to therapy for many reasons. A challenging life event, trauma, volatile emotions, relationship problems, poor mental health: all can prompt someone to seek it out.
Whatever the reason, it can be difficult to...
Why do our muscles ache after a workout?
By François Dernoncourt Et Al
The Paris 2024 Olympics have inspired you to take up running again this year. Your shoes are all laced up, your headphones plugged in, and youre off. 15 kilometres later, with no cramps or stitches to report, youre home....
North Korea returns to the Olympics after eight years – eyeing more than just medals
By Jung Woo Lee
Athletes from North Korea are currently competing in the Summer Olympics for the first time in eight years. The communist state had been suspended for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)...
Can the NHS soup and shake diet really reverse diabetes? Here’s what you need to know
By Dan Baumgardt
In my youth, I remember several people I knew tried a popular diet based around liquid meal replacements. One delicious, nutritious milkshake for breakfast, one for lunch and by tea time they were ready to chew off their...
Forensic science cracks the ‘unsolvable’ case of a World War I soldier’s identity, enabling his re-burial
By Jay Silverstein
In the early hours of July 18, 1918, the Franco-American counter-offensive against German positions began at Aisne-Marne in northern France. The first division of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) drove the German...
Members of Congress undermine the country – and their own legitimacy – with antidemocratic rhetoric
By Christopher Miller
Blame was cast far and wide after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Obviously, the shooter was to blame, but depending on your perspective, you also blamed Democrats, Republicans or both for the...
Good flooding? Scientists use rice cultivation to preserve soil in Florida’s Everglades Agricultural Area
By Jehangir Bhadha
Each summer, nearly 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of rice is cultivated in the Florida Everglades Agricultural Area, a roughly 1,100-square-mile (2,800-square-kilometer) area south of Lake Okeechobee.
Farming here...
How charities with thrift shops can get better stuff from their donors instead of junk
By Chao Wu
Telling donors that their neighbors have provided high-quality furniture, clothing and other goods can cut the number of worthless items charities receive in half.
Thats what my colleagues Sindy De La Torre Pacheco,...
A US judge just called Google the ‘highest quality search engine’. But how do we determine ‘quality’?
By Mark Sanderson
In his landmark ruling against Google earlier this week, United States district judge Amit Mehta said the tech giant has built the industrys highest quality search engine.
Judge Mehta made clear this was partly because...
Huge gas fields – under a coral reef. Will a rejection on environmental grounds stop Woodside’s Browse project?
By Samantha Hepburn
For decades, Australias largest independent oil and gas company, Woodside, has eyed off a prize: the largest known unconventional gas fields in the nation.
But theres a problem. The enormous Brecknock, Calliance and...
Thanks to Paris 2024, my kid wants to be an Olympian. What do I do now?
By Alberto Filgueiras
Children all over Australia have been watching the Olympics. At school and at home they have seen athletes win medals, waving flags and doing victory dances. For many this will be the first time they remember seeing the...
Crypto was once touted as a ‘safe haven’ asset – why did it crash too this week?
By Marta Khomyn
Weve just seen how quickly market turbulence can spread across the world of finance.
At the start of the week, fears of a US recession and a Japanese interest rate hike sent shockwaves across equity markets, currency...
Psychotropic drugs in the Olympic Games: Doping regulations and athletes’ mental health medications
By Larissa Costa Duarte
Elite gymnast Simone Biles made headlines in 2021 when she withdrew from the team finals and the individual all-around finals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for mental health reasons. Before that, Biless confidential medical...
