How Web3 and Blockchain Are Shaping the Future of Digital News
By Sonny Kwon
The digital media industry is at a crossroads, facing ongoing challenges in delivering trustworthy news in an era of information overload. Web3 and blockchain technology are emerging as potential game-changers, offering a...
Dua Lipa is a poet too – on National Poetry Day, let’s celebrate the power of words to move us
By Siobhan Harvey
The significance and solace of poetry is closer than you think, I tell budding authors as they arrive at class with headphones on, glued to TikTok trends, or scrolling through Instagram feeds.
Given their youth, they...
Gaza update: US politics and the fate of Palestinians increasingly bound up together
By Jonathan Este
It would be a brave or foolhardy analyst who presumes to predict the outcomes of the talks which continue in Doha. But the fate of Gaza and its 2 million inhabitants as well as the 109 remaining Israeli hostages being...
Disney wrongful death legal case exposes potential pitfalls of automatically clicking ‘I agree’
By Stergios Aidinlis
Disney has U-turned on a bid to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit in the US by relying on the terms of service for a simple streaming trial.
The suit was filed by a man whose wife allegedly died after experiencing an...
How your festival wee could disrupt soil health and water quality
By Jess Davies
Festival season is in full flow, and like any self-respecting plant-soil biogeochemist attending a local music festival, Im curious about how these outdoor events might modify important nutrient cycles.
With crowds...
Bayesian yacht disaster: how specialist search and rescue teams work underwater
By Jamie Pringle Et Al
Search and rescue for missing persons is always challenging for the specialist recovery teams involved, regardless of the environment theyre working in.
But the teams looking for the missing aboard the Bayesian yacht...
The truth about Tasers: what the statistics and research tell us
By Sophie Chambers
Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently urged the police to take all necessary action in response to unrest across cities and towns in England and Northern Ireland.
One of the most contentious tools at the polices disposal...
How Twitter — now X — helps us understand Canadian values and attitudes toward asylum seekers
By Laura French Bourgeois Et Al
The treatment of asylum seekers is an important issue for many countries as they grapple with polarized public views on the issue. Some policymakers focus on the need for border security to keep asylum-seekers out and...
Why eating seaweed might help prevent Parkinson’s disease
By Marine Krzisch
Eating the seaweed Ecklonia cava may be able to slow down or prevent Parkinsons disease, according to a 2024 study.
Researchers found that antioxidants in the seaweed which is often used in soups and salads in Asian...
How debt and taxes conspired to rob Nairobi’s slum-dwelling youth of the promise of a better life
By Angela R. Pashayan
Throughout the summer of 2024, young Kenyans have taken to the streets of the capital, Nairobi, in a series of anti-government demonstrations.
Dubbed the Gen Z protests, the unrest was sparked by the introduction of an...
How Israel-Gaza will affect the US election campaign
By Scott Lucas
As delegates assembled in Chicago for the start of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, something surreal was happening 6,000 miles away in Israel. In Tel Aviv, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken,...
Solar above, batteries below: here’s how warehouses and shopping centres could produce 25% of Australia’s power
By Bruce Mountain
Imagine if Australian cities became major producers of clean energy, rather than relying on far-flung solar and wind farms.
Far fetched? Hardly. Our cities and towns are full of warehouses, commercial areas, shopping...
Study shows video games can improve mental wellbeing – but you can have too much of a good thing
By Katarina Fritzon Et Al
A study of almost 100,000 people in Japan aged 10 to 69 found playing video games or even owning a console can be good for mental health. But playing too much each day can harm wellbeing.
Video games and other forms...
New ABC show The Assembly highlights how neurodivergence can enhance jobs or study
By Sandra Thom-Jones
The Assembly, a new ABC documentary series, introduces us to a diverse group of autistic people who are interested in pursuing journalism careers.
The first episode strikes a nice balance between introducing the...
A city at the crossroads: how Gaza became one of the great intellectual hubs of the Roman Empire
By Christopher Mallan
The years 2023 and 2024 will certainly be remembered as some of the darkest in the long and often violent history of Gaza.
The recent destruction of schools and universities in the Gaza strip has attracted the attention...
NZ’s white-collar crime gap: just 1% of serious fraud complaints result in prosecution
By Lisa Marriott
Despite long being considered one of the least corrupt countries ranked third in the world by Transparency International New Zealand is lagging behind when it comes to handling white-collar crime.
This can be loosely...
‘Gig workers’ get minimum standards from Monday. Here’s what will change
By Juan Diaz-Granados Et Al
Monday August 26 is when the governments updated Fair Work legislation comes into force.
The new laws will offer new rights to so-called gig workers who take on jobs through platforms such as Uber, Menulog and...
Concerned about your early reader? Why ‘wait and see’ isn’t advised for reading struggles
By Katelyn Bryant
At Western Universitys Mary J. Wright Child and Youth Development Clinic, I work on a team training future school psychologists. In our work, we encounter parents concerned about their childrens learning on an almost daily...
Five things that can help autistic students settle into university
By Harriet Axbey
As the summer draws to a close, the start of your very first term looms if you are starting university. You will hopefully be looking forward to going, although you may be feeling a little apprehensive and may even be very...
A more varied diet would help the world’s economy as well as its health
By Shonil Bhagwat Et Al
More than 75% of the food consumed in the world today comes from just 12 plant and five animal species. The over-dependence on this small selection, which includes rice, maize and wheat, damages the environment and human...
How fly fishing strengthens our connection with wildlife and fosters conservation efforts
By Avi Shankar Et Al
Whether its to reset our mental health or simply to take time out from the hurly-burly of work and urban life, many of us head for oceans and rivers to enjoy their restorative capacities.
Encountering wild animals in...
What your nose can tell you about your health
By Dan Baumgardt
Thanks to a quirk known as unconscious selective attention, your brain has learned to ignore your nose. A prominent feature thats positioned closely to the eyes, the schnoz could get in the way of our vision but the...
Learn how to budget with the help of psychology
By Amr Saber Algarhi Et Al
Developing an understanding of how to manage personal finances can be even more crucial in the early stages of your career when your salary may be relatively low.
But traditional financial advice often falls short of...
Bali gives a snapshot of what ‘overtourism’ looks like in the developing world
By Rama Permana
Barcelona residents marched against tourists in July after similar protests in Venice earlier in 2024. Recently, residents of Santorini in Greece were in uproar after a Facebook post reportedly asked them to stay home and...
How Russian gender-based disinformation could influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election
By Owen Wong
Most people have a general understanding of disinformation false information that is intentionally created to cause harm. Disinformation becomes gendered when deliberately false information draws on common understandings...
The WHO has declared Mpox a ‘public health emergency of international concern.’ Is it time to worry?
By Kiffer George Card
On Aug. 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified Mpox virus, which is surging across several African countries, as a public health emergency of international concern. This action will help mobilize global and...
Hope on the horizon? What Bangladesh’s regime change could mean for Rohingya refugees
By Sarah Nandi
Bangladesh is experiencing a seismic shift after 18 years of Awami League rule ended abruptly due to intensive student protests. This upheaval, and the crackdowns that resulted in the deaths of more than 300 protesters,...
Russian flags waved during Nigeria protests: why it’s a cause for concern
By Olayinka Ajala
The #EndBadGovernance protest in Nigeria from 1 August to 10 August took a rather unexpected dimension when some protesters in Kano and Kaduna states, both in the countrys north-west region, were seen waving and sharing...
Slingshot in space: the tricky manoeuvre that will use Earth and the Moon to send the Juice mission to Jupiter
By Nicola Baresi Et Al
A European spacecraft is about to zip by both Earth and the Moon in the space of 24 hours. In the early 2030s, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission will be the first European probe to orbit Jupiter. But first, it...
Biden administration’s negotiated price cuts for 10 common prescription drugs likely to save Medicare billions, beginning in 2026
By Simon F. Haeder
The Biden administration announced on Aug. 16, 2024, the reduced prices of the first 10 drugs it has negotiated with pharmaceutical companies over their Medicare prices.
Provisions authorizing these negotiations were...
Astronomers have warned against colonial practices in the space industry − a philosopher of science explains how the industry could explore other planets without exploiting them
By Mary-Jane Rubenstein
The past decade has seen a rapid expansion of the commercial space industry. Rival nations are competing for prime military and economic positions beyond the Earth. Public and private entities are clamoring to mine the...
Could we use volcanoes to make electricity?
By David Kitchen
Turning red-hot lava from an active volcano into electricity would be dangerous and unreliable. Volcanoes dont erupt on predictable schedules, and lava cools too quickly. But many countries, including the U.S., have found...
Who is the ‘Laughing Buddha’? A scholar of East Asian Buddhism explains
By Megan Bryson
With his delighted expression, round belly, bald head and monastic robes, the Laughing Buddha is instantly identifiable. However, astute observers might wonder why this buddha does not look like the historical Buddha, who...
Multiverse films take characters to increasingly dark places – as Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom casting shows
By Alex Fitch Et Al
The multiverse, the idea of different universes that exist at the same time, has been a plot device on screen and in comic books for years. The success of the recently released Deadpool Wolverine, which has already earned...
Elon Musk is moving X and SpaceX to Texas
By Jonathan Lord
Elon Musk recently announced that he was relocating the companies SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) from their current headquarters in California to Texas. The news has placed a spotlight on the rise in big tech shifting its...
With more lawsuits potentially looming, should politicians be allowed to sue for defamation?
By Brendan Clift
Western Australia Senator Linda Reynolds is already embroiled in a bruising defamation fight against her former staffer Brittany Higgins. Now, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is reportedly considering suing independent MP...
Thailand’s democracy has taken another hit, but it won’t halt the march toward a more progressive society
By Adam Simpson1
After two tumultuous weeks in Thai politics, the country has a new prime minister and new opposition party in parliament. The sweeping changes have demonstrated yet again the power of the Constitutional Court over...
Alain Delon was an enigmatic anti-hero, and France’s most beautiful male movie star
By Ben McCann
Alain Delons death at the age of 88 brings down the curtain of one of postwar European cinemas most important film stars.
Known for his striking movie star look chiselled features, piercing blue eyes and magnetic...
What is ‘model collapse’? An expert explains the rumours about an impending AI doom
By Aaron Snoswell
Artificial intelligence (AI) prophets and newsmongers are forecasting the end of the generative AI hype, with talk of an impending catastrophic model collapse.
But how realistic are these predictions? And what is model...
Generative AI hype is ending – and now the technology might actually become useful
By Vitomir Kovanovic
Less than two years ago, the launch of ChatGPT started a generative AI frenzy. Some said the technology would trigger a fourth industrial revolution, completely reshaping the world as we know it.
In March 2023, Goldman...
Russia-Ukraine war spills into west Africa: Mali attacks signal dangerous times ahead
By Olayinka Ajala
Russia suffered significant blows to its reputation in mid-2024. An attack on its territory by Ukraine came as a surprise. In west Africa, the Wagner mercenary group, supported by Russia, suffered one of its heaviest...
A double whammy of winter fuel payment cuts and scrapping a planned cap on social care costs is set to hit older people
By Martin Powell
Before the general election, former prime minister Rishi Sunak was asked on TV why he hated pensioners. After her recent speech in parliament, the same question might be directed at Chancellor Rachel Reeves. She has...
How a currency devaluation in Kazakhstan made the country’s poor worse off
By Anatoli Colicev Et Al
It is the job of the government to keep a countrys economy in check. But sometimes policies dont work out as planned. Governments often take economic decisions that follow specific political agendas, and these decisions...
Oil prices will whipsaw as we move to net zero, which could be disastrous for low-income producer countries
By Adi Imsirovic
One huge question for the future of the global economy is how oil will be affected by the transition to net zero. Any energy economist will tell you that predicting oil prices is something of a fools errand, given all the...
Banana apocalypse, part 2 – a genomicist explains the tricky genetics of the fungus devastating bananas worldwide
By Li-Jun Ma
Did you know that the bananas you eat today are not the same type as the ones people were eating a few generations ago? The banana you might have had with your breakfast today is a variety called the Cavendish banana,...
Ethiopia’s bold economic reforms target stability and growth, but they come with risks
By Tsegay Tekleselassie
Ethiopias recent macroeconomic reforms, supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, could have profound implications for the country and the region. The key reforms include the use of a floating...
Complicated app settings are a threat to user privacy
By Joseph K. Nwankpa
Default privacy settings in popular mobile apps seem like a convenience, allowing you to use a single setting to control the level of privacy who can see which actions you take across all of the apps functions. But...
Boeing Starliner astronauts: what six months stuck in space may do to their perception of time
By Ruth Ogden Et Al
Two astronauts marooned in space may sound like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, but for two Nasa crew members, it is now a reality. Commander Barry Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams are currently in limbo on the...
US military presence in Syria carries substantial risks, but so does complete withdrawal
By Sefa Secen
U.S.-backed forces in eastern Syria launched a major attack on three posts manned by pro-government gunmen on Aug. 12, 2024, killing at least 18 fighters in a rare provocation near the border with Iraq.
The assault...
Gen Z has a trust problem with British institutions – especially the police
By Paolo Morini
The new government has come to power at a time when trust in politics is, in the Labour partys words, shattered. Keir Starmer has set out his governments aim to restore the highest standard of integrity and honesty in...
