Newspoll remains tied at 50–50, but Albanese’s net approval slumps
By Adrian Beaumont
A national Newspoll, conducted August 2630 from a sample of 1,263, had a 5050 two-party tie between Labor and the Coalition, unchanged from the previous Newspoll three weeks ago. This is the first time this term there have...
We found teenage girls don’t know vulvas from vaginas or when their menstrual cycle starts
By Felicity Roux Et Al
It is important for everyone but especially girls, women and people who menstruate to understand how ovulation and menstruation work.
The menstrual cycle is a key indicator of overall health and sadly, issues such as...
‘It’s time to give up on normal’: what winter’s weird weather means for the warm months ahead
By David Bowman
Heavy winds struck south-east Australia over the weekend as a series of cold fronts moved across the continent. It followed a high fire danger in Sydney and other parts of New South Wales last week, and a fire in...
Military veterans with PTSD face an agonising choice: the stigma of declaring it to employers or being denied support
By Richard O'Quinn Et Al
Australia is home to almost half a million military veterans, most of whom are in the workforce.
But most around 60% live with long-term health problems.
About half of these face enduring mental health challenges,...
Without sanctions, making companies disclose their environmental and social impacts has limited effect
By Charl de Villiers
As of last year, New Zealands largest companies and financial institutions have been required to disclose their climate-related risks and opportunities in their annual reports and regulatory filings.
This follows a...
Aluminium foil that can clean water: we’ve developed a coating which attracts and traps dangerous microbes
By Taufiq Ihsan
More than 2 billion people around the world do not have access to safe, uncontaminated drinking water. Around 418 million of them live in African countries.
The problem is most acute in rural communities, where peoples...
Is Iran’s anti-Israel and American rhetoric all bark and no bite?
By Shahram Akbarzadeh
On August 27, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, told the newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and his cabinet that talking to the enemy may be useful.
In a thinly veiled reference...
What is space made of? An astrophysics expert explains all the components – from radiation to dark matter – found in the vacuum of space
By Nilakshi Veerabathina
What is space made of what does gravity actually bend? Phil, age 12, Birmingham
What comes to mind when you think of space? Imagine a friend boasting about a spacious building, stadium or museum they recently...
Healthy soils are good for your gut, brain and wellbeing – here’s why
By Jose David Henao Casas
Often overlooked, soil is one of our planets largest living ecosystems and the foundation of our lives. It provides 95% of our food, supports global biodiversity and helps balance the climate by storing atmospheric...
Five notorious cyberattacks that targeted governments
By Rachael Medhurst
Warfare is no longer confined to physical battlefields. In the digital age, a new front has emerged cyberspace. Here, countries clash not with bullets and bombs, but with lines of code and sophisticated malware.
One of...
Home education: why are so many parents choosing it over mainstream school?
By Lucie Wheeler
There has been a notable rise in parents choosing to home educate their children over recent years, and particularly since the COVID pandemic.
Elective home education carrying out a childs education at home, outside...
Is ‘coaching’ a shortcut to mental health care? Not so fast − here are key differences
By Emily Hemendinger
Life coach, wellness coach, business coach, weight loss coach, breakup coach the list goes on and on. All are different titles for similar jobs, with the same limitation: Anyone can claim to be an expert.
Health...
If new technologies snarl your airline experience, here are old-school strategies to cope
By Christopher Schaberg
Ten years ago I wrote a book titled The End of Airports about how digital technologies and commercial air travel were on a collision course. Earlier this summer, I was proved right.
In July, a cybersecurity software...
Trump and Harris, with starkly different records on labor issues, are both courting union voters
By Robert Forrant
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump are in a tight race for the White House. Every voting bloc will count including members of labor unions and other people in their...
When cannabis is rescheduled, states can look to Colorado and Washington for ideas on how to regulate it
By Boyoung Seo
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has made moves to reclassify marijuana, making it a type of legal but regulated medicine, like Tylenol with codeine or some steroids.
With the reclassification, 26 states where...
DRC: fighting with rebels in the country’s east has intensified, sparking fears of a wider war
By Dale Pankhurst
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been battling the M23 rebel group in the east of the country since 2012. However, there has been a major upsurge in fighting so far this year.
The M23...
How AI can dramatically reduce the time it takes to make VAR offside calls in Premier League football matches
By Mark Middling Et Al
The start of the new English Premier League (EPL) football season is seeing further changes to the way VAR (the video assistant referee) is operated. VAR was introduced to the EPL in 2019 in an attempt to reduce the number...
Robots are coming to the kitchen
By Patrick Lin
Automating food is unlike automating anything else. Food is fundamental to life nourishing body and soul so how its accessed, prepared and consumed can change societies fundamentally.
Automated kitchens arent sci-fi...
How drone attacks are changing the rules and the costs of the Ukraine war
By Marcel Plichta
Ukraine has unveiled a new long-range weapon, a mix of drone and missile technology that Kyiv believes will significantly boost its ability to combat Russian military attacks.
Ukrainian promotional material suggested...
Who says boys don’t cry? Why we must encourage men and boys to express their emotions
By Michael Kehler
The Democratic National Convention recently wrapped up in Chicago, where Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were officially nominated as the partys ticket for the 2024 presidential election.
One...
How low can we go? To cut the carbon that goes into buildings to net zero, we need radical change
By Philip Oldfield Et Al
Philip Oldfield, Head of School and Professor of Architecture, UNSW Built Environment, UNSW Sydney
Buildings are one of our biggest contributors to global heating. They produce 37% of all greenhouse gas emissions from...
Yes, you can borrow money to invest in shares
By Sean Pinder
In their scramble to secure a foothold on an increasingly unaffordable housing ladder, some young investors might be looking for new ways to boost their returns on savings.
One such approach albeit highly risky is...
Why Americans do political speeches so well (and debates so badly)
By David Smith
The recent Democratic National Convention in Chicago was a showcase of impressive speeches. Presidential nominee Kamala Harris justified the newfound enthusiasm of Democrats with a strong acceptance speech, but even she...
How the Republicans are trying to use Trump’s revised court charges to energise the campaign
By Natasha Lindstaedt
US special counsel Jack Smith has issued revised charges against former president Donald Trump for allegedly attempting to interfere in the 2020 election. This follows last months historic and widely criticised Supreme...
Jackson Hole: how a meeting of bankers in a remote Wyoming valley could have consequences for us all
By Amr Saber Algarhi Et Al
The economic world recently turned its attention to the resort of Jackson Hole, in a remote Wyoming valley. The annual economic policy symposium of central bankers, policymakers, academics and financial gurus took place in...
Ukraine war: US military support for Kyiv has been very cautious – here’s how a Harris presidency could change that
By David Hastings Dunn
Russias recent military advances and ferocious bombardment of Ukraine have led the country to renew calls for western allies to lift their ban on the use of their long-range missiles to hit military targets in Russia. But...
NT election: the Country Liberals claim a landslide victory in a contest decided in suburbia
By Rolf Gerritsen
The Northern Territory is a different place. On the day prior to this election, Speckles the Adelaide River crocodile was asked to predict the result of the election. He had replaced the previous crocodile, a spiv who got...
Mpox: African countries have beaten disease outbreaks before – here’s what it takes
By Oyewale Tomori
Barely over a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that mpox was no longer a public health issue of international concern, it is back in the news. This time with a diversity of variants, new modes of...
‘Humanity is failing’: official report warns our chance to save the Great Barrier Reef is fast closing
By Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
The Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate, largely to climate change, and the window to secure its future is rapidly closing. That is the sobering conclusion of a major new report into the state of the...
Rail shutdown: What the dispute tells us about labour relations and politics in Canada
By Gerard Di Trolio
The situation surrounding the nation-wide rail shutdown is evolving quickly as the Canadian government rushes to get workers back on the job and trains running again.
Canadas two largest freight railroads came to a...
Not even the boss of Starbucks needs to be doing a 1,000-mile commute if they can do the job from home
By Heejung Chung
New Starbucks boss Brian Niccol caused many to spit out their coffee with the news he will commute around 1,000 miles from his home in California to the companys HQ in Seattle. Its true that hell have the luxury of the...
Kamala Harris and her fellow Democrats used ancient Greek rhetorical tricks to keep their audiences spellbound
By Richard Toye
The Democratic Party has had a good week. Ill start that again the Democratic Party has had an amazingly good week.
Not so long ago, the Democrats seemed down, if not actually out. Now, theyre not merely pulling ahead...
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...
Irish hip-hop, British K-pop and the best end-of-summer novels – what you should watch and read this week
By Anna Walker
This article was first published in our email newsletter Something Good, which every fortnight brings you a summary of the best things to watch, visit and read, as recommended and analysed by academic experts. Click here...
How we’re using ‘chaos engineering’ to make cloud computing less vulnerable to cyber attacks
By Amro Al-Said Ahmad
Cloud computing has emerged as a crucial element in todays technology, serving as the backbone for global connectivity. It empowers businesses, governments, and individuals to employ and construct cloud-based services and...
Can a new access scheme get more working-class people into the TV industry?
By Paul Tucker
TV was everything to me, said British playwright James Graham at this years Edinburgh TV Festivals MacTaggart lecture on August 20. The dramatist used his recollections of the television he watched in his youth together...
Tory leadership contenders would be wise to become the ‘heir to Keir’
By Stephen Barber
The Conservative leadership contest is something of a sideshow to the meaningful politics of government. Whoever wins will inherit a depleted party reeling from arguably its worst ever election defeat. It comprises only...
Kamala Harris: here’s what we’ve found out so far about the presidential nominee
By Thomas Gift
Who is Kamala Harris? Thats the question the Democratic nominee for president tried to answer in her highly anticipated acceptance speech at the partys national convention in Chicago.
Although she has been...
Rwanda: Paul Kagame’s fourth term as president – what his agenda will need to cover
By Jonathan Beloff
Paul Kagame started his fourth term as Rwandas president in August 2024. He first became president in April 2000. However, as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, he has been the countrys de facto head since his...
Project 2025: what is it and why does Trump say he knows nothing about it?
By David Hastings Dunn
Think-tank policy proposals rarely make the headlines, but 2024 is no ordinary year and Project 2025 is no usual set of plans for government. This is a not-very-secret set of plans that Republicans have put together in...
These colourful diagrams show how air quality has changed in over 100 countries around the world since 1850
By Jim McQuaid Et Al
Air pollution is an unseen menace that poses a major threat to human health and the climate. We have created the air quality stripes, a visual tool that captures global air pollution trends, to bring this hidden threat...
Should brands take a stance on social and political issues?
By Geetanjali Saluja Et Al
In the immediate aftermath of last months shocking assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump, search engine giant Google found itself in hot water. The reason? A technical issue with its auto-complete...
In Myanmar’s brutal war, the military is weaponising sexual violence against women, children and LGBTQI+ people
By Phyu Phyu Oo
The United Nations verified 3,688 cases of conflict-related sexual violence around the world last year, a significant increase of 50% from 2022. This is certainly a vast underestimate of the true number of cases.
A...
Investigation reveals global fisheries are in far worse shape than we thought – and many have already collapsed
By Graham Edgar
When fish are taken from our oceans faster than they can reproduce, their population numbers decline. This over-fishing upsets marine ecosystems. Its also bad for human populations that rely on fish for protein in their...
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...
US is unlikely to stop giving military aid to Israel
By Dov Waxman
The Democratic National Convention has been packed with prominent speakers and musical interludes that all focus on unity and moving forward into a more hopeful future.
But this cheerfulness is shadowed by a split...
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...