Conspiracy theories: why are they thriving in the pandemic?

Feb 02, 2021 14:00 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Weve all seen them. Those posts shared by friends of friends on Facebook, that jaw-dropping tweet you can scarcely believe was not immediately deleted. Alongside social distancing and Zoom meetings, it seems that one...

More than half of funding for the major parties remains secret — and this is how they want it

Feb 02, 2021 13:57 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Political parties in Australia collectively received $168 million in donations for the financial year 2019-20. Today, Australians finally get to see where some of the money came from with the release of data from the...

'Panic-buying' events are the new normal; here's how supply chains have adapted

Feb 02, 2021 13:33 pm UTC| Insights & Views

I live in Perth. Like most people here, on Sunday I was ready for a busy week of getting the kids to school, going to work, visiting the gym and so on. I planned to spend the hot afternoon at the beach. That changed...

‘Welcoming’ European welfare states are forcing refugees through mazes of harmful rules

Feb 02, 2021 13:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views

When we think of the gruelling journeys refugees often take to reach Europe, our minds often cast back to 2015, when more than a million people fled danger in search of a better life. For many refugees, destinations in...

People become less likely to contribute to a virtual public good like Wikipedia or Waze if they know many others are already doing it

Feb 02, 2021 13:27 pm UTC| Technology Insights & Views

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea While people tend to contribute more to a virtual public good if they see others doing the same, this effect reverses if they become...

Nairobi's airports -- windows on Kenya's colonial past and top-down planning

Feb 02, 2021 13:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Airport histories can be surprising. Changes to airport names may conceal stretches of their past. Thus, the colonial roots of two of Nairobis three airports are opaque. Each of the three has taken a turn as the prime...

Why e-bikes can succeed where earlier bike-share schemes failed

Feb 02, 2021 13:15 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Shared mobility devices such as bicycles and electric scooters have experienced significant growth across the globe and Australia is no exception. In cities with such offerings, users are able to get around in more...