
China: rise of a new philanthropic power
Feb 07, 2020 05:59 am UTC| Insights & Views
In response to the ongoing coronavirus emergency, on January 31, Chinese billionaire Jack Ma pledged the equivalent of US$144 million for medical supplies for Wuhan and Hubei as well as $14 million to help develop a...
Why do people in different countries speak different languages?
Feb 07, 2020 05:59 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
Humans have long been puzzled by the existence of different languages. A long time ago, people took guesses or made up stories to explain this. You might know the tale of the Tower of Babel (have a look at a famous...
The Iowa caucuses still have a great claim to retain first-in-nation status
Feb 07, 2020 05:58 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The most notable thing about this years Iowa (Democratic) caucuses was the debacle where results could not be reported on the night and indeed for a good while after. Some combination of new reporting requirements, a...

Here's a radical reform that could keep super and pay every retiree the full pension
Feb 07, 2020 05:58 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
The governments retirement income review is being told our current tax and benefit treatment of retirement incomes is a mess. Much of financial planning industry is devoted to structuring affairs to maximise access to...

No food, no fuel, no phones: bushfires showed we're only ever one step from system collapse
Feb 07, 2020 05:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
This summers bushfires were not just devastating events in themselves. More broadly, they highlighted the immense vulnerability of the systems which make our contemporary lives possible. The fires cut road access, which...

Brain cells long thought of as passive play key role in memory – study in mice
Feb 07, 2020 05:56 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
Microglia are resident immune cells in your brain that act as first responders, always on the lookout for trouble. Accounting for about 10% of our brain cells, they were historically thought of as passive bystanders in the...
Coastal GasLink pipeline dispute is a nation-to-nation matter
Feb 07, 2020 05:46 am UTC| Insights & Views
There have been two encouraging recent developments in the longstanding conflict over the proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline on the territory of the Wetsuweten nation in northern British Columbia, though matters are on very...