The AFL final series – with the semi-finals starting today – is one of the most ferocious and toughest contests we will see in Australian sport. Behind the scenes, there is no doubt a fair percentage of…
It appears that Australia might be put on a higher threat alert level. ASIO director-general David Irvine’s comments on a possible increase in the terrorism threat level (which came into force in 2003…
Precisely 13 years after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington that led to the Afghanistan and Iraq engagements, Australia is embroiled in another escalating conflict with an uncertain road…
If you are worried about the impact of your flying on climate change but keep flying anyway, you might be addicted. At least, this is the finding of recent research from the universities of Bournemouth…
Whether we’re reading about family studies research in Women’s Day , Scientific American or the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, most of us look for evidence that will help us understand where we sit along…
The Abbott government’s proposals for reform of the higher education sector have not found much favour with students, academics or the general public. They have, however, had a good deal of support from…
The amount of sleep adults need has once again come under the spotlight, with a recent Wall Street Journal article suggesting seven hours sleep is better than eight hours and the American Academy of Sleep…
The launch of Future Super, which claims to be the first super fund in Australia to exclude fossil fuels and their major supporting companies from its investment portfolio, has drawn significant attention…
After six months of courtroom drama relayed around the world, Judge Thokozile Masipa has eliminated a key charge from her verdict on Oscar Pistorius: the premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp. After a…
With the failure of international agreements to fight climate change, the way is open to viewing the role of renewables as more than agents for reducing carbon emissions. Indeed is it possible for countries…
Since Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair of 1925 the formula for comfortable seating has been known: create a right-angle, open it up a tad, and tip it backward, so that the seat places the bottom lower than…
News that a 25-year-old Gold Coast man is being quarantined in hospital after returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo two days ago is no reason to panic. If anything, the incident highlights the…
US President Barack Obama has announced a more aggressive strategy against Islamic State, including air strikes against its fighters “wherever they are”, even inside Syria – which he had previously ruled…
It is common knowledge – at least to anyone who trawls the shallower reaches of the internet – that people resemble their pets. Sad-looking humans have melancholy animal companions and bright-eyed and…
For three years in a row, Catalans have taken to the streets on September 11, Catalonia’s national day (the Diada). The 2012 rally for independence gathered an estimated 1.5 million people in Barcelona…
School bullying is a proactive form of aggression which doesn’t only have impacts on the individuals being targeted, but also on the child who is bullying, their classmates, the climate and tone of the…
When the central bank governors and finance ministers from the G20 agreed in February to increase growth by at least two percentage points over the next five years, they fell short of delivering a common…
The costs associated with recruiting the wrong person are always high, not only in financial terms but emotionally as well. So the prospect of administering a personality test that accurately indicates…
Australia does have the capacity to produce more electricity than it needs - but that’s not a reason to scale back the Renewable Energy Target.
We factcheck energy minister Ian Macfarlane.
Indigo Skies Photography/Flickr
We have 9,000 megawatts (nine big power stations equivalent) of excess capacity in electricity generation … We have more than 15% overcapacity in generation in Australia - Industry minister Ian Macfarlane…
Retiring, but not shy: outgoing ASIO Director-General David Irvine has warned Australia may need to lift its terrorism alert level.
Australia may need to lift its terrorism alert level.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Why does Australia have a terrorism alert system? And what does it mean if the alert level is increased? The National Terrorism Public Alert System is a way of communicating to the public what the current…
You take the High Road, Alex. I’ll have the rest of the country.
You take the High Road, Alex. I’ll have the rest of the country.
Danny Lawson/PA Wire
On September 6, the evening before the Sunday Times published the YouGov opinion poll on Scottish independence in which the Yes campaign was reported to be on 51% against the “No” camp on 49%, Rupert Murdoch…
When digital device users connect to cloud storage or developers’ data archives, they lose control of their data.
A plethora of health-based digital products should come with a warning.
LZF/Shutterstock
People interested in tracking their health, physical activity levels and body functions can now choose from a plethora of sensor-embedded digital gadgets to monitor and measure their bodies. But the big…
Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton has funded a grant to let readers write.
Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton has funded a grant to let readers write.
EPA/TAL COHEN
Booker Prize-winner Eleanor Catton announced last week she would use her NZ$15,000 winnings from the New Zealand Post best fiction and people’s choice prizes to set up a new grant for writers, dedicated…
If refused re-entry, foreign fighters such as Australian Mohamed Elomar are likely to become professional jihadists for life.
Australians are likely to become professional jihadists for life.
Facebook
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has spent recent weeks attempting to rally support for mooted anti-terror laws that would block the return of Australian jihadists fighting alongside Islamic State (IS) in Syria…
Polio is still not adequately controlled in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Polio is still not adequately controlled in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Wen-Yan King/Flickr
Polio (poliomyelitis) is a viral disease that can lead to incurable paralysis. The World Health Organisation is coordinating a programme to eradicate this disease from the face of the earth, and we are…
Which of these will stand the test of time?
Which of these will stand the test of time?
magdav
The books we’ll be buying for Christmas are making themselves known, their places in the various longlists and shortlists fiercely discussed in the papers. Every named writer wins a sticker on their book…
The Conversation relies on sector, government and reader support.
If you would like to help us have even better conversations,
then you may like to make a one-off or on-going donation.
