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More than a high BMI, an ‘obese heart’ is a silent risk
New research shows that fat tissue around the heart releases molecules that alter heart rhythm, identifying potential new targets for preventative therapies for heart disease
Health & Medicine
Fact or fiction? Debunking the myths around e-cigarettes
E-cigarettes have clearly made their way into Australian society. So, what’s the problem? Well, for a start, there’s a lot misinformation about them
Humanities
The international students trying to understand Australia from afar
Remote learning means many international students don’t have the opportunity to understand Australia as a country and a culture
The maths and ethics of minimising COVID-19 deaths
A University of Melbourne experts says the government must factor in the maths and ethics of either flattening the curve or an eradication endgame for COVID-19.
Modelling the spread of COVID-19
Forecasting the spread of COVID-19 including undetected cases is difficult but important; a University of Melbourne scientist has an app to track the outlook.
Why do some people believe the Earth is flat?
Although science says the Earth is round, there are some people around who still think it's flat; two University of Melbourne experts look at why.
More than a high BMI, an ‘obese heart’ is a silent risk
Fat tissue around the heart releases molecules that alter heart rhythm, offering potential treatment targets shows new research led by University of Melbourne.
COVID-19, age discrimination and aged care
University of Melbourne experts say government policy that keeps aged care residents out of hospitals or hospitals refusing admission is age discrimination.
Fact or fiction? Debunking the myths around e-cigarettes
E-cigarettes are now more popular in Australian society. The problem? For a start, there’s a whole lot of misinformation, says a University of Melbourne expert.
Health & Medicine
Diagnosing dementia in younger people
A diagnosis of younger-onset dementia can be devastating, but specialist service can help to provide clarity and support, faster
Health & Wellbeing
Chemogenetics: A new way to understand brain function
A novel method for understanding the function of the neural pathways could help reveal new information about behaviour and diseases of the brain
Science Matters
Always was and always will be Aboriginal water
If we really care about closing the gap we need a serious discussion about Indigenous water rights and Indigenous voices in water management
Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s disease during a pandemic
While COVID-19 has changed the way people with Alzheimer’s disease can access care, it’s also led to innovation and collaboration
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COVID-19
Health & Wellbeing
The science behind the search for a COVID-19 vaccine
Unless a new treatment is discovered, developing a vaccine is crucial to controlling COVID-19. In this special report, our experts explain the complex challenge of creating, testing and distributing a potential vaccine to end the coronavirus pandemic
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 4: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
As schools begin to reopen not just in Australia, but around the world, it’s timely to ask ourselves - are the kids alright?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 5: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
Australia is set for its first recession in 29 years, but what are the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on the way we work?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 6: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
This COVID-19 crisis is unlikely to be an isolated event, that’s why it’s important to start planning for the next pandemic
Health & Wellbeing
Bonus Episode: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
Why is Melbourne back in lockdown when it looked like Australia had succeeded in reducing the spread of COVID-19? And what's the way out?
Politics & Society
Politics & Society
As the US elections near, global democracy is at stake
With the US elections just 50 days away, the outcome will not just shape US democracy for a generation, but could diminish the very idea of democracy as a global norm
Humanities
Principles aren’t enough when human rights meet business
The United Nation’s Guiding Principles on business and human rights are struggling to gain traction in places where abuses are just business-as-usual for powerful elites
Engineering & Technology
Data isn’t neutral and neither are decision algorithms
The UK’s misguided attempt to use algorithms to estimate school scores is a warning and reminder of the need to keep humans and accountability in automated decision-making
Humanities
Living in the crosshairs of COVID-19
It’s not a particularly pleasant prospect to die from COVID-19 – but I will soon face State and Commonwealth decisions that may cost me my life
Public Affairs
Is Our Story respected and valued?
Activist and member of The Sapphires, Dr Lois Peeler AM, explores how respect for Indigenous knowledge could and should change modern Australia in this year’s annual Dungala Kaiela Oration
Design
New foreign relations bill puts ‘city diplomacy’ at risk
The federal government has proposed legislation to veto international city agreements if inconsistent with national foreign policy. But cities are often leading the way on global challenges
Business & Economics
Legal Affairs
Rio Tinto and the anatomy of corporate culpability
Heads have finally rolled over the mining company’s shameful destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelter, but what are the legal implications and how does corporate culture matter?
Inside Business
Supply chain challenges ahead for the COVID-19 vaccine
The novelty and urgency of the COVID-19 vaccine presents significant supply chain challenges. Government and private sector collaboration will be key to sharing the risks and opportunities
Inside Business
More transparency needed in PPE supply chains
COVID-19 has exposed a shortage of manufacturing capacity in personal protective equipment, but the larger problem is a lack of transparency over supplies and supply chains
Inside Business
Parents of school-age kids during COVID-19? Yes, you’re stressed
In the midst of a major economic downturn and increasing family-work conflict, Australian parents are feeling the burn of COVID-19
Inside Business
Casual work and COVID-19
COVID-19 has put casual work under a fresh spotlight but it still seems to work for many. Rather than wholesale regulatory change, responding to the pandemic should be about taking temporary emergency action
Sciences & Technology
Animals, Food & You
Detecting amphibian pathogens in the water to boost frog conservation
An international collaboration of researchers has found that frog diseases can be detected in environmental samples like soil and water
Science Matters
Group testing to help control COVID-19
Large-scale testing is key to controlling COVID-19 and statistical modelling shows that analysing grouped samples can give a better and more efficient indication of the prevalence of disease
Science Matters
Illuminating Indigenous culture through plants
Researcher Zena Cumpston’s new booklet on indigenous plants encourages their use and appreciation – providing a portal through which a wide audience may begin to understand the complexity of Indigenous scientific practice
Engineering & Technology
Are you technostressed?
As many of us continue to work from home during COVID-19, there’s increasing incidence of technostress and techno-overload among workers that needs to be addressed
Public Affairs
Women reorganising local food networks with technology in Jakarta
Women in Indonesia have been using online technology to develop local food networks during the COVID-19 pandemic, but systematic changes are needed to redress labour and food-related inequities
Science Matters
Willie wagtails: The werewolves of the bird world
The willie wagtail, an iconic Australian bird, is known for its fan tail and twinkling song. By recording birds across Victoria, a new study shows that willie wagtails also sing to the moon
Arts & Culture
Humanities
Other awful years in history
2020 has been grim, but there have been worse years. Here, experts from science, history and literature take us through just some of the other terrible times
Humanities
Volcanic winter and pandemic pandemonium
A terrible onslaught of bubonic plague in the sixth century abruptly ended Emperor Justinian’s dream of reunifying the Roman empire and caused massive geopolitical upheaval
Humanities
The something in nothing
People have been suspicious of ‘nothing’ going back all the way to the mathematical idea of “zero.” Yet there is real value in “nothing” and we need to appreciate it more.
Humanities
When trust matters more than translation
There are minor mistakes in Australia’s translated COVID-19 communications, but it’s more important that our multilingual communities trust in official information
Humanities
Is this the earliest depiction of a dodo in art?
The Jagiellonian arrases – tapestries that decorate the walls of Wawel Castle in Poland – may be one of the earliest known artistic representation of the long-extinct dodo
Health & Medicine
Health & Medicine
Reinfection in COVID-19 – Part three
What are the implications of reinfection for vaccines, antibody passports and herd immunity?
Health & Wellbeing
New targets for epilepsy treatment
Associate Professor Reid is developing new drugs for epilepsy, focussing on both genetics and small molecules, to treat more people with epilepsy
PodcastHealth & Wellbeing
How can we make sure people trust a COVID-19 vaccine once we get one?
Vaccination is an insurance policy but if we want good COVID-19 vaccine uptake, we need to restore public trust with education and clarity
Health & Wellbeing
Reinfection in COVID-19- Part two
Last week we looked at a well-documented case of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2. This patient remained asymptomatic following the second experience, which clearly boosted his immunity. But what does it tell us about protective immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infection?
Health & Wellbeing
Rating Victoria’s COVID-19 Roadmap
Epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely gives Victoria’s Roadmap out of the COVID-19 restrictions 8 out of 10 – noting there may be scope for easing some restrictions sooner
Health & Wellbeing
Scaling up efforts to tackle male self-harm
Men and boys account for 75 per cent of deaths from suicide, making them a key group for interventions, but an expanded national effort to prevent suicide demands that we have evidence of what actually works
Environment
Design
Reimagining international airports in COVID-19
COVID-19 highlights that our capacity to manage international travel is critical when responding to a pandemic. The way we design airports could minimise the risk of imported outbreaks
Science Matters
How to undo Australia’s epic water fail
The failure of the Murray Darling Basin Plan is linked to poor political decisions but also to poor market design. The allocation mechanism for our most valuable tradable natural resource is now a gambling pit, so what can be done to fix this mess?
Design
Water management worldwide is failing, it’s time for a new approach
Climate extremes are not going away during the pandemic, testing water management to its limits. We need robust inter-disciplinary solutions from climate and social scientists, engineers and lawyers
Design
Architecture and design in a post-pandemic world
The pandemic has reinforced that design and physical space plays a role in enabling disease to spread. But the built environment can also support infection control, as the past has shown
Design
People in share housing are struggling to cope in COVID-19
A new survey finds that many people living in share housing in Victoria are facing a precarious future as a result of COVID-19, with reports of job losses and financial stress
Education
Learning & Teaching
How social and emotional learning can help our school kids cope
In the wake of an emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, social and emotional learning programs in school can play a vital role in supporting student mental wellbeing
Learning & Teaching
Helping to develop empathy in digital classrooms
When it comes to empathy development during COVID-19, how can schools help their students to develop and grow when being face-to-face with their peers and teachers isn’t an option?
Learning & Teaching
The challenge to retain second-career teachers
The COVID-19 downturn means more people will be considering career changes into teaching, but we need to be doing more to ensure that once they start teaching, they will want to stay.
Education
Our changing identities under COVID-19
The fallout from the pandemic is a challenge to many people’s identity, but some of us have fewer resources to cope when our worlds are turned upside down
Learning & Teaching
Future proofing Australian students with ‘new credentials’
A new report offers a glimpse into the next generation of school and university credentials and aims to redefine success for school leavers and graduates
Learning & Teaching
Education in extreme times
While the desire for a return to business-as-usual (or curriculum-as-usual) is understandable, COVID-19 is an opportunity for educators to re-think the relationship between school and life