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Cutting-edge research and insightful commentary by world-leading experts
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The science behind life in space on ‘Away’
Unfolding spacecraft, artificial gravity, and space disease all feature on Netflix’s series ‘Away’, but how much of the action is true to life?
Public Affairs
Celebrating 75 years: The UN’s past and future
It’s 75 years since the United Nations was formed in 1945 after the Second World War, and one of its major achievements is to have survived for so long
Health & Wellbeing
What is Post-COVID-19 Neurological Syndrome?
There are many unknowns about the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the brain – but new research investigates the potential impact of Post COVID-19 Neurological Syndrome (PCNS)
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.
Celebrating 75 years: The UN’s past and future
It’s 75 years since the United Nations was formed in 1945; a University of Melbourne expert says one of its major achievements is to have survived for so long.
The science behind life in space on ‘Away’
Artificial gravity and space disease feature on Netflix’s series ‘Away’ – a University of Melbourne experts looks at how much of the action is true to life.
The future of offices in post-COVID Melbourne
As we work to get the economy and employment back on track, to what extent will workers return to offices post COVID-19, ask University of Melbourne experts
Public Affairs
Will the next president restore American leadership in Asia?
Under Donald Trump’s presidency, perceptions of the US in Asia have crashed to their lowest level in decades. Will the upcoming US election reverse this trend?
Legal Affairs
Regulating medical devices in the ‘Internet of things’
New research explores the gap between regulation and practice in healthcare devices, particularly for type 1 diabetes, that are part of the Internet of Things
Science Matters
Secrets of the basket-web spider’s silk
The only spider known to weave a container to catch prey, researchers now have the first insights into the evolution and structure of the basket-web spider’s rare silk
Health & Medicine
The rollercoaster of COVID-19 easing
As the Victorian government announces an easing of COVID-19 restrictions, it’s important to remember that when it comes to next steps - we make our own luck
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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 2: Life beyond Coronavirus: The Expert view
From the government’s Covidsafe tracking app to a new testing regime - what will it take to end isolation?
Health & Wellbeing
Watch Episode 3: Life Beyond Coronavirus: The Expert View
Experts around the world are racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, but what are the challenges? And who is getting close?
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
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?
Health & Medicine
Health & Wellbeing
Adolescence - a critical time to address gender inequality
A major study across 40 countries in Asia and the Pacific reveals the stark gender inequalities faced by adolescents, providing a roadmap for effective action
Design
How ‘artificial societies’ are helping plan our COVID-19 response
Computational social science has come to the fore in the COVID-19 response, allowing policy makers to trial policies on ‘artificial societies’ and see the results – before doing it in real life
Health & Medicine
4 things you may not know about human anatomy
Can you flex the last joint on your index finger? Do you have a palmaris longus muscle in your palm? On World Anatomy Day, see what you can discover about your body
Health & Wellbeing
Deciphering ‘cell talk’ to understand our evolution
By understanding how cells communicate, we can get insights into how all forms of multicellular life first came to exist and the origins of some of the diseases that still affect us
Health & Wellbeing
Support after miscarriage – how can we do better?
Miscarriage is one of the most common pregnancy complications, occurring in about one in four pregnancies, yet it is rarely talked about in society
Health & Wellbeing
So, Victoria, what do we do now?
It’s now mathematically impossible that Melbourne will reach its COVID-19 case target to release to Step 3 of the Roadmap soon - but how might we open up a little and beat the disease modelling?
Sciences & Technology
Science Matters
The tiny world of peptides
Many commonly available cosmetic and health products contain peptides – but what actually are they and what do they do in the human body?
PodcastEngineering & Technology
The nanowires building greener nanodevices
A new material for nanowires, designed by computer simulations, paves the way for a new era of photonic and quantum electronic technologies, consuming less energy and reducing operating costs
Engineering & Technology
A solution to engineering energy-saving smart materials
Smart materials block harmful radiation and heat, combatting energy wastage. A new way to engineer smart materials at lower temperatures could make more buildings energy-saving
Science Matters
A new thermometer for studying our past climate
Researchers have a new tool to understand our climate history, and how different regions may have responded to past global climate change
Engineering & Technology
You wouldn’t hit a dog, so why would you kill one in Minecraft?
Violence against humans in video games has long been controversial – but what about violence against animals in the virtual world?
Environment
Design
The time is now for Indigenous design equity
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have always been the architects, the engineers and the land managers – that deep wisdom must be reflected in tackling climate change
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
Science Matters
The story in the bones of lizards and frogs
Highly detailed CT scans of the tiny fossilised bones of Australia’s lizards and frogs are telling scientists an important story of adaptation and extinction in a changing climate
Politics & Society
Humanities
The battle for the racial future of America
Race is a dividing line between US progressives and conservatives, and in the build-up to the presidential election, views around racial division have never been so far apart
Legal Affairs
How social procurement can revive Victoria’s economy
The Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework can help stimulate the local economy and combat the harsh socio-economic effects of COVID-19
Legal Affairs
Mobilising the workforce we need in an emergency
Victoria’s COVID-19 Omnibus Bill highlights the central challenge of mobilising and managing the right workforce needed during a public health emergency
Humanities
Could microfinance help rebuild Australia’s post-pandemic economy?
Providing microfinance loans to people with a good business idea but no capital can help offer a path to economic recovery after COVID-19
Public Affairs
Dodging disease and death in the first US presidential debate
The first US presidential debate ahead of the November election didn’t proffer a winner so much as testimony to a dire political discourse
Business & Economics
Inside Business
Sustainable success for Australian business
The disruption of COVID-19 is an unexpected opening for businesses to adopt more sustainable practices – elevating the practice of sustainability across industries
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
The potential of the ‘token’ woman
Recognising the value of ‘token’ individuals within the workplace can broaden perspectives and improve the performance of teams
Inside Business
What the media tells us about gender diversity at work
What Australian print media narratives do, don’t and should tell us about gender diversity in our workplaces
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
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
Education
Learning & Teaching
5 tips for Year 12 students preparing for exams
As Year 12 students prepare for their final exams during COVID-19, there are steps parents, carers and students can take to get through this final secondary school hurdle
Learning & Teaching
Emerging from COVID-19 and taking the chance to change
Across Australia, restrictions are loosening and now is a good time to take stock of how COVID-19 has changed our lives – and where we go from here
Learning & Teaching
Australian literature’s great silence
The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the systemic racism in Australian society; a new study suggests that we must question the very white stories told in our classrooms
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?
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
Arts & Culture
Humanities
Bringing new life to cemeteries
Australians are embracing new ways of commemorating the dead, including eco-friendly burials, raising new questions about how communities make use of traditional cemeteries
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
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
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