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A kiss to detect wine on her breath: the violent policing of women drinking in Ancient Rome

The ancient Romans venerated wine. It was accessible to the masses, a fundamental staple of mainstream life and an indispensable part of the Roman...

latest 2

The Conversation

Lily Moore

The Harvard of anti-terrorism : how Israel’s military-industrial complex feeds the global arms trade

In The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World, Antony Loewenstein details how Israel’s military-...

latest 6

The Conversation

Kevin Foster

In the 1800s, colonisers attempted to listen to First Nations people. It didn’t stop the massacres

Note of warning: This article refers to deceased Aboriginal people, their words, names and images. Words attributed to them and images in the...

latest 2

The Conversation

Stephen Gapps

Closing the First Nations employment gap will take 100 years

In 2008 Australia’s federal, state and territory governments set the goal of halving the employment gap between First Nations Australians and...

latest 1

The Conversation

Reza M. Monem

Word from The Hill: PwC scandal, McGowan quitting politics, PM’s trip to Singapore and high inflation figure

As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the...

yesterday 20

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

House of Representatives passes Voice referendum legislation, which is assured of Senate passage

After a marathon debate, the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning passed the bill for the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament...

yesterday 30

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

Trying for a baby? What you need to know about a vital part of your womb (and how to look after it)

Human reproduction is completely dependent on the healthy function of an underestimated but vital organ: the endometrium. This is the spongy tissue...

yesterday 6

The Conversation

Louise Hull

With so many people speaking ‘their truth’, how do we know what the truth really is?

When Academy Awards boss Bill Kramer recently applauded comedian Chris Rock for speaking “his truth” about being slapped by Will Smith at the...

yesterday 30

The Conversation

Jeremy Wyatt

After 24 hours of drama, Roger Cook becomes the next premier of Western Australia

With the withdrawal of his principal challengers and the implicit endorsement from key factions within the Labor party, Roger Cook will become...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Martin Drum

Photos from the field: spying on Antarctic moss using drones, MossCam, smart sensors and AI

The Antarctic continent conjures visions of white ice and blue sky. But not far from Australia’s Casey Station, 3,880km due south of Perth, moss...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Johan Barthélemy

Why isn’t Australian music charting on the ARIA charts?

The excitement generated by the 2023 Eurovision contest was palpable. Members of my family, like thousands of Australians, were awake at 5am on a...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Timothy Mckenry

These magnificent 107-million -year-old pterosaur bones are the oldest ever found in Australia

New research on old bones has shed light on pterosaur fossils from the early Cretaceous period of Australia, which took place roughly 107 million...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Adele Pentland

From whiteboard work to random groups, these simple fixes could get students thinking more in maths lessons

Australian students’ performance and engagement in mathematics is an ongoing issue. International studies show Australian students’ mean...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Tracey Muir

Australian women’s access to abortion is a postcode lottery. Here’s what needs to change

When the American legal precedent protecting women’s right to an abortion in the United States, Roe versus Wade, was overturned last year, women...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Danielle Mazza

Does the Fight Transphobia UniMelb campaign against a feminist philosopher violate academic freedom?

A campaign by the activist group Fight Transphobia UniMelb against feminist philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith escalated recently. There have been...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Hugh Breakey

New research reveals harrowing stories of murdered Indigenous women and the failure of police to act

Readers please be advised this article mentions acts of intimate partner violence against First Nations people. Indigenous women are eight times...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Kyllie Cripps

A new trade deal delivers cheaper Australian beef and British sweets – but does little to avert dangerous global warming

A free trade agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom begins on Wednesday. When it was announced in 2021, then-prime ministers Boris...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Margaret Young

The FDA finally approved Elon Musk’s Neuralink chip for human trials. Have all the concerns been addressed?

Since its founding in 2016, Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has had the ambitious mission to build a next-generation brain implant...

previous day 20

The Conversation

David Tuffley

‘It’s actually a human person, undergoing real emotions’: how podcasts can impact attitudes around mental health

Millions of people listen to podcasts each year. Podcast content is diverse, with popular genres including true crime, comedy, and society and...

previous day 8

The Conversation

Elise Carrotte

Will Albanese live up to his own promises to end pork-barrelling ? There is a sliver of hope

Like Kevin Rudd before him, Anthony Albanese is taking an odd approach to evidence. Before becoming prime minister in 2007, Rudd promised to deliver...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Peter Martin

Revenge, excitement, or profit: why do people commit arson?

The huge blaze that struck Randle Street in central Sydney last week is now the subject of an arson investigation, authorities have confirmed. Many...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Xanthe Mallett

The real cost of New Zealand’s two-tier health system: why going private doesn’t relieve pressure on public hospitals

Ethicists argue that healthcare is special. Unlike other consumer goods, its availability and accessibility should be based on need rather than...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Elizabeth Fenton

NATO should tread carefully in Southeast Asia, where memories of colonialism linger

NATO’s incursion into the Indo-Pacific region is a move that will exacerbate regional conflicts and tensions. That’s because NATO cannot be...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Shaun Narine

Shop around to beat electricity price spikes? It’s not as easy as it should be

Australian consumers are painfully aware of the energy cost crisis. And from July 1, electricity bills are set to rise by a further 20-25% across...

previous day 1

The Conversation

Lurion De Mello

New DNA testing shatters ‘wild dog’ myth: most dingoes are pure

For decades, crossbreeding between dingoes and dogs has been considered the greatest threat to dingo conservation. Previous DNA studies suggested...

previous day 1

The Conversation

Kylie M Cairns

Thinking of quitting your child’s swimming lessons over winter? Read this first

The weather is getting chilly and the pool is looking less inviting than ever. At this time of year, with cooler temperatures and shorter days,...

previous day 7

The Conversation

Amy Peden

What are the long-term effects of quitting social media? Almost nobody can log off long enough to find out

Being on social media has become synonymous with living in the 21st century. Year after year, we see new platforms and smarter algorithms roping us...

previous day 1

The Conversation

John Malouff

Earthquakes can change the course of rivers – with devastating results. We may now be able to predict these threats

New Zealand’s 2016 Kaikōura earthquake stopped the Waiau Toa – also known as the Clarence River – in its course. Within hours, the river...

previous day 1

The Conversation

Erin Mcewan

Rupert Murdoch: how a 22-year -old ‘zealous Laborite’ turned into a tabloid tsar

In September 1953, Rupert Murdoch arrived in sleepy Adelaide to take up his inheritance of News Limited. He was only 22 and had little experience...

previous day 1

The Conversation

Sally Young

Australian shelters and pounds kill 50,000 mostly healthy cats and kittens in a year. There’s a way to prevent this pointless killing

Stray cats are a longstanding problem in Australian towns and cities. Common complaints about roaming cats include nuisance (fighting and...

monday 20

The Conversation

Jacquie Rand

Free but unfair election: how Erdogan held onto power in Turkey, and what this means for the country’s future

Recep Tayyib Erdogan will remain president of Turkey for another five years after winning Sunday’s run-off election over his long-time rival,...

monday 10

The Conversation

Mehmet Ozalp

The Anxiety of Influence: Harold Bloom’s (not so) influential idea at 50

Joshua Cohen’s ribald campus novel The Netanyahus (2021), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is set during the winter of 1959-60. It depicts Ben-Zion...

monday 2

The Conversation

Benjamin Madden

WA Premier Mark McGowan quits in shock announcement, declaring he is ‘exhausted’

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has announced he is quitting as premier and leaving parliament. In a shock announcement, McGowan told a...

monday 20

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

How Erdogan held onto power in Turkey, and what this means for the country’s future

Recep Tayyib Erdogan will remain president of Turkey for another five years after winning Sunday’s run-off election over his long-time rival,...

monday 50

The Conversation

Mehmet Ozalp

Mark McGowan quits in his own time, after dominating Western Australian politics

One of the most dominant premiers in recent Australian political history, Mark McGowan, has resigned as Western Australian premier and the member...

monday 10

The Conversation

Martin Drum

Slow down Simeon Brown – bilingual traffic signs in NZ aren’t an accident waiting to happen

When the National Party’s transport spokesperson, Simeon Brown, questioned the logic of bilingual traffic signs, he seemed to echo his leader...

monday 10

The Conversation

Richard Shaw

Melbourne earthquake 2023: are they becoming more common? A seismology expert explains

Last night at 11:41pm local time, the greater Melbourne region was shaken by a magnitude 4.0 earthquake – as calculated by the Seismology...

monday 10

The Conversation

Dee Ninis

How can we make the media less toxic?

“We in the media must ask if we are truly honouring a world worth living in. Too often we are the poison in the bloodstream of our society.” So...

monday 20

The Conversation

Misha Ketchell

Is it true the faster you lose weight the quicker it comes back? Here’s what we know about slow and fast weight loss

When people decide it’s time to lose weight, they’re usually keen to see quick results. Maybe they have an event coming up or want relief from...

monday 9

The Conversation

Nick Fuller

Milton Moon: the Australian artist who brought a Zen Buddist, modernist and painterly sensibility to pottery

Milton Moon (1926-2019) was not your regular potter. He was deeply imbued with Zen Buddhism and once said each vessel is a container for thoughts,...

monday 10

The Conversation

Catherine Speck

A long and fishy tail: before Disney’s Little Mermaid, these creatures existed in mythologies from around the world

Mermaids are multicultural mythical figures, reflecting the continuing human fascination with the sea in stories echoing thousands of years into...

monday 9

The Conversation

Louise Pryke

3 little-known reasons why plastic recycling could actually make things worse

This week in Paris, negotiators from around the world are convening for a United Nations meeting. They will tackle a thorny problem: finding a...

monday 8

The Conversation

Pascal Scherrer

DIY degree? Why universities should make online educational materials free for all

This article is part of our series on big ideas for the Universities Accord. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and...

monday 3

The Conversation

Richard F. Heller

Our cemeteries face a housing crisis too. 4 changes can make burial sustainable

Australia’s housing crisis is no secret. What many people don’t realise is that there’s another, less visible housing crisis. Australia’s...

monday 3

The Conversation

Kate Falconer

Over half of eligible aged care residents are yet to receive their COVID booster. And winter is coming

As Australia heads towards the fourth winter of the pandemic, we have once again started seeing an increase in the level of COVID circulating. With...

monday 3

The Conversation

Hassan Vally

Far from undermining democracy, The Voice will pluralise and enrich Australia’s democratic conversation

Does the proposal for a Voice to Parliament prefigure a distinctive conception of democracy for Australia? A steady drumbeat of criticism to date...

monday 3

The Conversation

Duncan Ivison

Albanese says nearly 90% of Indigenous people support the Voice, which embodies the ‘spirit of the fair go’

The Voice to Parliament is supported by nearly 90% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and provides an opportunity for an...

28.05.2023 2

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

Researchers built an analogue computer that uses water waves to forecast the chaotic future

Can a computer learn from the past and anticipate what will happen next, like a human? You might not be surprised to hear that some cutting-edge AI...

26.05.2023 3

The Conversation

Ivan Maksymov

‘WA’s Christmas tree’: what mungee, the world’s largest mistletoe, can teach us about treading lightly

Noongar Country of southwestern Australia is home to the world’s largest parasitic plant, a mighty mistletoe that blooms every December. That’s...

26.05.2023 10

The Conversation

Alison Lullfitz

Regional communities were central to Uluru Statement, and they must also be for the Voice to Parliament

Today marks the sixth anniversary of the Uluru Statement From the Heart, and National Sorry Day. The statement is a powerful document that speaks...

26.05.2023 4

The Conversation

James Blackwell

The highly secretive Five Eyes alliance has disrupted a China-backed hacker group – in an unusually public manner

This week the Five Eyes alliance – an intelligence alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States –...

26.05.2023 10

The Conversation

Dennis B. Desmond

Surry Hills was once the centre of New South Wales’ ‘rag trade’: a short history of fashion manufacturing in Sydney

Sydney has awoken to the smouldering ruins of its largest city fire in 55 years. The “abandoned building” in Randle Street, Surry Hills, adjacent...

26.05.2023 6

The Conversation

Peter Mcneil

‘Whose side are you on mate?’ How no one is free from bias – including referees

When Jason Paris, head of the company that sponsors the New Zealand Warriors NRL team, complained recently about Australian referee bias, more than...

26.05.2023 3

The Conversation

Tim Dare

Curious Kids: how does your brain know how to move your body?

How does your brain know how to move your body? – Ivy, age 8, Victoria Hi Ivy, thanks for asking such an interesting question! To answer it,...

26.05.2023 3

The Conversation

Arjun Burlakoti

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