LATEST ARTICLES

MS stem cell treatment breakthrough in Australian trial

MS stem cell treatment breakthrough in Australian trial

A groundbreaking Australian clinical trial has halted the progression of multiple sclerosis in early-stage patients by using chemotherapy and stem cell transplants, with some of the patients showing marked physical improvement and even abandoning their walking sticks. Published in the prestigious Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, the results of the trial offer hope to …read more

The future of farming is here

The future of farming is here

Tiny sensors that stick to crop leaves and transmit health data. Robot buggies that trundle up and down orchard rows. Hyperspectral scanners to assess tree health. Smartphone-operated virtual cattle fences. Gene manipulation to transform crops so they’re a different colour or last longer, or bear fruit in a more convenient way.

Union boss made the leap from theory to praxis

Union boss made the leap from theory to praxis

Just a few weeks off the shop floor, Alison Barnes is settling into her new role as president of the ­National Tertiary Education Union. The shop floor — also known as Macquarie University — had been Barnes’s employer since 2010. She worked there as a full-time senior lecturer in the depart­ment of marketing and management …read more

UWA looks to Asia’s international students

UWA looks to Asia’s international students

University of Western Australia vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater is looking north. Perth’s universities have a distinct educational ­advantage in attracting Asian students: they are closer to important Asian centres than Australia’s eastern cities and they are in the same time zone as a substantial part of Asia.

Torchbearer for western Sydney aspirations

Torchbearer for western Sydney aspirations

Barney Glover has embraced the manifest and multifold challenges of running a huge university, split into several geographically separate campuses, in the poorer half of Australia’s largest metropolis.

Sydney social sciences dean open to Ramsay program

Sydney social sciences dean open to Ramsay program

As a lesbian and gay studies scholar internationally known for her work in queer theory and the author of a recent work on the “cultural theory of orgasm”, the University of Sydney’s dean of arts and social sciences is widely seen as a socially progressive academic.

Orientalist scholar Roger Benjamin unimpressed by Birmingham’s Twitter take-down

Orientalist scholar Roger Benjamin unimpressed by Birmingham’s Twitter take-down

The respected art historian and University of Sydney academic was startled to see his research featuring in an unflattering tweet from Simon Birmingham. Professor Roger Benjamin, regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on art inspired by Orientalist or Arabic influence in southern Spain and northern Africa, including the work of renowned artists such …read more

What about my freedom of speech?

What about my freedom of speech?

Fifty years ago, Madeline Ward’s grandfather demonstrated against the Vietnam War on the front lawns of the University of Sydney’s famous quadrangle.

Fossil fat reveals planet’s first known animal

Fossil fat reveals planet’s first known animal

In a breakthrough discovery, scientists from the Australian National University have found molecules of animal fat in a fossil more than 558 million years old, making the “Dickinsonia” the world’s first ­confirmed animal.

Scientists identify the cane toad’s deadly enemies

Scientists identify the cane toad’s deadly enemies

A scientific breakthrough could finally curb the explosive numbers of Australia’s cane toads, the feral pest that has spread across the continent.