LATEST ARTICLES

Australia looks to new rules in media struggle

Australia looks to new rules in media struggle

Fears of eroding press freedom have gripped Australian media, most recently hammered home by a respected senior journalist warning of an “unacceptable step down the road to authoritarianism”. Industry luminary Kerry O’Brien said in his speech at the prestigious Walkley awards event that Australia’s government, led by prime minister Scott Morrison, had resisted appeals for freedom …read more

Education minister reverses research veto

Education minister reverses research veto

The federal government has backtracked and funded four of the 11 Australian Research Council grant applications that were secretly vetoed by Simon Birmingham as education minister in 2017 and last year.

The suite life of a writer

The suite life of a writer

Writers once travelled through Asia in a leisurely fashion, steamers gently rolling between Bangkok and Batavia, rickshaws wheeling through the streets of Singapore, pleasure boats pulling into Penang. European wanderers, adventurers and authors drank gin slings while waiting for sumptuous dinners; colonial matrons sipped tea on hotel balconies; and the business of empire rumbled on.

Felicity Baker, musicologist

Felicity Baker, musicologist

Professor Felicity Baker has seen music carve through the thick fog of an elderly person’s dementia and bring them back to reality, to a world where they can again recognise their children and, in the best cases, even communicate with them.

Adam Slipinski, entomologist

Adam Slipinski, entomologist

Professor Adam Slipinski is passionate about beetles. Now immersed in the massive task of identifying and classifying thousands of Australian species for the definitive CSIRO catalogue on these insects, he says a proper understanding of beetles is crucial. Although they can be serious pests, he says, beetles also provide essential environmental services – they are pollinators, …read more

Julie Arblaster, climate scientist

Julie Arblaster, climate scientist

When she was a kid in the Mallee in Victoria, Dr Julie Arblaster spent a lot of time outside, swimming in the Murray and roaming in the bush. Weather has always been an important part of her life, and these days it has become central to her profession.

The weight of the world

The weight of the world

Children from Hong Kong and China are not immune to the global epidemic of obesity. About one in five Hong Kong schoolchildren are now classed as overweight or worse, according to the Hong Kong Department of Health’s latest survey, released last year. They were not eating enough fruit and vegetables, but eating too much salt …read more

Catching the bug

Catching the bug

A serious attack involves fever, sweating, vomiting, muscle spasms, driving thirst, thumping pain behind the eyes and in the joints. Weeks pass, tossing and turning in hellish delirium. And right now, a deadly wave of dengue fever is sweeping across Asia, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands sick, over­whelming health services and creating panic …read more

Rugby World Cup Japan 2019: Back to back epics for a nation’s devoted fans

Rugby World Cup Japan 2019: Back to back epics for a nation’s devoted fans

Sports loyalty drives passionate emotion in Japan. With the prestigious Rugby World Cup kicking off in Japan soon — and Japan playing Russia in the first match — fans will live through weeks of intense drama leading up to the final in November.

Words on a page or words on a screen?

Words on a page or words on a screen?

The contrast was stark. There was a small part of my husband’s library of beloved books, packed into four waist-high cardboard packing cases. Heavy. Unwieldy. Smelling a bit of mould and silverfish. A dead bore when moving, particularly between countries.