Sep
24
2020
It took Maria Forsyth a while to settle on her real research interests. Beginning with a broad foundation of study in materials engineering and chemistry, she sailed through her doctorate at Monash University. With a questing mind, she worked on materials for new optic fibres and chemistries for improved in-vitro fertilisation methods, before her focus moved …read more
Aug
14
2020
A group of wealthy and respectable middle-class Sydney women gathered in a tea room in the 1890s, where they “sat by favour of that Chinese gentleman” Quong Tart while they considered how best to fight for the right to vote, a movement that was gaining ground in England.
Jul
16
2020
The wiry bird scuffling around in the mountainous jungles near the northern Thailand-Myanmar border doesn’t look like much, but this scrawny red jungle fowl has been tapped as the primary ancestor of the modern world’s all-important domestic chicken.
Jul
8
2020
French couture house Dior has this week remembered a time of crisis 75 years ago, when the bloody upheaval of WWII pushed French fashion designers to dig deep to revive the French fashion industry. Rising to the challenge, in 1945 post-war French couturiers dressed miniature mannequins in high fashion collections and sent them on a tour …read more
Jun
29
2020
Eric Lee Tsun Lung has enjoyed more than 50 ocean cruises since he was a youngster and he looks forward to going to sea again soon, regardless of the spate of coronavirus outbreaks on cruise liners, frequently dubbed “floating petri dishes” in the media.
Jun
14
2020
To stretch his legs and gulp a few lungsful of fresh air during Hong Kong’s lockdown-lite, Edwin Lau Che-feng went walking in parks and along Hong Kong’s greener streets. Like other Hong Kongers, he mostly abided by social distancing restrictions during the coronavirus crisis. He stayed home, avoided shopping centres and steered clear of crowds. But …read more
Apr
29
2020
Dr Xiaoling Liu, the newly appointed chancellor of the Queensland University of Technology, is well-placed to advise on the coronavirus crisis engulfing Australian universities. Born Chinese, she worked as a metallurgist and executive for Rio Tinto for many years before retiring from her executive position and later joining company boards.
Apr
1
2020
A professor of chemistry at the age of 32, Brigid Heywood knows how hard it can be to forge a career in the male-dominated world of science. Even so, the forthright new vice-chancellor of the University of New England doesn’t think quotas for women academics are the answer.
Jan
15
2020
It can be hard to get into the University of Hong Kong these days. Physically hard. Two of the entrances from the local subway station were shuttered last week – due to “vandalism”, according to a station notice. Most visitors travelled up an escalator, then up in a lift and along a passageway to the …read more
Jan
10
2020
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