By Miki Perkins, Environment & Energy Editor, The Conversation
Ever wondered what it might feel like to spot giant spider crabs while you’re snorkelling? Or check plants for the circular holes that indicate native bees are collecting nest materials?
Citizen science relies on people like you – more than a million of them in Australia, actually – to collect and analyse valuable data about the world around us.
Here, we introduce five citizen science projects you can…
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By Ellie McFarlane, PhD Candidate, School of Media & Communication, RMIT University
Whale Shark Jack is Stan’s heartfelt, kid-focused addition to the Australian wildlife movie canon.
Its brief run time and ambitious mix of genres means some elements are under-cooked. Nonetheless, the film shines as a love letter to Western Australia’s coastline and its community.
Girl meets whale shark
Whale Shark Jack begins on WA’s world-heritage listed Ningaloo Reef. The young Sarah (played by Alyla Browne as a 12-year-old, and by Emmi Williams as a younger child) lives on a boat with her parents, Nita (Abbie Cornish) and Marcus (Michael Dorman) – both of…
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By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience, The University of Melbourne
Iman Taheri Sarteshnizi, Research Fellow, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne
Neema Nassir, Associate Professor in Transport Engineering, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne
Victoria and Tasmania have announced free fares, but NSW is firmly against the idea. Will it work to get people out of cars?
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By Rebecca Lynne Hendershott, Lecturer in Biological Anthropology, Australian National University
Hoppers is a deceptively simple story that opens up complex ethical and scientific questions.
Jerry (Jon Hamm), the mayor of Beaverton, has marked a forest glade for destruction, so commuters can save four minutes of drive time. The plan is environmentally assessed as feasible given no animals seem to live there.
But Mabel (Piper Curda) fights to save the glade, using the newest technology to put her mind into an animatronic beaver robot. This allows her to communicate with the animals and coordinate their collective action.
In classic Disney fashion, the town…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image An external view of the destruction of buildings in Evin prison's northern premises after the Israeli strikes on June 23, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. Photo taken on July 1, 2025. © 2025 Majid Saeedi/Getty Images Thousands of detainees in Iran, including political prisoners and children, are at risk of injury and death from US and Israeli strikes, as well as atrocities by Iran’s authorities, including mass, secret, and arbitrary executions. Instead of releasing prisoners unconditionally or on humanitarian grounds, Iran’s authorities continue to carry out the arrests…
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Wednesday, April 1st 2026
The Secretary-General’s commitment towards women leadership in the United Nations was recognized at a pivotal moment marked by global uncertainty, economic volatility and increasing pressure on hard-won rights.
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By Muhammad Fikri Sigid, Doctoral Researcher, School of Science, University of Waikato
Hamish Lewis, Lecturer in Climate Change, University of Waikato
Luke Harrington, Senior Lecturer in Climate Change, University of Waikato
New models show NZ’s heaviest rainfall is likely to grow more intense and frequent, with some regions facing twice as many extreme events by 2100.
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By Damian Bailey, Professor of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of South Wales
For the first time since the Apollo era, humans are preparing not just to visit the Moon, but to live and work there for weeks, months – and eventually years.
But what would it really be like to spend an extended period on the lunar surface? The answer is exhilarating – and brutally unforgiving. An exciting new era of deep-space exploration is opening up. The US Artemis programme aims to set up an outpost on the…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, January 16, 2026. © Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s unwillingness to condemn forced labor in China risks reducing pressure on the Chinese government to end its repression of ethnic Uyghurs.Responding to Member of Parliament Michael Ma’s comments casting doubts on reports of forced labor in China, Carney told the media on March 30 that Canada “takes issues of forced labor and child…
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Wednesday, April 1st 2026
From Iran to multiple nations in the Gulf and the wider Middle East, around 3,000 people have reportedly been arrested in the first month of the ongoing war across the region, sparking alarm over free speech restrictions and state repression.
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