By Thomas White, Associate Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
Kate Lynch, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney
You’re cooking dinner, distracted, and your hand brushes a hot pan. Nerve signals race to your spinal cord and back to yank your arm away in a fraction of a second, with no thought required.
Then comes the pain. A sharp, spreading sting gives way to a pulsing ache, and you cradle your hand and run it under cold water until it subsides. That felt experience is distinct from the reflex that preceded it. While the reflex moved your body out of danger, pain drives you to protect the wound, recover, and learn to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
We readily accept that other…
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By Ben Gray, Associate Professor of Primary Health Care and General Practice, University of Otago
New Zealand’s requirement for patient consent means junior doctors can’t perform CPR on a patient, or practise care of babies and people with dementia.
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By Global Voices Announcements
Every month, Global Voices will be choosing an urgent theme to explore in depth across all our regions. In June we're exploring how gender diversity is experienced and opposed all over the world.
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By Maria Nawaz, Project Lead, Australian Climate Accountability Project at the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW Sydney
For the first time, an emissions and climate impact case has arrived at Australia’s High Court. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
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By Simone Marino, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Education; Adjunct Research Fellow, Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab, Edith Cowan University
Every Friday morning in a community hall near Fremantle, something quietly extraordinary happens.
Chairs are arranged in a rough semicircle. Someone has brought a tray of biscotti from a recipe carried, unchanged, from Vasto, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. An organetto, a small button accordion common in southern Italian folk music, opens with a tarantella, a fast and joyful southern Italian dance tune. Before the first verse has ended, a dozen voices have joined. Some are strong. Some waver. All are unmistakably present.
Later, with the strumming of a guitar, the group…
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By Janne Torkkola, PhD Student, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University
A new study finds the incredible diversity of lizards in Australia relates to a major upheaval in the continent’s climate more than 20 million years ago.
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By Jen Webb, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Creative Practice, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra
The six books on this year’s Stella shortlist range widely, including graphic novels, poetry, novels and memoir. But they have one thing in common: excellence.
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By Noelia Calvo, Research Associate, Neuroscience, University of Toronto
Why do some people maintain good memories and have healthy brains even as they age?
Research that my colleagues and I recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, explored the effects and interactions of social, linguistic and endocrinological factors on cognitive health.
With Canada’s aging population, the question of brain health…
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By Jemma Geoghegan, Professor and Webster Family Chair in Viral Pathogenesis, University of Otago
Janelle Wierenga, Head of Wildlife Management and Research Fellow, University of Otago
Joseph Guhlin, Postdoctoral Researcher with Genomics Aotearoa, University of Otago
Peter Dearden, Professor and Director of Genomics Aotearoa, University of Otago
Researchers found the endangered yellow-eyed penguin is made up of three distinct subspecies, with the mainland lineage at greatest risk.
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By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Can a short multiple-choice test encourage new citizens to connect with a sense of national identity, or does it risk oversimplifying complex, contested ideas?
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