By Sally Larsen, Senior Lecturer in Education, University of New England
National NAPLAN results for 2026 are released today. This is the test of Australian students’ literacy and numeracy skills in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (which runs the test) has pointed to a “concerning” drop in Year 3 numeracy. It has hailed “signs of improvement” for other year levels in maths. It also reports that average reading scores in Years 5, 7 and 9 are lower than in 2025.
But the most remarkable takeaway from this year’s NAPLAN? None of…
(Full Story)
|
By Mirella Atherton, Lecturer in Law, University of Newcastle
Julia Cook, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Newcastle
When money is coming from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, a recent study found parents and adult children can have very different assumptions – which they rarely discuss.
(Full Story)
|
By Jemma Briscoe, Adjunct Lecturer in Finance, University of Technology Sydney
Accessing care often means long wait lists, complex forms and significant out-of-pocket costs. So start planning early, before a crisis hits.
(Full Story)
|
By Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology, Flinders University
Julien Kimmig, Head of Palaeontology Division at the Natural History Museum Karlsruhe
As all children learn, everyone poos. But when did this begin?
And what evolutionary and environmental changes accompanied the dawn of dung? Going further, is the evolution of excrement the reason we exist?
Our new research suggests the evolution of fecal matter helped fuel one of the most important events in the history of life on Earth: the Cambrian explosion.
And poo really might be the reason animals were such…
(Full Story)
|
By Susan Kerrigan, Professor Film and Television, Swinburne University of Technology
In one scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller Vertigo, lead character John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) is shown following Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) up a bell tower.
Scottie is afraid of heights. So when he briefly stops and glances down, he experiences a wave of vertigo. The stairwell distorts, seemingly stretching into the distance below him – a potent reflection of his dizzy and panicked state.
This scene is the first ever example of the “dolly zoom”, a dynamic visual technique achieved through camera movement and a zoom lens.
Also known as…
(Full Story)
|
By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image People demonstrate against proposed changes to the US Postal Service and President Donald Trump's executive order regarding mail-in ballots, Miami, Florida, July 28, 2026. © 2026 Marta Lavandier/AP Photo A coalition of voting rights organizations renewed a motion for preliminary injunction on July 20 in Massachusetts to prevent the United States Postal Service (USPS) from implementing parts of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14399.The renewed motion is part of litigation challenging the order’s legality.The order purports to combat election fraud by directing…
(Full Story)
|
By Amnesty International
Twenty years after 17 aid workers from the French humanitarian association Action contre la Faim (ACF) were killed in Muttur, eastern Sri Lanka, the authorities must finally deliver truth, justice and reparations, Amnesty International said today. On 4 August 2006, 17 Sri Lankan employees of ACF – 16 Tamils and one Muslim – were found shot dead at close range at the […] The post Sri Lanka: Justice for ACF massacre cannot wait after two decades of impunity appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
(Full Story)
|
By Antonio Martín, Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón IiSGM ; Universidad Nebrija
Today, neuroscience treats consciousness as a process that is confined to the brain, as something that makes us aware of information that would otherwise be unconscious. This view is underpinned by an assumption: that consciousness is a self-contained and self-governing mechanism, a hidden entity waiting to be located and explained.
My own research initially followed this line of thought, treating consciousness as a cognitive program created by particular…
(Full Story)
|
By Vitor Lima, Associate Professor of Marketing, ESCP Business School
Russell Belk, Professor, York University, Canada
Two researchers navigate the mind-boggling and often sinister, parallel universe that is known as the digital afterlife industry and chatbots specifically designed to help people grieve.
(Full Story)
|
By Robyn Klingler-Vidra, Vice Dean, Global Engagement | Associate Professor in Political Economy and Entrepreneurship, King's College London
The global AI race is usually portrayed as a contest between the US and China. But another story is unfolding across east Asia, where countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam are looking to command key parts of the AI value chain.
Here, sovereignty is the desired outcome. These governments are trying to secure enough control over critical AI capabilities such as chipmaking, computing infrastructure and physical AI applications like robotics to avoid becoming rule-takers in…
(Full Story)
|