By Ivan Kassal, Professor of Chemical Physics, University of Sydney
Tingrei Tan, Research Fellow, Quantum Control Laboratory, University of Sydney
When a molecule absorbs light, it undergoes a whirlwind of quantum-mechanical transformations. Electrons jump between energy levels, atoms vibrate, and chemical bonds shift — all within millionths of a billionth of a second.
These processes underpin everything from photosynthesis in plants and DNA damage from sunlight, to the operation of solar cells and light-powered cancer therapies.
Yet despite their importance, chemical processes driven by light are difficult to simulate accurately. Traditional computers struggle, because it takes vast computational power to simulate…
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By Amali Cooray, PhD Candidate in Genetic Engineering and Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
John (Eddie) La Marca, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Biotech startup Haemanthus says it can detect illnesses with tiny amounts of blood, urine and saliva. Here’s why that’s more difficult than it sounds.
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A demonstration against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu by members of the Turkish diaspora in the Place du Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament on March 19, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. © 2025 Thierry Monasse/Getty Images (Brussels, May 16, 2025) - The jailing by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government of a key political opponent is a blatant repudiation of the rights to political association and participation, 58 rights, media, and legal groups, including Human Rights Watch, said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image Relatives of people who disappeared during or after the civil war protest in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, November 15, 2013. © 2013 Doreen Fiedler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Photo This Sunday, May 18, marks 16 years since the Sri Lankan government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending an armed conflict that had raged for 26 years. But while the fighting has long been over, the battle for justice for Tamil women victims continues.Both sides in the conflict committed countless atrocities. Among the victims were female LTTE fighters and other Tamil women captured…
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By Amnesty International
Content warning: This blog includes descriptions of violence against LGBTI people. We are publishing these details to bear witness to survivors’ experiences. Thailand and Taiwan are hailed as champions of the rights of LGBTI people in Asia, as the only two places in the region to legalize same-sex marriage. However, rights won at the registry […] The post Why does digital violence against LGBTI people in Thailand and Taiwan continue even after marriage equality? appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Mireille Rebeiz, Chair of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Francophone and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Dickinson College
A shaky truce is still in place in Lebanon. But the country remains on a tenuous footing with Israeli forces in the country’s south and Hezbollah refusing to lay down arms.
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By Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Historian, Australian Catholic University
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese steps into St Peter’s Square for the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, the optics will be far more than pious courtesy.
For a day, the Vatican will temporarily be the world’s premier diplomatic stage. And a canny Australian leader can use such an occasion to advance domestic and foreign policy agendas simultaneously.
Faith optics and domestic politics
Albanese has lately spoken of “
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By Niusha Shafiabady, Associate Professor in Computational Intelligence, Australian Catholic University
This week, on his tour of the Middle East, United States President Donald Trump unveiled a suite of new deals with Saudi Arabia.
Trump claimed the deals were worth more than US$1 trillion (A$1.5 trillion). This is likely an overestimate. What’s less murky is that many of these…
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By Cristyn Davies, Senior Research Fellow in the Specialty of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
Blake Cavve, Senior Research Officer, Youth Mental Health, The Kids Research Institute Australia
Ken Pang, Group Leader, Transgender Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Michele O'Connell, Paediatric Endocrinologist, Royal Children's Hospital; Honorary Fellow Manager, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Rachel Skinner, Professor in Paediatrics, University of Sydney
For some trans and gender diverse adolescents, physical changes in puberty can be distressing and lead to a sense of disconnection from their true sense of self.
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By Amy Nethery, Associate professor of politics and policy, Deakin University
Peter Ferguson, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, Deakin University
Zim Nwokora, Senior Lecturer in Politics and Policy, Deakin University
More than a dozen mps have been denied farewell speeches, which would have helped them draw a line under their parliamentary careers and adapt to life post-politics
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