By Kirsty Forsdike, Principal Research Fellow and Associate Professor, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University
Catherine Ordway, Visiting Scholar, School of Business, CBR, UNSW
The Australian Football League (AFL) and the Sydney Swans are confronting a question Australian sport has repeatedly failed to answer clearly: what should happen when players are linked to police investigations of alleged sexual violence, but the criminal process is incomplete – or inconclusive?
Yesterday, it…
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By Janine Krippner, Honorary Research Associate in Volcanology/Mātai Puia, University of Waikato
Heather Handley, Senior Curator of Geosciences, Museums Victoria Research Institute; Monash University
Erupting or silent, volcanoes have always captured our imagination.
As volcanologists, we have seen how that fascination can collide with rolling news coverage and social media, amplifying false claims, misleading images and long-standing misconceptions about how volcanoes behave. We want to help.
Much more than simply getting the science wrong, misinformation can distort people’s perceptions of hazards and risk and influence how they respond to an eruption.
With this in mind, we sought to better understand which misconceptions about volcanoes are most common…
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By Jongkil Jay Jeong, Senior fellow, The University of Melbourne; RMIT University; Deakin University
Imagine your team has been tasked to deliver a high-stakes policy paper under intense time pressure. Everyone turns to generative artificial intelligence (AI) and within minutes, it delivers a full draft complete with structured arguments and authoritative-looking citations.
The team then transfers the AI-generated text into the corporate template, polishes the narrative flow and structure, and gives it one final check before sending it up the chain. Leadership takes a glimpse of the polished-looking draft, and – assuming the underlying research has already been verified – signs off…
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By Larissa Christensen, Co-leader, Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit (SVRPU), Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Justice, University of the Sunshine Coast
Bricklyn Priebe, Associate Lecturer in Criminology and Justice; Core Member, Sexual Violence Research and Prevention Unit, University of the Sunshine Coast
For many parents, keeping their children safe online is a top priority. But now there’s an emerging threat: “com networks”.
Com networks (short for community networks) are online groups that mostly target vulnerable young people in the online spaces they use every day, including gaming platforms and social media.
Through threats, they convince young people to harm themselves and others.
Perpetrators are
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By Kate Poole, Associate Professor in Physiology, UNSW
Felix Aplin, Lecturer, Department of Physiology and Translational Neuroscience Facility, School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW
It’s a cold winter afternoon and you’ve just brought the washing in. Suddenly, you pause. Are these clothes a bit damp?
In the laundry basket, your hand can clearly distinguish the textures of silky shirts, woollen jumpers, cotton bed sheets. So why is it so hard to tell whether the washing is cold and damp, or just cold?
A sensible guess might be that our hands are numb from the cold, making it harder to detect wetness. The less intuitive reality is that we humans completely lack any specialised sensors that respond to “wetness” in the first place.
That’s…
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By Jessica Tout-Lyon, Lecturer and researcher in marine molecular and microbial ecology, Charles Sturt University
Ordered kingfish sashimi recently? A parasite can infect some fish, yet they still look and taste the same when raw.
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By Ruipeng Liu, Senior Lecturer in finance, Deakin University
Microfinance was once celebrated as Asia’s tool to lift people out of poverty. From Bangladesh to India, Cambodia and the Philippines, the promise was simple: provide small loans to low-income households, help them start businesses, increase income and escape poverty.
Pioneered in…
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By Human Rights Watch
(Washington, DC) – The United States government on August 18, 2026, designated two additional International Criminal Court (ICC) officials for sanctions under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. Those sanctioned are Tomoko Akane, from Japan, the president of the ICC, and Abdoulaye Seye, from Senegal, an ICC senior trial lawyer.On August 11, Human Rights Watch, together with the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Open Society Institute, filed a lawsuit in US federal court challenging…
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By Sibo Chen, Associate Professor, School of Professional Communication, Toronto Metropolitan University
Beyond technical fluency, Canadian students need judgment to decide how to use AI and when it should not be used at all.
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By Dominic O'Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Stout Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology, Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University
If the Opportunity Party holds the balance of power after the election, its ‘honouring te Tiriti’ policy could be a deal maker – or breaker.
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