By Claudia Christowitz, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Stellenbosch University
Functional genomics, which is seeing how genetic variants behave in biological systems through genetic testing, is offering new hope for African cancer patients.
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By Adeline Morez Jacobs, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Padova (Italy); visiting lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University (UK), University of Padua
A group of scientists has sequenced the genome of a man who was buried in Egypt around 4,500 years ago. The study offers rare insight into the genetic ancestry of early Egyptians and reveals links to both ancient north Africa and Mesopotamia, which includes modern day Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran.
Egypt’s heat and terrain made it difficult for such studies to be conducted but lead researcher Adeline Morez Jacobs and team made a breakthrough. We spoke to her about the challenges…
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By Victoria Gibbon, Professor in Biological Anthropology, Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, University of Cape Town
Devin Alexander Finaughty, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand
Kara Adams, Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Cape Town
Cape Town has consistently been one of the metropolitan regions in South Africa with the highest murder rates. It has more than double the national average, and is currently ranked second overall and 16th worldwide. Many victims are discovered only after their bodies have decomposed, burned, or been exposed to the elements. That makes identification difficult and delays justice.
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By Tim Kenyon, Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Brock University
Donald Trump’s supporters perceive, perhaps for the first time, that they are now targets of his political bullshit about Jeffrey Epstein rather than amused witnesses to it. And they don’t like it
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By Amnesty International
Responding to a ruling by a US court that does not require Google to break up its search business as part of efforts to address its online search monopoly, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said: “Google is one of five big technology companies that have a collective hold over the online world, and […] The post USA: Court misses chance to rein in Google’s power appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image The Tajikistan flag. © 2022 Maksim Konstantinov, Sipa via AP Images (Berlin, September 3, 2025) – Tajikistan authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the deaths in custody of five ethnic Pamiri activists during 2025, Human Rights Watch said today.The deaths highlight grave concerns about the Tajik authorities’ treatment of ethnic Pamiris, a historically persecuted cultural, religious, and linguistic minority. All five men had been detained following the government’s violent crackdown on protests in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in May…
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By Katie Turlington, PhD Candidate, Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University
Scientists have long used sound to study wildlife. Bird calls, bat echolocation and whale songs, for example, have provided valuable insights for decades. But listening to entire ecosystems is a much newer frontier.
Listening to rivers is especially tricky. Beneath the water is a soundscape of clicks, pops and hums that most of us never hear. Many of these sounds are a mystery. What produces them – an insect? A fish? The water itself?
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By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney
The Australian economy picked up strength in the June quarter as consumers opened their wallets, boosted by interest rate cuts earlier in the year.
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% in the June quarter and 1.8% over the year — the strongest outcome in two years and above market and economists’ expectations.
Treasurer…
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By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
The Albanese government has announced 20,000 home care packages will be brought forward to be delivered before the end of October – immediately after opposing doing so in the Senate.
The Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers passed an amendment to aged care legislation moved by ACT independent David Pocock.
The vote went through without a division, but the government recorded its opposition.
The new Minister for Aged Care and Seniors, Sam Rae, had been under pressure in the House of Representatives this week over the huge waiting lists for packages, a position…
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By Nicola Henry, Professor, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, & Deputy Director, Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University
The Australian government has announced plans to ban “nudify” tools and hold tech platforms accountable for failing to prevent users from accessing them.
This is part of the government’s overall strategy to move towards a “digital duty of care” approach to online safety.…
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