By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Australians have become much more gloomy about the economy and increasingly worried about the irresponsible behaviour of the United States in the past year, according to the Lowy Institute’s 2026 poll.
The poll also shows a big decline in support for cultural diversity over the past two years, albeit from a very high level.
Almost six in ten people (59%) are pessimistic about Australia’s economic performance, a 12 point rise since 2025. This is the highest level ever recorded by the poll, which commenced in 2005, much higher than even during COVID or the global Financial…
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By Amanda Lloyd, Researcher in Food, Diet and Health, Aberystwyth University
Alexander Nigel William Taylor, Lecturer in Biopsychology Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University
Alina Warren-Walker, Food Interventions and Clinical Trial Cohort Assistant, Wellbeing and Health Assessment Research Unit, Department of Life Sciences, Aberystwyth University
Many of us would like to keep our brains sharp as we get older. That has helped create a growing market for “brain-health” supplements. These include fish-oil capsules and postbiotics, the beneficial, non-living compounds and byproducts produced by “good” gut bacteria (probiotics) when they digest dietary fibre or prebiotics.
But assessing these products is complicated.
A study found that omega-3 supplement…
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By Jack McNamara, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology, University of East London
People who did around 90 to 120 minutes of strength training each week have a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause.
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By Thomas Allen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University
The men’s football World Cup presents a unique global opportunity to showcase new football technology – from boots and balls to digital systems designed to enhance both officiating accuracy and fan engagement.
The process of bringing these technologies to the game often begins in universities and other research institutions. The academic journal Sports Engineering, of which I am editor-in-chief, publishes peer-reviewed studies that…
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By Nima Shokri, Executive Co-Director, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg
Amir AghaKouchak, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine
The Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on Earth, is shrinking. Not fluctuating, not entering another natural cycle, but shrinking.
For decades, scientists and policymakers treated changes in the Caspian as part of the basin’s natural variability. Water levels in the sea have always risen and fallen.
But our new study shows something far more troubling: the current decline is increasingly…
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By Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University
A ten-year anniversary is a good opportunity to look back on an important decision. Whether that was a marriage, a career move or a decision to leave the EU, a decade feels like an important moment for reflection.
When the UK voted (narrowly) for Brexit on June 23 2016, nobody really knew what would happen next. After all, it had never been done before.
So, what versions of leaving the EU were available at that time?
One option was for the UK to leave the EU but remain in the single…
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By Jane Younger, Senior Lecturer in Southern Ocean Vertebrate Ecology, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
On a remote beach near Esperance, Western Australia, two sick seabirds have brought the bird flu crisis to Australia.
Testing has confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in a brown skua and a giant petrel. Both are species of seabirds commonly found in the Southern Ocean.
H5N1…
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By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC L3 Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
Pan Zhang, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
The outbreak isn’t widespread, so the risk to humans is low. But it does have the potential to cause severe illness.
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By Amnesty International
“I made my first visit to prisoners when I was 12, as a Catholic boy scout. It was a very formative experience for the young boy I was. I couldn’t understand how people could be put in those terrible conditions, no matter what they had done. So, when I started playing music as a teenager, […] The post “Until the day I die, I will fight for freedom of expression”: Meet Kajeem, the Ivorian reggae-man who celebrates human rights appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Amnesty International
Burkina Faso’s authorities should urgently account for the journalist Atiana Serge Oulon, who was forcibly disappeared by state security forces two years ago, and release him immediately, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Observatoire Kisal, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership between the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the World […] The post Burkina Faso: Prominent Journalist Serge Oulon Forcibly Disappeared 2 Years On appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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