Author: Editorial Board

Entrepreneurs Michelle Melbourne and Phillip Williamson are redefining the shape of modern philanthropy with a major new donation to the University. The couple, both ANU graduates, have given a gift in kind by donating high-technology software to help the University streamline its complex administration processes. The gift from their Canberra-based company Intelledox is worth more…

Language. It’s as adaptable as Darwin’s finches. It’d be interesting to know how the Internet changes the game. Seems like it would go a long way toward democratizing the process by which lingo gets mingled. Alex Gendler’s TED-Ed lesson, winningly animated by Igor Coric, rolls back the clock to a time when communal groups would…

A new study has revealed a weak spot in the complex life cycle of malaria, which could be exploited to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. It found female malaria parasites put on fat differently to male ones. “The study opens potential new ways to combat malaria,” said Associate Professor Alexander Maier, from the…

We’ve brought you a wealth of Haruki Murakami lately, and for good reason. Not only does the wildly popular Japanese novelist have a new novel out, he also has an upcoming novella, The Strange Library, a 96-page story about, well, a “strange trip to the library,” due from Knopf on December 2nd. Admirably prolific, writing…

More than 800 000 people die by suicide every year – around one person every 40 seconds, according to WHO’s first global report on suicide prevention, published today. Some 75% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries. Pesticide poisoning, hanging and firearms are among the most common methods of suicide globally. Evidence from Australia,…

Having owned an iPhone for all of one month, I’m still a bit leery of all it can purportedly do for me. Convenience is great, but I’m not sure I’m ready to cede control of all the little tasks, challenges, and puzzles my own imperfect brain has been handling more or less well for nearly…

The ANU will enhance its position as a leader in clean energy research after receiving $9 million in new funding for five major research and development projects. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced details of the research funding, designed to help make renewable energy more affordable and to boost the amount of clean…

Previously unrecognized health benefits could be realized from fast action to reduce climate change and its consequences. For example, changes in energy and transport policies could save millions of lives annually from diseases caused by high levels of air pollution. The right energy and transport policies could also reduce the burden of disease associated with…

Vice.com’s food channel, Munchies, spent time with Naomichi Yasuda and learned the dos and don’ts of eating sushi. And they kindly summarized some practices that are permitted and verboten. (1) It’s okay to use your fingers to eat cut sushi rolls. (2) Don’t combine ginger and sushi, or ginger and soy sauce. Ginger is a…

Astronaut Chris Hadfield has inspected projects to clean up space junk, and space engineering projects, at the University’s advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre at Mount Stromlo. Commander Hadfield shot to fame when a film clip of him singing David Bowie’s Space Oddity from the International Space Station went viral. Mount Stromlo is home to a…

Australia’s rare and precious rainforests, like the iconic Daintree, could have an unexpected aerial ally in the battle against weeds – autonomous helicopters. Two Project ResQu helicopters developed by CSIRO completed trial flights near Cairns, locating weeds like the dreaded ‘purple plague’, or Miconia calvescens, faster and more reliably than ever. Developed by robotics researchers…

In 2012, Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, two econ professors at George Mason University, launched Marginal Revolution University (otherwise known as MRUniversity) which delivers free, interactive courses in the economics space. During its early days, MRUniversity created courses on The Great Economists, Development Economics, International Trade, and The Economic History of the Soviet Union. And…

An ANU team has successfully replicated one of the crucial steps in photosynthesis, opening the way for biological systems powered by sunlight which could manufacture hydrogen as a fuel. “Water is abundant and so is sunlight. It is an exciting prospect to use them to create hydrogen, and do it cheaply and safely,” said Dr…

The chemistry of ridable explosions. In recounting the riveting experience of what it’s like to launch on a Space Shuttle, pioneering astronaut Sally Ride vividly recalled how “the shuttle leaps off the launch pad in a cloud of steam and a trail of fire.” But what produces this fiery magic? In this wonderful short explainer,…