In any terrorist attack by Muslim extremists perpetrated in the name of Islam – such as the recent Charlie Hebdo atrocity – discussions about the Prophet Muhammad, his life and his teachings come to the…
The Queensland government says the state’s economy is powering ahead – but while job creation has been a positive, new analysis reveals some surprising economic trends.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Judging from the first week of campaigning, the 2015 Queensland election is going to be very much about economics – and jobs in particular. On the one hand, Premier Campbell Newman and his Liberal National…
Developing the creativity habit requires more than just good intentions.
Navy Hale Keiki School/Flickr
A long-term trend of declining creativity test scores has renewed interest in mechanisms to stimulate and foster the development of creativity – at home, in schools, universities and workplaces. At the…
The best way to keep your hand off the snooze button is to have a regular sleep schedule every day of the week.
Bethan/Flickr
It’s 6.30am and after a long holiday break, your alarm clock is insistently telling you it’s time to get out of bed. For many people – me included – the automatic reaction is to hit the snooze button…
They way we relate to other people shapes our moral life – and that’s something that requires imagination.
David Galindo/Flickr
Creativity and imagination - it’s impossible to discuss one without reference to the other - are often discussed with regard to the great artists, thinkers, and visionaries of our world. Those are the…
Energy supply including nuclear is the best way to fight climate change and conserve wildlife and ecosystems.
James Marvin Phelps/Flickr
Should nuclear energy be part of Australia’s (and many other countries’) future energy mix? We think so, particularly as part of a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent dangerous climate…
The earliest sources only reference the clearly fictional ‘Christ of Faith’.
Charles Roffey/Flickr
Did a man called Jesus of Nazareth walk the earth? Discussions over whether the figure known as the “Historical Jesus” actually existed primarily reflect disagreements among atheists. Believers, who uphold…
Christopher Pyne argues that the government is on the side of history in reforming higher education, but it is a bad history that he evokes.
AAP/Lukas Coch
After the defeat of the Abbott government’s higher education bills in the Senate, Education Minister Christopher Pyne invoked the legacy of past “reforms” that had been violently contested at the time…
What do school students bring to their understanding of Mohsin Hamid’s post-9/11 novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid’s 2007 novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist has been on the VCE text list for four years in a row. For me, it has been an eye-opener to teach this novel to secondary school…
Take note: how does a typing on a laptop stack up to handwriting?
Ed Yourdon/Flickr
Two people walk into a seminar: one takes photos, video and an audio recording of the presentation, while the other takes hand-written notes. Which person do you think will better recall the information…
If Australia’s to have nuclear power, there’ll have to be policies to support it.
flokru/Flickr
No sooner had foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop announced that Australia should take a fresh look at nuclear power than Prime Minister Tony Abbott responded that nuclear power would only be supported…
Policing toothfish is not as straightforward as Sea Shepherd would like it to be.
AAP Image/Australian Customs
This morning, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessels leave port to pursue a new campaign in the Southern Ocean — but this time, it’s not all about whales. Operation Icefish will target vessels fishing…
How prevalent is the use of lethal force by police in Australia, and is a disturbing trend developing in Queensland?
AAP/Dave Hunt
Over the weekend, Queensland police shot and killed a 51-year-old man who was allegedly armed with a knife. On Monday night, another man was shot and killed on the Gold Coast. It was the sixth Queensland…
The First Contact cast members’ transformation over the series is an optical illusion of Australian race relations.
SBS
The SBS/Blackfella Films production First Contact – that takes six non-Indigenous people and immerses them into Aboriginal Australia for the first time – captured the nation’s attention this week amassing…
The podcast Serial investigates the murder of 18-year-old American student Hae Min Lee 15 years ago.
LukaTDB/Shutterstock
Can you recall what you were doing last Wednesday between 2.15pm and 2.36pm? Where were you? What did you see? Who did you talk to? How well do you remember those 21 minutes? Now try to recall Wednesday…
Look beyond tinfoil hats – the most dangerous pseudoscience comes from scientists.
B Rosen/Flickr
Scientists should study pseudoscience – see what the pseudoscientists are up to and perhaps (for a laugh) try a few pseudostudies themselves. Critically, scientists must learn what really distinguishes…
Leaving distressed babies to cry without comforting them may compromise their psychological development.
Pedro Klien/Flickr
Controlled crying has been hotly debated since it was first recommended in a 1985 book about infant sleep problems. It involves letting a baby cry itself to sleep without any interaction once it has been…
In matters of ‘security’ social problems, the persistent undesirable condition has been that of the ‘boat people’.
AAP/Scott Fisher
In matters of national security, who is deviant and poses a threat to our safety depends on the claims made by those in positions of power and the sociopolitical climate. The news media are crucial in…
Terminal cancer patient Peter Short gives evidence on voluntary euthanasia to the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, which tabled its report on Monday.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
A Senate inquiry into legalising voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill people has recommended a conscience vote on the proposed bill after technical matters, such as what constitutes a “terminal illness…
Is one of President Obama’s SS agents a shape-shifting alien humanoid?
katiew
While it’s tempting to dismiss conspiracy theorists as nothing more than a loopy minority, on a growing range of contemporary issues they in fact make up a loud and vocal majority. Consider the nearly…