Why are there so many plants? New research reveals two key phases in Earth’s past
Extreme greenhouse events in the past killed many plants – but also gave rise to new ones.
The Conversation – Articles (AU)
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Senate throws out budget plan to remove health insurance top up for older people
The Senate has rejected the government’s controversial budget measure to cut the private health insurance rebate for people 65 and older.
View from The Hill: everyone is on the lookout for Albanese-Chalmers tension
The ins and outs of the Albanese-Chalmers relationship is in the wider context of the positioning for the succession.
DemosAU MRP poll has Labor winning clear majority of House seats on just 27% of primary vote
A new batch of polls bring better news for the Albanese Labor government, with support for One Nation seeming to have eased off.
How the ‘digital duty of care’ bill could undermine vital sex and drug education online
Safety messages about drugs and sex are already routinely misidentified and removed from social media platforms. The proposed bill would take this further.
Domestic violence is a national crisis in PNG. The Chiefs NRL team must do more to support women
PNG is grappling with despicable rates of gender-based violence. Why isn’t a women’s team part of the Australian government’s $600m NRL deal?
Loops, flashbacks and fractured narratives: why filmmakers love to play with time
Cinema, almost from its infancy, has been drawn to telling stories out of sequence – and forcing audiences to reassemble what they have just seen.
By making protests conditional on state approval, governments are eroding our democracy
A new report maps how protest permit systems work in every state and territory. The result is a tangle of laws, council by-laws and complicated rules.
Renters and home buyers are seeing AI-‘enhanced’ property photos. Now NSW is changing the rules
Renters and homebuyers have been turning up to properties to find a very different reality from the ads. There’s even a name for it: ‘housefishing’.
The Conversation – Articles (AU)
Paul Harrison, Director, Master of Business Administration Program (MBA) Real Estate EN 
Manifesto of Silences reimagines opera from a Deaf perspective, as a space to process trauma communally
The Deaf-led theatrical work explores the tragic consequences of the Milan Conference of 1880, which resulted in the suppression of sign language around the world.
The Conversation – Articles (AU)
Samuel Martin, Researcher, Sign on Screen Project, Australian National University Science EN 
Our detection dogs are helping protect one of Australia’s most imperiled lizards
Highly trained canines, Sugar and Moss, are helping protect the critically endangered Victorian grassland earless dragon.
Voters want stronger action on AI. Can NZ afford to keep taking a soft approach?
As AI and its impacts become harder to avoid, other countries are setting rules for its use. New Zealand has some catching up to do.
Spawning coral release quintillions of eggs each year: new research
The first estimate of coral egg numbers across the Indo-Pacific shows which species can help rebuild devastated reefs.
What is the Socratic method? Could it be used to test students in an age of AI?
Plato’s dialogues show that learning takes place through the to-and-fro of reflective thought – much of learning is finding out what we don’t know.
How young people do democracy: pausing, questioning, creating and bringing others along with them
The second annual Shopfront Youth-Led Conference was designed by young people for young people. They wanted to talk about ‘redesigning success’.
When parents don’t see eye to eye: are differences in parenting styles a bad thing?
When parents have different approaches to raising children, who’s right? Research suggests the answer matters less than how they handle their disagreements.
Introduced species aren’t good or bad. But when they slip from our control, we are quick to condemn them
Pigs, camels, rabbits and many others were brought to Australia deliberately as valuable species. But we see them very differently once they become free-roaming.
Mental disorders are twice as common among victim-survivors of intimate partner violence
Yet victim-survivors often don’t or can’t access mental health care.
Who’s paying whom? The circular money machine behind the AI boom (or bubble)
What’s not clear is how much of this AI boom is being driven by real, end-user demand — and how much might be a bubble.
NZ’s health system suffers from chronic ailments only cross-party consensus can treat
Voters should look for long-term health policies that address workforce shortages, improve access to primary and specialist care, and include early intervention.
Extreme El Niños are coming. Reaching net zero sooner means facing fewer of them
The El Niño climate pattern has long influenced weather across the globe.
Jim Chalmers warns progressives not to ‘mock’ One Nation voters
By directly acknowledging the seriousness of One Nation’s support, Chalmers is underscoring that the party is a threat to Labor, not just to the Coalition.
The Pacific Islands are changing. What happens to cultural heritage when the people have to leave?
As sea levels rise, Tuvalu is creating opportunities for its people to migrate to Australia. But the places left behind are still full of cultural history.
Just politics or the ‘opposite of clever’? The risks and rewards of strategic voting
Vote splitting and parliamentary overhangs are not unheard of in New Zealand elections. But making them a deliberate campaign tactic is different.
From Melbourne to Madrid, housing is shaping modern politics. But who benefits?
Housing crises across advanced economies are reshaping political loyalties, but which parties reap the rewards is hard to predict.
Doing end-of-year exams? 5 foods that are good for brain health – and what to avoid
Your muscles need fuel during exercise, and during sustained mental effort your brain needs energy, too. What you eat, and when, can affect how you feel and perform.
Should you watch a tiger mauling a man – or a live-streamed execution? We asked an ethicist
We should pause and think about what we would want if our death was being filmed and our dignity or privacy were at stake.
The Conversation – Articles (AU)
Jacqueline Boaks, Philosopher, Curtin Centre for Applied Ethics, Curtin University EN 
We can’t block a livestream, but Australia could ban execution footage from the US – to an extent
No country is an island when it comes to potentially harmful content online.
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Josh Frydenberg plans to keep speaking out
The former treasurer and deputy Liberal leader said he’s still deciding whether to make a political comeback, which he’ll announce in the new year.
Only structural change will fix NZ’s glaring health equity gap – what voters should know
Māori and Pacific people carry a disproportionate burden of preventable disease. Concerned voters should look beyond parties’ headline pledges on health.
Possessed nuns and sexual deviance: the history behind Ken Russell’s highly-censored film The Devils
The 1971 film is soon to be re-released as a full director’s cut – its controversial lost scenes finally revealed.
Your say: week beginning October 12
On the reality of tackling climate change, plus teacher and student wellbeing: an edited selection of your views.
Reading alone, together is all the rage at book doofs and reading parties. What makes it social?
Silent reading events don’t ask readers to choose between solitude and connection. They offer both.
How does a honeybee stinger actually pump venom? First-ever video shows it in action
The stinger is effectively a fully autonomous micro-pump, but it works in an unusual way.
Deadly fungi are harming Australia’s wild reptiles. This is how to stop the spread
People who love Australia’s reptiles could unwittingly carry deadly fungal diseases from one animal to another. But this is easy to prevent.
Over 40 years ago, a mystery vigilante released a fungus to control blackberry in Australia. But why?
Blackberries have long been a problem for Australian farmers and bushwalkers. But who would have illegally released a fungus as a biological control?
3 things we need to get right ahead of extreme bushfire risk this summer
Prevention is only part of the picture. Australia needs a better plan for housing those displaced by disaster and supporting them on the long journey to recovery.
Cannabis hospitalisations up 49% in a decade, new study shows
More people are ending up in hospital after using cannabis than a decade ago, and psychosis rates are rising. Here’s what can explain the rise.
Just 6 in 100 Australian truckies are women. Here’s what would get more behind the wheel
A new report finds the trucking industry urgently needs tens of thousands more drivers – yet it hasn’t built the conditions for women to safely stay.
The Conversation – Articles (AU)
Vindhya Weeratunga, Lecturer, UNSW Canberra School of Business, UNSW EN 
A global report gives NZ tertiary education a pass – but hides another side of the story
New Zealand’s tertiary figures look healthy on paper. But they lean heavily on migrants’ qualifications, while fewer young people raised here go on to study.
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