A vaccine will be a game-changer for international travel. But it's not everything
Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South Australia
ShutterstockThe United Kingdom yesterday became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use. Following a review by the country’s drug regulator, the UK government announced it will begin rolling out the vaccine next week.Other countries are likely to fo...
Researchers, librarians, filmmakers and teachers are eager for the copyright reforms the government has promised
Kylie Pappalardo, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology
Ea Maples/Unsplash, CC BYIn August, the communications minister announced a series of changes to copyright laws to “better support the needs of Australians and public institutions to access material in an increasingly digital environment”. These changes are long overdue. But the year is ...
the singlet — a short history of an Australian icon
Lorinda Cramer, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Australian Catholic University
'Shearing sheep, Barcaldine District', 1948Queensland State Archives, Item ID ITM1154347There’s no denying the popularity of the singlet. The Chesty Bond, Australia’s best known singlet, has notched up more than 350 million sales. At last year’s Deniliquin Ute Muster, more than 3,9...
From 'arse-ropes' to 'flying venom', a history of how we have come to talk about viruses and medicine
Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University
Wes Mountain/The Conversation, CC BY-NDSymptom, virus, epidemic, quarantine.We’ve become used to these terms in 2020. But the “COVID-19 vocabulary” might have been very different had it not been for a few twists and turns in English history. If history had gone differently, for ins...
China plays reverse 'poke the bear'
Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
In the moment, Scott Morrison’s angry denunciation of the offensive Chinese tweet about alleged Australian war crimes seemed a reasonable response.In retrospect, it was probably ill-judged. This is so even though the response had bipartisan support.The Chinese immediately knew they’d tou...
Should Australians be worried about waiting for a COVID vaccine when the UK has just approved Pfizer's?
Joel Lexchin, Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, York University, Emergency Physician at University Health Network, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
ShutterstockThe news that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has gained emergency approval in the United Kingdom and may be distributed to selected high-risk groups as early as next week is welcome.Headlines also suggest people in the United States and some other European countries could start being va...
Climate change is resulting in profound, immediate and worsening health impacts, over 120 researchers say
Celia McMichael, Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of Melbourne
ShutterstockClimate change is resulting in profound, immediate and worsening health impacts, and no country is immune, a major new report from more than 120 researchers has declared. This year’s annual report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, released today, presents the la...
6 unis had Hindi programs. Soon there could be only 1, and that's not in Australia's best interests
La Trobe University is in talks to discontinue its Hindi program, along with Greek and Indonesian. In the mid-1990s, six Australian universities taught Hindi. If La Trob…
Thomas Banks’ Quest for Love tackles life as a gay man with disability
Thomas Banks' Quest for LoveReview: Thomas Banks’ Quest for Love, directed by Pip KellyIn Thomas Banks’ Quest for Love, Banks — a writer and comedian w…
Why can politicians so easily dodge accountability for their mistakes? The troubling answer: because they can
Damian Shaw/AAPIn recent days, the issue of government accountability was brought into sharp focus — again — when NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian admitted tha…
Feeling sore after exercise? Here's what science suggests helps (and what doesn't)
ShutterstockHave you been hitting the gym again with COVID restrictions easing? Or getting back into running, cycling, or playing team sports?As many of you might’…
Eliminating most homelessness is achievable. It starts with prevention and 'housing first'
The stereotype of a homeless person – those living in tents or sleeping in parks or doorways – is just the visible tip of the much larger crisis of homelessn…
ancient deep sea monsters called radiodonts had incredible vision that likely drove an evolutionary arms race
The radiodont _Anomalocaris_, with its large stalked eyes, is considered a top predator that swam in the oceans more than 500 million years ago.Katrina Kenny, Author pro…
Why Australian cities need post-COVID vision, not free parking
Brent Toderian/TwitterMany Australian cities have fallen back on offering free car parking to attract visitors back to the CBD after the pandemic. In contrast, cities ar…
