Science + Technology – Views and Research – The Conversation

Two young women in a purple-lit bathroom using smartphones near a sink.

Two young women in a purple-lit bathroom using smartphones near a sink.

More than 80% of kids still using social media despite ban, new eSafety report finds

Sports venues are offering facial recognition to let people in. What are the risks?

A young woman with blue and white cat face paint smiling outside a stadium.

A young woman with blue and white cat face paint smiling outside a stadium.

Sam Altman says we’re ‘in the singularity’ with AI. Here’s why he’s wrong

Bright blue and purple lights, leading to a vanishing point.

Bright blue and purple lights, leading to a vanishing point.

A sideways view of Australia seen from space

A sideways view of Australia seen from space

Can pumping groundwater really flip Earth’s poles? An expert explains

A person using a smartphone under red neon light.

A person using a smartphone under red neon light.

Australia’s online watchdog is taking messaging app Telegram to court over ‘pro-terrorist’ posts

Meta-backed research finds exposure to ‘untrustworthy’ social media is rare. The fine print is less reassuring

A person scrolling on a social media feed.

A person scrolling on a social media feed.

‘Vibe coding’ is fun and easy, but there’s a major catch

A ginger cat inspects computer code on a screen.

A ginger cat inspects computer code on a screen.

Tiny crystals from a 17th-century shipwreck hold secrets of a global supply chain at the dawn of capitalism

A weathered timber ship hill in a museum, alongside a stone archway.

A weathered timber ship hill in a museum, alongside a stone archway.

What is a p-value? An expert explains the most misunderstood number in science

An illuminated bell curve

An illuminated bell curve

What two centuries of Perth storm records tell us about future climate risk

panumas nikhomkhai/Pexels

panumas nikhomkhai/Pexels

Want to break free from big tech? ‘Self-hosting’ could be the answer

An abandoned SpaceX rocket is about to crash into the Moon. The real problem comes next

A rocket launch

A rocket launch

Older people’s media literacy can be boosted in just 60 minutes – new study

An older woman in a fabulous outfit reads something on her purple smartphone.

An older woman in a fabulous outfit reads something on her purple smartphone.

Accepting free will doesn’t exist could make us less hateful and ashamed

A multicoloured wooden puppet

A multicoloured wooden puppet

AusAlert will deliver emergency warnings to all – but they must actually be accessible

A man in an akubra hat looks at a bushfire coming across the horizon.

A man in an akubra hat looks at a bushfire coming across the horizon.

Latest science and technology articles

Expert life advice

Can picking personal Lotto lines change the odds of winning? We ran the numbers

The 5 simple tweaks to make social media less addictive

A smartphone under construction.

A smartphone under construction.

Making a big, life-changing decision? 7 steps to consider

Odour-resistant and soft on the skin: the science of merino wool explained

A large sheep standing in a field under grey skies.

A large sheep standing in a field under grey skies.

More life hacks

New research

‘Like someone whacking a piñata’: orcas explode sunfish by ramming them at high speed

A large black and white orca swimming in blue water.

A large black and white orca swimming in blue water.

80-million-year-old snake fossil sheds light on why lizards lost their limbs and started slithering

A snake skeleton embedded in a brown rock.

A snake skeleton embedded in a brown rock.

Microscopic plant remains reveal 25,000 years of GunaiKurnai rituals deep in a Victorian cave

A man in a blue shirt and jeans standing at the entrance of a large rocky cave.

A man in a blue shirt and jeans standing at the entrance of a large rocky cave.

We attached cameras to whale sharks and captured krill chases never witnessed before

A very large spotted fish face on to the camera.

A very large spotted fish face on to the camera.

More new research

Future of Space

Tubes with donuts, wheat and corn pouring out into an astronaut's open helmet

Tubes with donuts, wheat and corn pouring out into an astronaut's open helmet

From pureed meals to fresh greens: how space food is advancing to keep astronauts healthy

13,000 tonnes of space junk clutters Earth orbit. Here’s how it could be cleaned up

A bin dropping junk and a vacuum cleaning it up in space

A bin dropping junk and a vacuum cleaning it up in space

From interplanetary spaceships to lunar reactors, our future in space looks nuclear-powered

A satellite with nuclear cooling towers and a nuclear hazard symbol

A satellite with nuclear cooling towers and a nuclear hazard symbol

The US and China are planning Moon bases. It could help improve life on Earth

An astronaut floats over the moon and points to a US flag on the surface

An astronaut floats over the moon and points to a US flag on the surface

Future of Space series

Artificial intelligence

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple CEO Tim Cook sitting next to each other at a table

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple CEO Tim Cook sitting next to each other at a table

AI companies are trying to escape the screen. Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI shows how hard it will be

OpenAI’s models autonomously hacked a tech startup. It signals a seismic shift in cybersecurity

China has cracked down on AI companions. What can we learn from this?

Two cute figurines sitting by a city roadside with vibrant light trails in the evening.

Two cute figurines sitting by a city roadside with vibrant light trails in the evening.

Australia just outlined more ‘AI safety’ priorities, but is the plan actually coherent?

Illustration of a person in a swirling colourful virtual space surrounded by screens.

Illustration of a person in a swirling colourful virtual space surrounded by screens.

New trial of AI-powered traffic lights will be a test for who gets priority on public roads

A set of traffic lights against a blue sky.

A set of traffic lights against a blue sky.

More on artificial intelligence

Explore the universe

There are already 16,000 satellites in Earth’s orbit. How will we manage the next 100,000?

A ‘direct wave’ from colliding black holes reveals signature of a whirlpool in spacetime

Artist's impression of a black hole

Artist's impression of a black hole

Could this asteroid be a piece of the Moon? A Chinese spacecraft is about to find out

What makes a star a star?

An illustration showing a brown dwarf as brown and red sphere floating in space

An illustration showing a brown dwarf as brown and red sphere floating in space

The universe is less uniform than we thought – cosmology may need a radical rethink

Distribution of cosmic matter based on DESI data.

Distribution of cosmic matter based on DESI data.

More on astronomy

Curious Kids

A light brown spider on water.

A light brown spider on water.

Curious Kids: can spiders swim?

Curious Kids: if our eyes see upside down, how does the brain flip the picture?

Daniel Joyce, University of Southern Queensland

A happy child hangs upside down on monkey bars.

A happy child hangs upside down on monkey bars.

Curious Kids: If you scoop a bucket of water out of the ocean, does it get lower?

Dylan Irvine, Charles Darwin University

A blue bucket and spade on a beach.

A blue bucket and spade on a beach.

Curious Kids: if heat rises, why does it get colder in the mountains?

James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Silhuette of Ama Dablam - a mountain in the eastern Himalaya

Silhuette of Ama Dablam - a mountain in the eastern Himalaya

Curious Kids: what was the biggest dinosaur that ever lived?

Nic Rawlence, University of Otago

Dinosaurs with a volcano in the background

Dinosaurs with a volcano in the background

More Curious Kids articles

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