The Science desk
Discoveries, the arts and long reads worth your time.
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MTC will also stage a local production of Broadway hit John Proctor is the Villain, as well as plays starring Rachel Griffiths, Kate Mulvany and Sigrid Thornton Melbourne has snagged the highly anticipated Australian premiere of David Adjmi’s 70s rock drama Stereophonic, which…
After the writer was stabbed in a horrific attack, his wife started making a video diary of his recovery. The clips are featured in a new film from Alex Gibney, who drew on Dennis Potter to create a powerful portrait of Rushdie’s tumultuous life Eliza Griffiths was at home in…
This Guy-Ritchie-directed gangland drama is deathly dull. It’s a charm-free watch with awful characters and humour so genital-based that at one point Helen Mirren yells a penis joke at a sausage MobLand. It sounds like a regional nightclub. Or a boyband. But it’s not. It’s a…
This can only end well. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Educator talks of ‘moral obligation’ and urges ‘every wealthy white celebrity’ to make similar donation YouTube star Ms Rachel has said she is matching rapper Macklemore’s $1m donation to organizations supporting Palestinians, calling on other public figures to follow suit.…
One step closer. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Could it be their lifestyle? ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
In latest extracts from upcoming memoir, Diana’s brother suggests some in Buckingham Palace were ‘relieved’ at her death The brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has claimed in published extracts of his new memoir that King Charles sounded “giddily elated – like a…
Let sleeping faults lie. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Ireland joins joins Dutch broadcaster in refusing to take part in 2027 song contest, in second consecutive year of protests Ireland is to boycott Eurovision for the second year running over the “appalling” ongoing killing in Gaza, the national broadcaster has said. Ireland was…
Jonathan Halliwell explains how quantum decoherence is key to understanding how we transition from a world with a wave-like nature of matter and energy to the classical macroscopic world that we’re used to. The post Where Does the Quantum World End and Ours Begin? first appeared…
After two years shunning the Brisbane portrait prize, several artists are entering again, with some First Nations painters counting on another AI – ‘ancestral integrity’ – to help them win Poised above the lady in the red dress is a claw. Its metallic fingers grasp to pluck its…
From soaring ballads to a song that belongs on every road-trip playlist, these are the tracks that underscore why ‘the Voice’ is a national treasure In the lead-up to a sold-out tribute concert in celebration of the British-born Australian singer’s music, which is being…
Look around you. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
The genre-fluid singer answers your questions on being funky v lonesome, his infamous MTV interview with Thurston Moore and why he said yes to performing with a chain-smoking alcoholic robot • Read Alexis Petridis’s 5* review of new album Ride Lonesome You’ve been performing…
Another quantum step forward. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
It's reached a "critical threshold". ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
It’s all very 2026: with a stadium owner on one side and angry support acts on the other, the cornered star will have to pick a side Ed Sheeran, seeking to stay out of politics, has become, in this moment, the most political artist in the world. And in trying to leave himself…
Could it change how you feel without a single sip? ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Probing the biology, beauty and mystery of animal eyes, this short poetic documentary explores an alien world - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
A toxic legacy. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
The computist has one dream: to debug the subjectivity out of all of human knowledge, creating a pure, frictionless world - by Liam Spradlin Read on Aeon
Something to consider. ScienceAlert stories are written, fact-checked, and edited by humans, never generated by AI. Don't miss a story, subscribe here.
Israeli prime minister to pursue new laws as directors of Guardian-produced film face threats from far-right officials and activists ‘They know the house they are bombing is full of children’: NAZA’s directors on their devastating film about Israeli intelligence Benjamin…
Comb jellies are helping answer fundamental questions in biology, from how the earliest nervous systems evolved to how bioluminescence works. The post Ctenophores Aren’t Just Beautiful. They’re Biological Wonders. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
From ancient Roman frescoes to modern kitchen benchtops, our desire to recreate marble is about more than cutting costs - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Homecomings, fantasies, food and ghosts – how the myth of eternal return keeps the Italian diaspora in a state of longing - by Ben Faccini Read on Aeon
The James Webb Space Telescope spots mysterious “little red dots” everywhere. A bold new theory suggests they’re suns dozens of times larger than our entire solar system. The post Black Holes or Black Hole Stars? Astronomers Spar Over Webb Telescope’s ‘Little Red Dots.’ first…
Decades after seeing ‘Platoon’, Kevin recalls how the film stirred generational trauma in his family and racism at school - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
It’s not just screen time: the problem with children’s media is that it has become relentlessly hectic, loud and bright - by Natalia Kucirkova Read on Aeon
The mystery of the flipping foraminifera may conceal a rarely observed evolutionary process playing out across the planet. The post Why Do These Fossil Shells Flip Their Spirals Every Few Millennia? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The fathers of Islamic science hold lessons for students: breadth over specialisation, and never let constraints get in the way - by Mariam Sabri Read on Aeon
By revisiting the famous problem — which was controversially solved in the 1970s with the help of computers — mathematicians have gained important new insights into the nature of graphs. The post The Four-Color Theorem Gets a Rare New Proof first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Can we test for AI consciousness when we don’t understand our own? Getting into John Searle’s ‘Chinese room’ experiment - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Saffron and ostrich liver were prescribed but so were exercise, gardens, animals, socialising, and music - by Katherine Harvey Read on Aeon
Indigenous knowledge and art overwrite colonial cartography to correct the historical record in Central Australia - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
Physicians reject palmistry as nonsense. But reading the creases of our palms for hidden meaning is what doctors have always done - by Alison Bashford Read on Aeon
An astronaut’s image of Earth from the 2026 lunar flyby reveals not our profound smallness but our growing significance - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
A century ago, the Pan-American road promised a new era of fraternity between the two continents. Did it succeed? - by Shawn Miller Read on Aeon
Neoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix - by Les Coleman Read on Aeon
Discover what’s coming to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Prime Video and others in September, including Toy Story 5, two Russell Crowe movies and a Tampa affair doco *** Continue reading...
Each month Guardian Australia editors and critics pick the upcoming titles they have devoured – or can’t wait to get their hands on *** Continue reading...
A low-stress drive to a spot not too far from home can be a simple path to calm Choosing to drive rather than fly for your next holiday means you can forget about baggage limits and airport queues. You’ll also be able to enjoy the art of slow travel, and reinvest your flight…