MYSTERIOUS: 5 | Mind Blowing Facts

We need to stop asking if NZ can afford its superannuation scheme. It’s the wrong question

Like many countries, New Zealand has an ageing population. Retirees are living longer while fertility rates have fallen. The number of workers relative to retirees will decline.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Many drugs have mirror chemical structures, one helpful and the other harmful – a Nobel-winning discovery allows chemists to make either on demand

The effects a drug or chemical compound have on the body depend on how its atoms are arranged in space. Some compounds have a dark twin with the same molecular formula but different 3D structure – and this can have consequences for what they do or don’t do in the…

The Conversation · Oct 7

Catherine Chidgey’s The Starving Bride exposes the extremes of our always-performing world

In The Starving Bride, the latest novel from internationally acclaimed New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey, the English town of Blackpool attempts to stave off the horrors of the present by returning to the past.

The Conversation · Oct 7

The migration debate has a big blind spot: much of regional Australia is shrinking

Migration policy is emerging as one of this year’s defining political battlegrounds. The Albanese government, Coalition and One Nation have all committed to reducing net overseas migration.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Colonisation, not climate change, first primed these forests to burn

Bushfire season is here. The Bureau of Meteorology expects the declared El Niño to be strong to very strong. Southeastern Australia is bracing for a long run of dangerous fire weather.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Can data centre company Firmus live up to its blockbuster $43 billion listing value? Why some investors doubt it

Firmus Technologies, a developer of artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, plans to raise A$7 billion from investors on the Australian Securities Exchange on October 23.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Microdramas are booming. AI could make it even harder to stop binge-watching

They’re dubbed duanju, or microdramas – and they’ve become big business.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Eight ways to feed ourselves if rogue AI destroys modern agriculture

The capacity of rogue AI agents to destroy our species within the next decade has recently been a hot topic of debate. Fears have been voiced within the industry about the rapidly increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence.

The Conversation · Oct 7

Kemi Badenoch is gearing up for a ‘battle of ideas’ with Labour

Kemi Badenoch’s closing conference speech to the Conservative party conference sought to galvanise the membership by framing the coming years as “a battle of ideas” over how Britain is governed.

The Conversation · Oct 7

We need stronger sexual health education — the ‘Cornell 7’ case shows why

The allegations surrounding the so-called Cornell 7 have attracted growing public attention and political scrutiny around the world, exposing persistent misunderstandings about consent and sexual violence.

The Conversation · Oct 7