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INSANE: 5 | Vintage Vibes

Most Australians agree there’s a housing crisis. But they differ on what’s causing it – and how to fix it

Housing was a key issue during the 2025 federal election. In a campaign fought on the cost of living, rising housing costs – rents, mortgage repayments and house prices – were issues that all parties had to address.

The Conversation

Our brains evaluate food within milliseconds, long before we’ve decided to eat it

Imagine you’re at the grocery store, standing before a selection of snacks. Seemingly without thinking, you skip over the rice crackers to pick out a bag of chips.

The Conversation

Some major Australian towns still have poor phone reception. It’s threatening public safety

Australians rely on their phones and the internet for education, business, socialising and in emergencies. And as Optus’ recent Triple Zero outage highlights, the consequences of a network outage can be fatal.

The Conversation

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The government wants more of us living in high rises. Here’s why Australians don’t want to

Australia was once a nation where the great Australian dream was owning a home with ample space for a lawn and a garden. But by the 1990s, the dream had shifted, at least politically, with then prime minister Paul Keating famously saying there was “more to life than the quarter…

The Conversation

It took just 60 years for red foxes to colonise Australia from Victoria to the Pilbara

To a newly-arrived red fox, the abundant rolling grasslands and swamps of Wadawurrung Country, around what is now called Port Phillip Bay, must have seemed like a predator’s paradise.

The Conversation

Labor is close to a deal on environmental law reforms. There are troubling signs these will fall short

The Albanese government has hinted it is close to a deal with the Coalition over the long-awaited overhaul of Australia’s environment laws. Environment Minister Murray Watt plans to introduce new legislation to parliament in November.

The Conversation

Queensland landlords could soon face jail for ignoring illegal tobacco. What are other states doing?

Reports of illegal tobacco crimes have sharply increased in Australia in recent years. Organised crime syndicates believed to be behind tobacco smuggling operations have also infiltrated the retail sector.

The Conversation

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Our study followed Indigenous children for 15 years to understand what helps them thrive

Our new report follows the lives of around 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the largest study of its kind. We wanted to understand what helps them thrive as they grow up.

The Conversation

‘Toothpick grooves’ in ancient fossil human teeth may not be from toothpicks after all

For decades, small grooves on ancient human teeth were thought to be evidence of deliberate tool use – people cleaning their teeth with sticks or fibres, or easing gum pain with makeshift “toothpicks”. Some researchers even called it the oldest human habit.

The Conversation

Dangerous, overpriced, crammed full: poor housing for seasonal workers revealed

Australia relies on seasonal workers, particularly in agriculture and hospitality, to fill shortages of much-needed skills.

The Conversation

From frog saunas to butterfly puddles: 8 ways to turn your homes into a wildlife refuge

Native animals can make excellent neighbours. Blue banded bees pollinate our vegetable gardens. Microbats eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes a night and powerful owls keep rodents at bay. But could we go one step further, and change our homes to invite native animals in as housemates?

The Conversation

Loot boxes are still rife in kids’ mobile games, despite ban on ‘gambling-like’ features

In September 2024, Australia introduced a new classification approach for games with gambling-like content.

The Conversation

Warn, hide or stand out? How colour in the animal world is a battle for survival

The animal world is incredibly colourful, and behind this colour palette is a constant game of survival.

The Conversation

Our new study found AI is wreaking havoc on uni assessments. Here’s how we should respond

Artificial intelligence (AI) is wrecking havoc on university assessments and exams.

The Conversation

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The Conversation

Could making tobacco cheaper actually cut down smoking rates? We asked 5 experts

Australia aims to reduce rates of daily smoking to 5% or less by 2030. By 2023, we got down to 8.3%.

The Conversation

Making younger trees age faster could create more homes for wildlife – and it can be done without chainsaws

For wildlife, not all trees are equal. Large old trees have many horizontal and dead limbs for perching, and many fissures or hollows for sheltering. By contrast, younger trees have far fewer such features or lack them entirely. More than 300 species of Australian mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians rely…

The Conversation

How MPs’ ‘abandoned’ cats became the unexpected symbol of Indonesia’s protests

During Indonesia’s recent mass protests, the looted homes of politicians in Jakarta revealed unexpected victims: cats reportedly left behind or stolen as their owners fled for safety.

The Conversation

Underuse of migrants’ skills is costing us billions. Discrimination often starts at the job interview

Pathways to resolving Australia’s skills shortage were a key discussion point at the government’s recent economic reform roundtable. One of those discussions specifically focused on the need to streamline skills recognition for qualified migrants.

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The Conversation

Australian parents are helping their kids buy a first home with less money, but more rent-free living

As many young Australians struggle to enter the housing market, research shows the “bank of mum and dad” is often called on to help.

The Conversation

Why are police a target for sovereign citizen violence?

As the tragic events evolve in Porepunkah, northeast Victoria, media outlets have reported the alleged shooter, Dezi Freeman, is known to be a “sovereign citizen”.

The Conversation

Why grow plants in space? They can improve how we produce food and medicine on Earth

Sometime in the 2040s, humans may well reach a new frontier – Mars. To get there, we’ll need sustainable sources of food, medicines and materials.

The Conversation

Australia has banned 3 ‘forever chemicals’ – but Europe wants to ban all 14,000 as a precaution

Last month, Australia’s ban on the import, use and manufacture of three types of “forever chemical” came into effect. These chemicals – PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS – have long lifespans and resist breaking down. They’re considered harmful due to their ability to build up inside living organisms and their toxicity.…

The Conversation

Ancient shells and pottery reveal the vast 3,200-years-old trade routes of Oceania’s Indigenous peoples

New research conducted at Walufeni Cave, an important archaeological site in Papua New Guinea, reveals new evidence of long-distance interactions between Oceania’s Indigenous societies, as far back as 3,200 years ago.

The Conversation

Climate change is driving a silent, sinister change in Australia’s mountain ash forests

Something silent and sinister is happening in Australia’s mountain ash forests. As temperatures rise, these ecosystems are slowly, steadily losing their trees – and with them, their ability to store carbon.

The Conversation

Dingoes are not domestic dogs – new evidence shows these native canines are on their own evolutionary path

For decades, scientists, policymakers, graziers and land managers have been locked in a surprisingly high-stakes debate over what defines a dingo. Are these wild canids their own species? Or are they simply feral dogs?

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