J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel High-Rise painted a nightmarish vision of the future. A microcosm of class warfare, residents of a tower turn on each other. As the social order decays, violence ensues. While real life high rises are more serene, they encapsulate hidden dangers ...
More »Scoop or get scooped: journal rejects ‘first to publish’ mentality
Competing researchers don't usually co-author discussion papers – unless, perhaps, they're discussing their rivalry. Such is the case with Jacob Corn and Jin-Soo Kim. On Monday, the genome editing researchers (from the University of California, Berkeley and Seoul National University respectively), ...
More »Gaming or gambling? Often, they coalesce
Legendary: Game of Heroes is a free "intense and strategic puzzle role-playing game," its developer, N3twork, provides. "Build a team of legendary heroes, go on quests and defeat monsters. Your Legendary adventure begins today!" Although aimed at players aged 12 ...
More »Trawling genetic databases for criminals risky: forensic scientists
When the Golden State Killer, who committed at least 12 murders, 50 rapes and 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986, was finally caught in April, law enforcement and forensics experts celebrated. Naval veteran Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested after DNA, ...
More »People ‘very concerned’: professor alarmed by new research code of conduct
A medical researcher has warned countries like China are eclipsing us in terms of research integrity mechanisms. Professor David Vaux, deputy director and joint division head at Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, claims this is because the revised Australian ...
More »Cats guzzling over one million reptiles a day: study
Feral cats are raising a skink with the discovery that they're mass reptile killers. Researchers from the government's Threatened Species Recovery Hub, which comprises 10 universities and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, analysed around 10,000 cat dietary samples. What they found shocked them. ...
More »The blind mind’s eye: scientists crowdfund to study aphantasia
Picture a cube. People will likely have varying responses to this command. For some, the cube will be large. They might imagine that it’s floating. Others will use their answer to infer something about their personality through an online quiz. But for ...
More »Teen career uncertainty mostly negative
Much has been made of the inadequacy of careers advice in schools. Regardless, some young people simply know what they want to do for a living earlier than others. Erin, from Bondi in Sydney’s east, knew she wanted to be a ...
More »Alma no matter: university choice barely impacts grad salaries
You know a paper is almost certainly ethically clean when it undermines its affiliated institutions' business models. Notwithstanding the fact that two of its authors work at Go8 member UNSW, Does It Pay to Graduate from an 'Elite' University in Australia? finds it ...
More »How the other third live: experiences of Chinese women studying in Australia
I never got to know Angel*. She would appear in my journalism class sporadically, and when she did, always sat by herself. She never spoke in class, unless spoken to by the lecturer. Then, she would reply in broken English, ...
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