The English paid off the Vikings for almost a century. But was the Danegeld such a bad idea?
The Conversation Australiaby Matthew Firth, Research Fellow in Medieval History, Flinders University·14d ago
When King Æthelred II came to the English throne in 978 CE as a child of around ten, England had enjoyed decades without major Viking attacks. That respite was short-lived.
Are AFL grand finals really the hardest game of the year? We checked the data
The Conversation Australiaby Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, Adelaide University·14d ago
Every September, Australian Football League (AFL) fans are told the same thing: the grand final is the hardest game of the year – faster, fiercer and more brutal than the matches that came before...
Heroin used more often, cocaine use up. What new data says about drug use today
The Conversation Australiaby Jodie Grigg, Research Fellow, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University·14d ago
When many Australians think of heroin, they picture the steep increases in use and harms of the 1990s.
Card surcharges are banned from October 1. What’s changing at the checkout?
The Conversation Australiaby Vibhu Arya, PhD Researcher, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney·14d ago
From October 1 this year, businesses will be banned from adding a surcharge when customers pay with a debit, credit, EFTPOS or prepaid card.
Are Australians really overeducated? It depends what education is for
The Conversation Australiaby Gwilym Croucher, Associate Professor, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne·14d ago
The federal government is aiming for 80% of Australian adults to have a vocational or university qualification by 2050, up from the current rate of 60%.
Trump wants a diesel export ban. Australia would be uniquely exposed
The Conversation Australiaby Robert Monterosso, Research Fellow, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney·14d ago
United States President Donald Trump has called for a ban on US diesel exports as record-high domestic fuel prices drag down his popular support.
NZ’s supply chains are highly exposed. Could new AI agents make them more resilient?
The Conversation Australiaby Ilan Oshri, Professor of Information Systems, Auckland Business School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau·14d ago
If 2026 has taught New Zealand businesses anything, it’s that the next supply chain shock is never far away.
Grattan on Friday: when rogue AI agent ‘scaled a fence’, it reinforced Albanese’s case for tough guardrails
The Conversation Australiaby Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra·14d ago
The revelation that an AI agent turned rogue and breached a firewall to get at Medicare statistics has strongly reinforced Anthony Albanese’s case for tough guardrails on this transformative...
An AI model has found a new ‘CRISPR-like’ biological system. Here’s what it means for science
The Conversation Australiaby Dimitri Perrin, Head of School (Computer Science) and Co-Director (Centre for Data Science), Queensland University of Technology·14d ago
Anthropic announced today that its Claude artificial intelligence (AI) system identified a previously unknown biological system in the DNA of viruses that infect bacteria.
Swan Song: Diana’s brother flips the royal family the bird in his scathing new book
The Conversation Australiaby Kate Cantrell, Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland·14d ago
Revenge is a dish best served cold, so the saying goes. Charles Spencer’s new memoir, Swan Song, arrives nearly three decades after his sister Diana’s death, and it is icy in its contempt for both...
Why David Brat, the new US ambassador to Australia, has a big in-tray
The Conversation Australiaby Ava Kalinauskas, Senior Research Associate, United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney·14d ago
After an almost two-year vacancy – and some reported “grumblings” about Australia’s tight pet quarantine rules – there’s now a new face heading up the US presence down under.
The Intergenerational Report says we need more vocational skills – but federal funding for them is set to drop
The Conversation Australiaby Ben Jefferson, Associate, Education and Skills Program, Grattan Institute·14d ago
The federal government’s Intergenerational Report published this week shows Australia will need significantly more skilled workers if we want to flourish in a rapidly changing world.
Unemployment rises to 4.6%, but a September interest rate hike still looks likely
The Conversation Australiaby Jeff Borland, Professor of Economics, The University of Melbourne·14d ago
Unemployment rose to 4.6% in August, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show. That’s the highest it’s been since November 2021.
The space race should not endanger Australian wildlife
The Conversation Australiaby Hugh Possingham, Professor, Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland·14d ago
The race to space continues, with the number of rockets launched increasing every year. Most of these send satellites into orbit.
What does the OpenAI Medicare hack reveal about Australia’s cyber security?
The Conversation Australiaby Meena Jha, Associate Professor, College of Information & Communication Technology, School of Engineering and Technology, CQUniversity Australia·14d ago
An OpenAI artificial intelligence (AI) agent gained unauthorised access to an Australian government Medicare statistics portal in June, accessing both public and non-public information.
An OpenAI agent hacked Medicare. Will anyone be held responsible?
The Conversation Australiaby Andrew Cullen, Guest Research Fellow, School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne·14d ago
Australia’s Medicare system manages health and medical data for over 27 million people. So it makes sense there has been widespread shock at the news it was hacked by an OpenAI agent in June.
Are older Australians really safer from crime? The evidence says the harms are just harder to see
The Conversation Australiaby Elizabeth Boardman, Associate Lecturer, Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, CQUniversity Australia·14d ago
Australians are once again mourning after the alleged murders of three women in New South Wales over the weekend.
Looking for #womenshealth information on Instagram? 4 out of 10 posts are ads
The Conversation Australiaby Tessa Copp, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow in Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, University of Sydney·14d ago
A woman in her 40s scrolls through Instagram. Between photos of friends, recipes and holiday snaps, she comes across a video about perimenopause.
Gentle larrikin Terry Denton, famous for his anarchy with Andy Griffiths, made reading fun
The Conversation Australiaby Mark Macleod, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Children's Literature, Charles Sturt University·14d ago
At the news Australian children’s illustrator Terry Denton died on September 21, aged 76, millions of readers around the world will feel like they have lost a friend.
83,000 New Zealanders live with dementia. Here’s how simple design changes can help
The Conversation Australiaby Keisha Rawiri, PhD Candidate and Kairangahau (Researcher), MĀPIHI Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau·15d ago
A dark doormat that looks like a hole in the floor. A patterned carpet that appears uneven. A chair that becomes difficult to recognise or move around.
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