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Right, left, wrong: people reject science because …

09/12/2013 11:22
By Stephan Lewandowsky You’d be forgiven for thinking science is under attack. Climate science has been challenged by deniers and sceptics, vaccination rates are falling thanks to anti-vaccination movements, and GM crops are pillaged by anti-GM activists. But what determines why people take these...

How values affect our attitudes to genetically modified food

09/12/2013 11:20
By Craig Cormick As Rod Lamberts reminded us here recently, when it comes to debates on genetically modified (GM) foods, arguing about the validity of the science is about as effective as descending to name calling. That’s because of the way our values, or worldviews, filter our receptiveness to...

How much of a man are you? Being online can change that

09/12/2013 11:18
By Evita March How masculine are you? This might seem a fairly simple question, especially if you’re asked to fill out a simple ten-question survey investigating traits such as “aggressive” and “forceful”. But it may not be as straightforward as you think: your self-reported masculinity levels are...

The power of one: single photons illuminate quantum technology

09/12/2013 11:16
By Matt Collins Quantum mechanics, which aims to describe the nano-scale world around us, has already led to the development of many technologies ubiquitous in modern life, including broadband optical fibre communication and smartphone displays. These devices operate using billions and billions of...

Want a better world? You can’t look at GMOs in isolation

09/12/2013 11:08
By Jonathan Bogais The Philippines (also known as the rice-bowl of Southeast Asia) has become a test bed for genetically modified (GM) crops. Proponents argue GM grains and vegetables can improve the life of farmers and malnourished locals. But is this technical approach the right one? Does it take...

Giving birth to new insights into brain development and disease

09/12/2013 11:06
By Thibault Renoir, Each one of us is the complex product of nature and nurture, genes and environment. They combine in a myriad of complex ways during embryonic and postnatal development to sculpt our brains and bodies. Genetic and environmental factors also mediate and modulate our disposition...

Are animals as smart, or as dumb, as we think they are?

09/12/2013 11:03
By Clint J Perry Does my dog only think of eating, sleeping and chasing squirrels? Does my girlfriend’s cat really have the capacity to plot my accidental death? Are cows just walking hamburgers and pigeons intent on world domination? Opinions vary on the answers to these questions. But where do we...

Does your left brain know what your right brain is thinking?

09/12/2013 11:01
By Tamara Watson Are you a left brain or a right brain person? I’ve never met a person who doesn’t know what I mean by this question. The idea that creative people use the right side of their brain more than logical people (the left-brained) is an extremely strong meme. [Read more] ...  

Cosmic jets: what’s shooting out of black holes?

09/12/2013 10:59
By James Miller-Jones, Curtin University While we tend to think of black holes as giant cosmic vacuum cleaners, it’s not all one-way travel. As gas falls in towards a black hole, it spirals gradually inwards like water going down a plug hole – but it’s not all lost; some of it can instead be...

Science needs to be more dangerous

09/12/2013 10:57
By Euan Ritchie Few would argue the world isn’t facing enormous challenges: human population growth and the associated demand for resources, mass extinctions or – perhaps the biggest of all – global climate change. We often look to science to help provide solutions. But if science is to succeed in...
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