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Reinventing the Lucky Country
By Ian Lowe
The challenges facing Australia in the 1960s have not been addressed, and a new challenge will need to be overcome before we can really become a lucky country.
A recent Academy of Science project found strong consensus for “a future Australia that is more caring, community-focused and fair than present-day Australia”. That would be a truly lucky country, a wonderful legacy to future generations.
Donald Horne described Australia in 1964 as “a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck”. The phrase “the lucky country” quickly became part of the language, though its message was often misrepresented by people who had not even read the book, or who had certainly not grasped its ironic meaning.
A Toxic Legacy from Firefighting Foams
By Mark Taylor and Isabella Cosenza
Australian communities and environmental systems adjacent to Defence sites, airports and firefighting training centres have been contaminated by toxic chemicals.
Over the past 12 months there has been a significant rise in awareness in Australia of the impact of perfluorinated chemicals on ground and surface water, soils, food and human health.
Myths about Carbon Storage in Soil
By Robert White and Brian Davidson
Goals of sequestering carbon in agricultural soil ignore the law of diminishing returns.
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Chemistry: 21st Century Science for the Global Economy
By Paul Mulvaney
It’s time for public recognition of the fact that, in a country where almost all of the 92 natural elements can be found, chemistry offers Australia sustainable economic prosperity.
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Stem Cell Industry Must Tread a Fine Line
By Richard Harvey, Martin Pera and Megan Munsie
The emerging stem cell industry needs to be able to fast-track therapies into clinical trials without clearing the way for clinics to offer unproven therapies to vulnerable patients.
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Mega-Banks Unleash an Infrastructure Tsunami
By William Laurance
The rise of investment bank lending for infrastructure projects in developing countries is driving a “feeding frenzy” of developments with lower environmental controls.
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Defence Takes Control over Australian Research
By Brendan Jones
A new law comes into force this month that puts scientists at risk of imprisonment and businesses at risk of losing their intellectual property.
On 2 April the Defence Trade Controls Act (DTCA) comes into force. This new law controls research into technologies that, in theory at least, could have military applications.
The Department of Defence’s 353-page list of such “dual-use” technologies (www.tinyurl.com/jcsm9ro) lays claim to just about every field of research, including infectious diseases, biotechnology, high-performance computers, robotics and artificial intelligence, encryption, electronics, manufacturing, and software for these applications.
Confucius Was Not a Qualified Career Adviser
Credit: Sunny studio
By Kieran Carmichael
Turning your hobby into your job may not necessarily lead to happiness.
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Bridging the Divide between Academia and Industry
Credit: okalinichenko/Adobe
By Derek Richard
The Science Next Collaborative is helping early- and mid-career researchers to make the leap from research to commercialisation.
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A Game-Changer for Nuclear Safety
By Tony Irwin
Nuclear energy modules are getting smaller and safer, making them viable options for remote communities.
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