Australasian Science: Australia's authority on science since 1938
Online Feature
Can animals sense when an earthquake is about to happen?
He Gong/Unsplash, CC BY-SA
Within minutes of Melbourne being rattled by yesterday’s The Conversation.
We may never be able to predict earthquakes – but we can already know enough to be prepared
Yesterday’s earthquake in eastern Victoria shook the ground for hundreds of kilometres around and damaged buildings as far away as Melbourne – and took many people by surprise.
While Australia doesn’t compare with seismic hotspots like New Zealand and Japan, relatively small quakes are expected, with Geoscience Australia’s quake tracker listing more than a dozen in the past week alone.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Calling the latest gene technologies 'natural' is a semantic distraction — they must still be regulated
Ivan Yudin\TASS via Getty Images
Legislators around the world are being asked to reconsider how to regulate the latest developments in gene technology, genome editing and gene silencing.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Earthquakes don’t kill people; buildings do. And those lovely decorative bits are the first to fall
James Ross/AAP
News of Melbourne’s earthquake today made my left leg hurt. That’s the leg I nearly lost.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Melbourne earthquake: what exactly happened, and what's the best way to stay safe from aftershocks?
James Ross/AAP
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake has struck about 115 kilometres east of Melbourne in Victoria, causing The Conversation.
The earthquake that rattled Melbourne was among Australia's biggest in half a century, but rock records reveal far mightier ones
An earthquake that struck near Melbourne today is one of the largest in Australia since instrumental seismic records began. However, the geological record of ground-breaking fault ruptures tells us much larger earthquakes have occurred across the continent. Some of these earthquakes would have been witnessed by Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Being bombarded with delivery and post office text scams? Here's why — and what can be done
ScamWatch
For most people, the ping of an incoming SMS will induce some level of excitement — or mild intrigue at least. But with SMS scams on the rise, many may now be meeting this same sound with trepidation.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Personality traits may drive our ideas about fairness and sharing
Shutterstock
Disputes over fairness can create conflict. Families squabble over inheritances, societies polarise around the question of how to distribute wealth fairly, and nations become mired in territorial quarrels.
Originally published in The Conversation.
Digital tech is the future, but a new report shows Australia risks being left in the past
Headway/Unsplash.com, CC BY-SA
Digital technologies are now at the heart of our everyday lives, as anyone who has swapped their office for a videoconferencing screen, o
Originally published in The Conversation.
Undersea internet cables connect Pacific islands to the world. But geopolitical tension is tugging at the wires
If you’ve ever emailed a resort in Fiji or Vanuatu about that long-awaited holiday, it’s likely your email travelled through an undersea internet cable.
Originally published in The Conversation.
