Opinion

Artist's depiction of the Mars Rover on the surface of Mars

There could be alien life on Mars, but will our rovers be able to find it?

23 Feb 2023

New research published today in Nature Communications suggests the rovers’ current equipment might not actually be up to the task of finding evidence of life.

A power plant and its stacks against a cloudy sky

Australia’s energy market operator is worried about the grid’s reliability. But should it be?

23 Feb 2023

Are blackouts really looming by the middle of this decade? An AEMO report warns they might be – but there are plenty of projects on the drawing board that will help ease the squeeze on the grid.

A welcome screen of the Replika app as seen on a mobile phone

I tried the Replika AI companion and can see why users are falling hard

22 Feb 2023

The sudden removal of ‘erotic’ features from the virtual friend app has left lovelorn users high and dry.

men at kens karate klub kensington in 1977 – William Yang

Illegal Sydney warehouse parties, AIDS, and gay liberation: photographer William Yang captured it

22 Feb 2023

Sydneyphiles remounts Yang’s 1977 exhibition, documenting mainstream Sydney and the illegal gay party scene.

a person holding a smarphone - screen showing option to boost a social media post

Proposed privacy reforms could help Australia close gap on other nations, but fail to tackle targeted ads

22 Feb 2023

The proposals from the Attorney-General’s Department could help bolster Australia’s privacy laws — but there are some deficiencies.

possums eating dead kangaroo

Dead kangaroos make a surprising feast for possums in the Australian Alps

21 Feb 2023

When they set up remote cameras throughout the bush, scientists were not expecting to capture these small marsupials scavenging for flesh.

hands typing on laptop keyboard

We pitted ChatGPT against tools for detecting AI-written text, and the results are troubling

21 Feb 2023

There won’t be an easy tech fix for the questions about authorship raised by ChatGPT and other text generators.

microsoft bing on a computer screen

Gaslighting, love bombing and narcissism: why is Microsoft's Bing AI so unhinged?

20 Feb 2023

Users have reported some troubling experiences with the recently released search chatbot.

vial containing blood and a label stuck to it that says 'marburg virus'

What is Marburg virus and should we be worried?

20 Feb 2023

There has been an epidemic outbreak of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea for the first time. Here’s what you need to know about the virus, and how it spreads.

a chinese man in a space suit in a scene from the movie.

What the sci-fi blockbuster Wandering Earth II can teach us about China’s aspirations

14 Feb 2023

Amid global a crisis, China rises to save the world – while Western countries descend into chaos.

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