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Explaining Schwarzenegger – men, biceps and the politics of getting what you want
This weekend I gained a grudging appreciation for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governator, not the Terminator. Having watched Arnie’s political rise and fall from afar, he...
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The Evolution of Lying
Ultimately, our ability to convincingly lie to each other may have evolved as a direct result of our cooperative nature. Thus concludes the abstract of...
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The placenta and the pace of life
The poor old placenta. It really doesn’t get much public attention. And yet it does a crucially important job – acting as the interface between...
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Penis size may be driven by women (oh, and it matters)
How important is penis size? Authors from the Australian National University, Monash and La Trobe provide the most complete answer yet: the size of a...
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Centuries wasted applying for grants?
Grant-writing season is finally over for Australian academics. Actually, grant writing season is never over, but with the deadlines now having passed for the ARC...
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I Fucking Love…..Sexism
What do you know? The creative force behind science’s favourite Facebook site is … a woman. Holy mother of Christ. Just over a year ago,...
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Boys, war and the prescient mosquitofish mother
Some aspects of the natural world are so commonplace that we mistake them for essential truths. This is especially true of the fact that the...
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How the Internet is changing music (Feat. Amanda Palmer on vocals)
Sometimes I think I can hear the internet as it relentlessly changes everything. This week’s tabloidisation of Fairfax is merely a symptom of the way...
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How do we let people pay for music – Amanda Palmer’s TED talk on the dignity of asking
As technology changes, irreversibly altering the ways in which people experience and enjoy music, it also alters the economics of how music is made, distributed...
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Fear, conservatism and out-group attitudes: a genetic link?
Australia’s eight-month election campaign is apparently underway. It’s a prospect that excites only those shady consultants, pollsters and party power-brokers whose livelihoods depend on running...