Big Ideas

Digital technology has transformed universities.

It’s now an expectation, not a bonus, that they offer the latest technologies: around the clock access to educational resources, an intuitive platform for discussion, cloud collaboration and knowledge exchange, recorded lectures on demand.

But is it working?

Medical scientists are hard at work trying to find effective treatments for COVID 19.  They’re on a steep learning curve. How does this new virus work? What’s the best way to treat it? And how can we reduce the rate of transmission? Join a panel of medical experts on the frontline.

Internet algorithms are dividing us, not bringing us together. The assumptions, predictions, and generalisations they make about us are not value neutral or apolitical. Robert Elliott Smith talks to Paul Barclay about the inherent prejudice of algorithms.

What as the Goddess of Smallpox to do with eradicating this disease in China and India? It turns out: almost everything.

These countries with similar epidemiological, socioeconomic, and demographic conditions have experienced strikingly different levels of containment. And that’s because China worked with existing believes and traditions when the officials introduce a new vaccine – and India did not.

China's ambition to be a global superpower has taken a hit from the pandemic. China's economic growth has faltered and the Chinese government is under pressure to explain the origins of the virus and its steps to contain the spread. Chinese citizens are also feeling the pain from lockdown, job loss and government surveillance of social media. Will China's one party state emerge from this crisis stronger or weaker?

It's been just over three decades since most of us first heard about global warming. Meanwhile, the 20 hottest years on record have all occurred in the last quarter century. The implications of extreme weather and climate change are now being felt. Why have we done relatively little in response?

Richard Aedy goes looking for answers in a four-part series on RN. Look for RN Presents in the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Despite encouraging signs of a slowdown in infection rates, we’re still in the middle of a global pandemic. The economic and social effects of Covid-19 will be far-reaching.

On the other side of this pandemic will there be a new world order? How is the virus affecting the US-China relationship, South-East Asia and the global balance of power?

For a long time she was misunderstood, erroneously known as the “last of her race”, and almost invariably depicted as tragic figure.  But there is so much more to indigenous Tasmanian woman, Truganini.

Malcolm Turnbull reflects on his time on politics, his achievements and the challenges he has faced during his time as 29th prime minister.

In the past decade of climate and energy warfare in Australian federal politics, Malcolm Turnbull is the only leader to have lost his job over the issue twice.

He talks with Annabelle Crabb about his new memoir A Bigger Picture.

How do you fancy a theory describing everything in the world and the whole universe?

Physicists have been trying to find a universal theory for centuries. Progress has been made: BBC’s Jim Al-Khalili describes the three pillars of modern physics: quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics.

But is physics any closer to finding the ONE theory that explains it all?