Big Ideas

In Australia we compel citizens to vote, or at least to submit a ballot paper. But this is not the only way Australia does elections differently

Don’t skimp on your eight hours of sleep each day! Sleep has a direct impact on social behaviour, mental health and obesity. In fact, you die if you don’t sleep — quicker than you starve to death.

Can plants think, learn and communicate? We used to believe that only humans and other animals had that ability. But science is showing that plants are smarter than you think. Plant scientists describe how plants talk to each other, respond to sound and share resources.

Worldwide there are more than 25 million refugees. But their suffering doesn’t end once they reach a safe place. They continue to fight the experience of torture and trauma.

Cyber trolling is causing serious real world harm and police and social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are not doing enough to combat it.

Put away the crystal ball. CSIRO's Data 61 has identified the digital megatrends of the next two decades. If you understand the changes ahead you can be the master of your own re-invention.

The ethics of artificial intelligence and digital megatrends shaping our future

If someone makes a decision you don’t like you can complain to the manager. But what if the decision-maker’s a computer not a person? Computer programs are making more and more decisions from the most mundane request right up to deciding the length of a prison sentence. How can we design ethical artificial intelligence?

Some of you stumble at telling the slightest un-truths. Others get away with outrageous lies for years.

There are many reasons why we lie – and sometimes we do it for the good of others.

A panel of professional human lie detectors reveals the discoveries they’ve made about the inner workings of the deceitful mind.

Where have all the leaders gone? The Chancellor of Oxford University says the current crop of political leaders need to argue the case for international agreements and democracy. Otherwise populist leaders and nationalism will rule the day and we'll lose the battle on climate change.