As the COVID-19 outbreak intensifies, we’re seeing mass isolation in virus epicentres, with about 500 million people in China “under varying degrees of quarantine”, and all of Italy in lockdown. In Australia, self-isolation is being advised for those who have been in close contact with a confirmed coronavirus case, or have travelled from a country… Read more »
Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb are increasingly displacing hotels and holiday letting agencies as the go-to form of accommodation. The ease of booking it all in seconds on your smartphone adds to the appeal of renting a well-appointed flat in Noosaville, or having basil or turmeric on hand in the kitchen of your Katoomba… Read more »
A total of 6718 electric vehicles were sold in Australia in 2019. That’s three times as many as in 2018, but it’s still small beer. More than a million fossil-fueled light vehicles (including SUVs and utes) were sold in the same period. The sales figures were published in the wake of UK Prime Minister Boris… Read more »
Darwin City Council installed a network of hundreds of new devices across the centre of the city last year. This web of “smart” lights, environmental sensors and video cameras is designed to give the council more power to monitor and manage urban places – and the people who occupy them. The council says the A$10… Read more »
In the first week of 2020, hashtag #ArsonEmergency became the focal point of a new online narrative surrounding the bushfire crisis. The message: the cause is arson, not climate change. Police and bushfire services (and some journalists) have contradicted this claim. We studied about 300 Twitter accounts driving the #ArsonEmergency hashtag to identify inauthentic… Read more »
Imagine yourself graduating from high school, with the world before you. But now you must decide what career you want to pursue. You hope for a job that will pay the bills, but also one you will enjoy. After all, you will spend a large portion of your waking hours at work. But how can… Read more »
On Thursday the federal government responded to the recommendations of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) “world-leading” Digital Platforms Inquiry. The response, however, is a less-than world-leading roadmap for reform. Few dispute the ACCC’s inquiry was ground breaking, as it held to account tech giants including Google and Facebook, and the power they wield… Read more »
Australian astronomy punches well above its weight, in terms of the research it leads and the facilities it houses. We have made remarkable discoveries in the past year alone. Our scientists have recently narrowed down the time frame for the first light in the universe. We have established that the black hole in the Milky… Read more »
Earlier this week, Russian farmers announced they are testing virtual reality (VR) for dairy cows. Conducted at the RusMoloko farm near Moscow, the trials supposedly use specially adapted goggles to show the animals a view of a pleasant field in summer. The idea is to make the cows happier, which in turn could make them… Read more »
Peter Fleming, University of Technology Sydney; Carl Rhodes, University of Technology Sydney, and Kyoung-Hee Yu, University of Technology Sydney The effective exclusion of Uber from London, one of the digital platform’s most lucrative markets, adds to a small but significant list of places putting up roadblocks to “uberisation”. Governments in Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Hungary and… Read more »
Research indicates working more than 48 hours a week is associated with significant declines in productivity, more mistakes and more mental health problems.
Although Australian Facebook users do care about the privacy and security of their personal information, this is not enough to drive them to leave the platform.
But there’s a big difference between a helicopter-style charter service and a fully operational fleet of flying taxis – whether they’re automated or piloted by humans.
Despite the celebratory discourse around gaming’s increased accessibility, serious efforts to make gaming accessible to people living with disability remain rare.
Few countries have laws that require their cyber agencies that monitor hacking to report the criminal acts – either to third party victims or to the police.
NSW Premier hints at stage 3 lockdowns as COVID-19 cases continue to jump
Stimulus 3 will pay each business $3000 a month per worker to keep them in a job
Australia’s massive $130bn stimulus package will pay businesses $750 a week for each worker they keep in a job
Stage 3 shutdowns are coming, Victorian premier warns
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
