You don't know her, but you should

Editor's note

Our series profiling under-acknowledged women throughout history is well underway. So far we’ve featured women including Australian photographer and intrepid traveller Elsie Masson, Caterina Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus, and Hop Lin Jong, a Chinese immigrant in the early days of the White Australia policy whose life might have passed in obscurity if her daughter had not been murdered.

This week, researcher Jane Connory introduced us to Ruby Lindsay, one of the first women in Australian graphic design. Lindsay’s brother Norman was the author and illustrator of the Australian classic The Magic Pudding, but her own achievements are just as impressive: she was likely the first woman in Australia to successfully pursue a full-time career in magazine and book illustration. Keep an eye out for more profiles of history’s “hidden women” in the coming months.

Rosanna Hunt

Editor

Top story

Portrait of Ruby Lindsay, published in The drawings of Ruby Lind, 1920.

Hidden women of history: Ruby Lindsay, one of Australia’s first female graphic designers

Jane Connory, Monash University

Often overshadowed by her famous brothers, Ruby Lindsay found ways to challenge the restrictive gender roles of early-20th Century Australia.

Health + Medicine

Women’s fertility: does ‘egg timer’ testing work, and what are the other options?

Karin Hammarberg, Monash University; Luk Rombauts, Monash University

The 'egg timer' blood test reveals the quantity of eggs women have, not the quality, which declines with age. It's also expensive and can give false low readings.
Curious Kids: how do tongues taste food?

Paulomi (Polly) Burey, University of Southern Queensland; Ursula Kennedy, University of Southern Queensland

Your tongue, saliva and nose work together to help you taste your food.

Politics + Society

From robo calls to spam texts: annoying campaign tricks that are legal

Graeme Orr, The University of Queensland

Spamming in texts or by robo-calls may seem perverse, but it's unlikely to disappear. Here are some things you can expect leading up to the May election, and why they're allowed.
What’s the deal (or no-deal) with Brexit? Here’s everything explained

Giovanni Di Lieto, Monash University

If you're confused about the deadlock in the UK over its withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, this might help clear some things up.

Arts + Culture

Why do so few Aussies speak an Australian language?

Laura Rademaker, Australian National University

Australia was one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world but today, few people speak an Australian language.
In the land of Storm Boy, the cultural heritage of the Coorong is under threat

Kelly D. Wiltshire, Flinders University

The Coorong's Indigenous heritage is threatened by off-road vehicles and climate change.

Education

Are Australian classrooms really the most disruptive in the world? Not if you look at the whole picture

Jonathon Sargeant, Australian Catholic University

Reports that Australian classrooms are some of the most disruptive in the world are based on the experiences of 15-year-old students alone, and focus on science classes.
Viewpoints: should teaching students who fail a literacy and numeracy test be barred from teaching?

Lynn Sheridan, University of Wollongong; Nan Bahr, Southern Cross University

Changes to the literacy and numeracy standards for new teachers in Victoria have raised questions about what makes a 'good' teacher.

Science + Technology

From robo calls to spam texts: annoying campaign tricks that are legal

Graeme Orr, The University of Queensland

Spamming in texts or by robo-calls may seem perverse, but it's unlikely to disappear. Here are some things you can expect leading up to the May election, and why they're allowed.
How realistic are China’s plans to build a research station on the Moon?

Joshua Chou, University of Technology Sydney

Can China build a lunar base? Absolutely. Can human beings survive on the Moon and other planets for the long term? The answer to that is less clear.

Business + Economy

More than unpopular. How ParentsNext intrudes on single parents’ human rights

Beth Goldblatt, University of Technology Sydney

ParentsNext has punitive dimensions that threaten people's human rights. Now a Senate Committee will determine whether it's helping or harming vulnerable parents and their children.
It’s not just the isolation. Working from home has surprising downsides

Libby Sander, Bond University

Stress, troubled sleep and interrupted family time are some of the little-known downsides from working from home.

Environment + Energy

Why Antarctica’s sea ice cover is so low (and no, it’s not just about climate change)

Julie Arblaster, Monash University; Gerald A Meehl, National Center for Atmospheric Research ; Guomin Wang, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Antarctic sea ice cover fell to an all-time low recently and hasn't yet recovered. Why? The initial answers could lie in an unlikely place – the tropics.
Cotton and rice have an important place in the Murray Darling Basin

Jamie Pittock, Australian National University

Crises in the Darling River have raised questions about cotton and rice farming in the Murray Darling Basin.

Cities

The big lesson from Opal Tower is that badly built apartments aren’t only an issue for residents

Laura Crommelin, UNSW; Bill Randolph, UNSW; Hazel Easthope, UNSW; Martin Loosemore, UNSW

Building defects in apartment blocks are far from unusual. We need to identify the systemic flaws contributing to them.
How Darling Harbour was botched (and could be reborn)

Rob Roggema, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen

Cities around the world are redeveloping their waterfronts to be accessible and resilient to the effects of climate change. Here's where Sydney's Darling Harbour went wrong and what we can do better.