Optimism as an environmental tool and meet the famous Fanny Finch

Editor's note

Spend any length of time immersed in news about the environment and you’re liable to come away with a nagging sense of impending doom. But pessimism – while a logical response to a seemingly unending series of natural catastrophes – tends to hinder useful action. To solve this problem, new Australian research explores how optimism can get your environmental message across, prompt action and mobilise communities.

Remember the global outrage four months ago at world-first claims a researcher had used the gene tool CRISPR to edit the genomes of twin girls? Today prominent researchers and bioethicists published a call to arms: a five year moratorium should be applied to any such work that results in genetic changes passed on to future generations of people. Dimitri Perrin and Gaetan Burgio have analysed the paper and its implications.

And in our Hidden Women of History series, we meet Fanny Finch, a businesswoman and single mother of four, who in 1856 became Australia’s first known female voter. As Kacey Sinclair writes, Fanny was briefly able to exploit a loophole in suffrage law that was yet to discriminate against gender or race. Sadly though, her assertion of power was short-lived.

Madeleine De Gabriele

Deputy Editor: Energy + Environment

Top story

Providing optimism in the face of environmental reality can help people stay aware and hopeful for a positive outcome. Photo: A. Sergeev

How (and why) to stay optimistic when it feels like the environment is falling apart

Dominic McAfee, University of Adelaide; Sean Connell, University of Adelaide; Zoe Doubleday, University of South Australia

When it comes to environmental activism, optimism is key.

CRISPR is a gene editing tool that can create permanent changes in the human genome. from www.shutterstock.com

Experts call for halt to CRISPR editing that allows gene changes to pass on to children

Dimitri Perrin, Queensland University of Technology; Gaetan Burgio, Australian National University

Four months ago a researcher claimed he had used the tool CRISPR to edit the genomes of twin girls. Now prominent researchers and ethicists are calling for a temporary halt to this sort of work.

Fanny Finch’s 1856 voting card. Castlemaine Art Museum

Hidden women of history: Australia’s first known female voter, the famous Mrs Fanny Finch

Kacey Sinclair, La Trobe University

Decades before most white Australian women were granted the right to vote, a businesswoman and single mother of four took to the polls and signed a ballot paper.

Science + Technology

Flights suspended and vital questions remain after second Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash within five months

Geoffrey Dell, CQUniversity Australia

Suspending flights of the Boeing popular passenger aircraft that's been involved in two deadly crashes is a prudent call given similarities in the two accidents.
Becoming more like WhatsApp won’t solve Facebook’s woes – here’s why

Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández, Queensland University of Technology; Amelia Johns, University of Technology Sydney; Emma Baulch, Monash University

Facebook seems to be shifting its focus more towards privacy. But this might have some unexpected repercussions, as highlighted by recent research on the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp.

Arts + Culture
In Manus, theatre delivers home truths that can’t be dodged Julian Meyrick, Flinders University This verbatim drama presenting the stories of eight Iranian asylum seekers detained on their island prisons delivers uncomfortable home truths.

Health + Medicine
An impaired sense of smell often signals cognitive decline, but ‘smell training’ could help Anna Wolf, University of Melbourne; Alex Bahar-Fuchs, University of Melbourne Our ability to smell is a function of the brain, so it makes sense that an impaired sense of smell can point to cognitive decline. The good news is training our noses may be effective.

Cities
How the NSW election promises on transport add up Marion Terrill, Grattan Institute; James Ha, Grattan Institute The major parties are promising projects costing tens of billions of dollars, with a surprisingly large overlap between them. Yet only two have been endorsed by infrastructure authorities.

Business + Economy

Dentists need a licence to practice. Why not economists?

Ross Guest, Griffith University

There's a move to have economists acredited, like dentists. But it doesn't have much support yet.
Why wait for the Brexit fog to clear? Australian, British and multinational businesses are moving on

Gabriele Suder, University of Melbourne

It's not at all certain what'll happen, so business is taking no chances.

Politics + Society
Why Sally Challen’s appeal is not a win for women victims of coercive control Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Monash University; Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool Advocates say the recent quashing of Sally Challen's murder conviction brought attention to a hidden feature of domestic violence. But it may have also painted Challen as an unstable woman.