Greatest guitarists: 10 lists, 33 men, zero women

Editor's note

Who are the best guitarists of all time? It’s a question that animates many a rock nerd but as Daniel Lee writes, a swag of recent lists ranking the top ten guitar greats share a defining feature. Not one of them has included a woman. There are plenty of guitar wielding women who might have made it on these top tens: from Bonnie Raitt to Joan Jett to St Vincent. Why, asks Lee, are women still being written out of the canon in this way?

Suzy Freeman-Greene

Section Editor: Arts + Culture

Top story

There are some great women guitarists but they struggle to make it into the rock canon. Shutterstock

We crunched the numbers on ten recent ‘world’s best guitarist’ lists. Where are the women?

Daniel Lee, University of Tasmania

There are numerous women guitar virtuosos, from Joan Jett to Orianthi to St Vincent. Why are they so conclusively excluded from the rock canon?

Students are invited to give feedback on teachers performance at Australian universities. from www.shutterstock.com

Male teachers are most likely to rate highly in university student feedback

Merlin Crossley, UNSW; Emma Johnston, UNSW; Yanan Fan, UNSW

A study or more than 500,000 surveys shows university students demonstrate bias against women teachers, and particularly women from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Happiness is a warm puppy. Joe Caione/Unsplash

In an Australian first, the ACT may legally recognise animals’ feelings

Bronwyn Orr, University of Sydney

Recognising animals as sentient means welfare laws must consider animals' feelings as well as their physical conditions.

Health + Medicine

Explainer: what is mastitis?

Leanda McKenna, Curtin University; Adelle McArdle, Monash University; Kathryn Shine, Curtin University

Around one in five Australian mums will develop mastitis, a painful inflammatory condition of the breast tissue.
Syphilis is making a come-back, and causing some unusual health problems

Justine R. Smith, Flinders University; João M. Furtado, Universidade de Sao Paulo

As ophthalmologists, we've noticed an uptick in cases of vision problems caused by syphilis. Practising safe sex is important for our eye health too.

Politics + Society

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kerryn Phelps on medical transfer numbers

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Phelps describes Scott Morrison's proposal to reopen the Christmas Island detention facility as a "political statement".
Explainer: how will the ‘medevac’ bill actually affect ill asylum seekers?

Nicholas Procter, University of South Australia; Mary Anne Kenny, Murdoch University

A bill to allow for asylum seeker on Nauru and Manus Island to be transferred to Australia for medical and psychiatric treatment has passed both Houses. How will it change things for those detained?
Morrison may reopen the Christmas Island detention centre

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Morrison told a news conference cabinet's national security committee had met early Tuesday to discuss the contingency planning already in train in anticipation of the bill's passage.
Yes, we can put bank bosses in jail, but is that the best way to hold them to account?

Rick Sarre, University of South Australia

Even if an individual isn't directly culpable for swindling people out of money, if that individual presided over a rotten corporate culture, they can still be convicted and go to jail.

Business + Economy

It’s unanimous: Economists’ poll says we can fix the banks. But that doesn’t mean we will

Gigi Foster, UNSW; Paul Frijters, London School of Economics and Political Science

There are things we can do, but the Economic Society's poll finds that not all of them are part of the traditional economists' toolkit.
One-third of Australians think banks do nothing for the greater public good

Samuel Wilson, Swinburne University of Technology; Jason Pallant, Swinburne University of Technology; Timothy Colin Bednall, Swinburne University of Technology

More than a third (35.4%) of respondents surveyed by the Australian Leadership Index believe banking and financial institutions show "no leadership for the greater good".

Science + Technology

A robot that can touch, eat and sleep? The reality of cyborgs like Alita: Battle Angel

Michael Milford, Queensland University of Technology; Peter Stratton, The University of Queensland

We have robots that can walk and run but still a long way to go before the technology matches the cybernetic skills in the new science fiction film Alita: Battle Angel.
Having a sense of meaning in life is good for you – so how do you get one?

Lisa A Williams, UNSW

Don't pursue happiness as a goal, instead make sure what you do from day to day provides a sense of meaning in life.

Education
Why we should (carefully) consider paying kids to learn Richard Holden, UNSW Research shows small financial incentives for doing maths homework can increase maths achievement. But this raises some tricky ethical questions.

Environment + Energy
It’s fish on ice, as frozen zoos make a last-ditch attempt to prevent extinction Nicola Marie Rivers, Monash University Ecosystems can collapse suddenly and totally. Frozen zoos are trying to create archives of genetic material to prevent total extinctions.

Arts + Culture
Composers are under no threat from AI, if Huawei’s finished Schubert symphony is a guide Goetz Richter, University of Sydney Telecommunications company Huawei has used artificial intelligence to complete Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. But the result fails to capture the spirit of Schubert's original compositions.