Editor's note
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A small piece of yellow sandpaper used in a plot to rough up a cricket ball had everyone from former players to the prime minister talking this week. As the dust settles, Keith Parry and Emma Kavanagh argue it’s possible for the ball-tampering scandal’s banned villains – former captain and vice-captain Steve Smith and David Warner, and young batsman Cameron Bancroft – to be redeemed in the eyes of Australians.
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Michael Courts
Deputy Section Editor: Politics + Society
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Politics + Society
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Steve Smith has borne the brunt of the public and media vitriol over Australian cricket’s ball-tampering scandal.
EPA/Muzi Ntombela
Keith Parry, Western Sydney University; Emma Kavanagh, Bournemouth University
If the Australian cricketers involved in a ball-tampering scandal manage to return to the game, and do so triumphantly, it is likely they will be forgiven – and some may even forget their role in it.
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Hans Zatzka (Public Domain)/The Conversation
Robyn J. Whitaker, University of Divinity
What would our church and society look like if we were confronted with the reality that the body hung on the cross was brown?
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Podcasts
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Evidence isn’t always as straightforward as it might first seem.
Mai Lam/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation
You've had an x-ray before but have you had an n-ray? Of course not, because they're not real. But people used to think they were. Today, on Trust Me, I'm an Expert, we're bringing you stories on the theme of evidence.
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The Loch Ness Monster and other folk tales might not be pure fiction, but actually based on memories of events our ancestors once observed.
Shutterstock
Patrick D. Nunn, University of the Sunshine Coast
So you think the Loch Ness Monster never existed? Think again. Traditional myths from our ancestors might actually reveal important clues about the geological history of the world.
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Education
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There is a fundamental difference between Islamic State’s use of child soldiers and the practice elsewhere.
Al Arabiya/YouTube
James S. Morris, The University of Queensland; Tristan Dunning, The University of Queensland
Islamic State systematically militarised the education systems of captured Iraqi and Syrian territory to turn the region’s children into ideological timebombs.
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Trinity’s students, parents and alumni are seething after the sacking of longstanding deputy headmaster.
@GenevieveAlison/Twitter
Howard Prosser, Monash University
The anger at the sacking of the deputy headmaster at Melbourne's Trinity Grammar is less about the haircut and more about what it represents.
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Health + Medicine
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Australians are spending a larger proportion of their income on health insurance as premium increases outpace wage growth.
The Conversation / Shutterstock
Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation; Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation; Benjamin Silvester, The Conversation
Private health insurance premiums are set to rise again. These 14 charts (well, technically 10 charts and four tables) look at some of the reasons why health insurance premiums keep going up and up.
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There is an environmentally friendly option.
from www.shutterstock.com
Brett Montgomery, University of Western Australia
As if having asthma wasn't bad enough news, your health condition is probably contributing to climate change.
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FactCheck
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Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher, speaking on Q&A.
ABC Q&A
Dylan McConnell, University of Melbourne
On Q&A, Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher said South Australia's high electricity prices were "the consequence" of Jay Weatherill's renewable energy policies. Is that right?
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Business + Economy
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Access to a steady income can mitigate the effects of violence and provide avenues out of abuse.
AAP
Kate Farhall, RMIT University
Providing paid family violence leave means we’re not asking victims to choose between accessing necessary support and financial security.
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giftcards.
Wikimedia
Saurav Dutta, Curtin University; Nigar Sultana, Curtin University
Removing expiry dates should increase sales and give consumers more flexibility, but it could also increase costs.
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Environment + Energy
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Sudden droughts are bad news for political stability worldwide.
Nic Bothma/EPA
Abbas El-Zein, University of Sydney
A new international report makes for bleak reading on the state of the world's soils. It predicts that land degradation will displace up to 700 million people worldwide by mid-century.
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These are the chocolates you’re looking for.
MICHAEL REICHEL/EPA
Robert Edis, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Kanika Singh, University of Sydney; Richard Markham, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Chocolate is proof the universe loves us and wants us to be happy. Here's how to hunt up the best, most-sustainable and ethically-tasty chocolate eggs this Easter.
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Cities
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The Commonwealth Games is often dubbed the ‘friendly games’, but its history shows that friendliness applies only to ‘the right sort of people’.
AAP
Colin Tatz, Australian National University
Preparations for next month’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast are pushing homeless people out of town, and out of the state. Sadly, that's not unusual for events of this sort.
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Fallen trees and power lines are two of the main hazards that could have been reduced with better planning for cyclones.
Geoff Whalan/Flickr
Akhilesh Surjan, Charles Darwin University; Deepika Mathur, Charles Darwin University; Jonatan A Lassa, Charles Darwin University; Supriya Mathew, Charles Darwin University
After Cyclone Tracy, you'd expect Darwin of all cities to be ready for the next one. But as the clean-up after Cyclone Marcus continues, it's clear more must be done to increase the city's resilience.
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Science + Technology
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An artist’s impression of Tiangong-1 in orbit.
Aerospace Corporation
Melissa de Zwart, University of Adelaide
China's space station Tiangong-1 is about to crash back to Earth any day now. It's out of control too so no one really knows where it will land. So what if it hits you or your house?
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shutterstock
Hope Johnson, Queensland University of Technology
Can you call it meat if it's been artificially produced? That's the question cattlemen in the US are asking, and something food regulators will have to grapple with soon when it coms to labelling.
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Arts + Culture
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Paul Signac, France, 1863-1935, La bouée rouge (The red buoy), 1895, oil on canvas, 81.2 x 65 cm.
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France ©photo Musée d'Orsay / rmn
Sasha Grishin, Australian National University
The Impressionists were obsessed with the science of colour, which is celebrated in a new exhibition in Adelaide. At least 50 of the paintings have never previously been exhibited in Australia.
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Dora the Explorer is coming to Queensland but is our local industry too dependent on international movies?
Keith Bedford
Ella Donald, The University of Queensland
This week actors including Cate Blanchett signed an open letter calling on the government to protect our screen industry. More needs to be done to create a sustainable local industry beyond Dora-style, Hollywood productions.
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Featured jobs
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University of Melbourne —
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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The University of Notre Dame Australia — Sydney, New South Wales
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La Trobe University — Melbourne, Victoria
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Featured events
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The Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia — University of Melbourne
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Lecture Theatre 1040, Level 1, Abercrombie Building (H70), crn Abercrombie Street & Codrington Street, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia — University of Sydney
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RMIT Activator (Level 2, Bldg 98), 102 Victoria St, Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Monash University
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Level 2 Kwong Lee Dow Building, The University of Melbourne, 234 Queensberry St Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria, 3053, Australia — University of Melbourne
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