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Editor's note
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Hokusai’s The Great Wave is one of the most recognised artworks in the world, and inspired European impressionists like Van Gogh. But its major pigment - Prussian blue - was created in a lab accident in 18th century Germany. As a major exhibition of Hokusai’s work opens today at the National Gallery of Victoria, Hugh Davies tells how this new colour took the world by storm.
Scientists are also inventing new colours thanks to nanoscale structures that can reflect or absorb light. Vantablack, a famous example of structural colour, could help telescopes peer further into the universe by absorbing stray light.
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James Whitmore
Editor, Arts + Culture
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Top story
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Detail from Katsushika Hokusai, The great wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki namiura), (1830–34), from the Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji (Fugaku-sanjū-rokkei)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Felton Bequest, 1909 (426-2)
Hugh Davies, La Trobe University
Hokusai's Great Wave is the enduring image of Japanese art. Less well known is the story of its primary pigment - Prussian blue - which was created in a lab accident in Berlin and sparked 'blue fever' in Europe.
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Science + Technology
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Colin Hall, University of South Australia; Eric Charrault, University of South Australia
Scientists continue to invent new colours for new applications thanks to nanoscale strucutures.
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Politics + Society
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Howard Manns, Monash University
Our drinking culture has brought some colourful phrases into the Australian vernacular.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Turnbull can't fix his Abbott problem. Even if he brought him into cabinet, which he won't, it would likely eventually end in tears.
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Henrik Bang, University of Canberra
The only exceptional leaders we need today are the ones who help us to govern and take care of ourselves.
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Cities
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Kate Shaw, University of Melbourne
Mixing public and private housing in urban renewal projects can be a contentious business. But public good and optimal use of public resources, not developer interests, should guide such decisions.
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Business + Economy
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Richard Holden, UNSW
This week's strong growth in full-time employment shows a robust labour market. This only deepens the puzzle of why inflation is so low at the same time.
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Danielle Logue, University of Technology Sydney; Gillian McAllister, University of Technology Sydney; Jochen Schweitzer, University of Technology Sydney
There is a lot of potential in borrowing ideas from the startup world to complement foreign aid funding.
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Education
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Amanda Mergler, Queensland University of Technology
When to start their child at school is often a stressful decision for parents, and there is a need for more support for them in making that choice.
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Health + Medicine
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Ken Harvey, Monash University
Would you trust a complementary medicine described as "vermifuge", "vulnerary" or "emmenagogue"? That's what new labelling proposes and not everyone's happy about it.
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Helen Leonard, Telethon Kids Institute
A new paper published today has reported a small increase in the number of children born with autism from mothers who were using antidepressant medication while pregnant.
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Jacqueline Bowden, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute; Robin Room, La Trobe University
Teenagers pick up cues about drinking from you and your family. Here's how you can help them develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.
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Environment + Energy
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Trevor Thornton, Deakin University
Banning single-use plastic bags makes sense, as long as it doesn't usher in behaviours that are just as bad, or worse – like over-using heavier bags made of even more plastic.
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Daniela Spanjaard, Western Sydney University; Francine Garlin, Western Sydney University
The success of the plastic bag ban announced by Australia's big two supermarkets will hinge on whether they can persuade customers to change an engrained behaviour - without annoying them.
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Marianne Nyegaard, Murdoch University
A four-year puzzle has ended with the discovery of a new species of sunfish. These famously strange-looking animals are the largest bony fish in the oceans.
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Arts + Culture
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Margaret Hickey, La Trobe University
White settlers and authors once saw the bush as an alien, despairing place. But writers from Tim Winton to Rachael Treasure now portray the land in complex and optimistic ways.
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Columnists
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Featured jobs
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Deakin University — Burwood, Victoria
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RMIT University — Bundoora, Victoria
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University of Melbourne — Melbourne, Victoria
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University of Western Australia — Perth, Western Australia
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Featured events
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Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3051, Australia — IMPACT7
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Deakin Downtown, Level 12, Tower 2, Collins Square, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3008, Australia — Deakin University
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UTS Business School, level 8, 14-28 Ultimo Rd, Sydney, New South Wales, 2007, Australia — University of Technology Sydney
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Deakin Downtown, Level 12, Tower 2, Collins Square, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3008, Australia — Deakin University
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