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Editor's note
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Our “Hidden women of history” series always reveals the achievements of women who have made significant contributions to their field yet been under-acknowledged. Catherine Hay Thomson is the first example that I can recall of a woman who hid herself on purpose.
In 1886, a year before American reporter Nellie Bly famously posed as a patient to gain access to a New York insane asylum, Hay Thomson entered Melbourne’s Kew Asylum and reported on her findings there for The Argus. A former teacher and one of the first women to sit a matriculation exam at the University of Melbourne, Hay Thomson went on to expose the horrors experienced by women and children in a range of public institutions – all from the inside.
Kerrie Davies of UNSW’s School of the Arts and Media and Willa McDonald of Macquarie University – who share an interest in colonial journalism – trace the achievements of Australia’s first known undercover journalist. Hay Thomson testified at a Royal Commission about her experiences and policies were changed as a result. Her story of advocacy and leadership is as refreshing as it is inspiring.
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Lucy Beaumont
Deputy Section Editor: Arts + Culture
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Top story
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Catherine Hay Thomson went undercover as an assistant nurse for her series on conditions at Melbourne Hospital.
A. J. Campbell Collection/National Library of Australia
Kerrie Davies, UNSW; Willa McDonald, Macquarie University
A passionate crusader for the rights of women and children, Catherine Hay Thomson went undercover to investigate their treatment in public institutions and testified before a Royal Commission.
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The government in Russia has resigned, and a new Prime Minister (Mikhail Mishustin) appointed.
Dmitry Astakhov/AAP
Graeme Gill, University of Sydney
Putin's proposed changes to the constitution appear to be limiting the power of the presidency. But his sights are set beyond 2024 when he'll no longer be president.
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Australians were also cheated out of A$400,000 last year in charity scams.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Cassandra Cross, Queensland University of Technology
There have been scores of scams reported in Australia since the bushfires started in September. This is why fraudsters take advantage of those in need.
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Shops checkouts are predicted to disappear this decade. Customers will be able to take what they want and walk out, with payment done automatically.
www.shutterstock.com
Richard Holden, UNSW
Technological change has always destroyed jobs. But now automation and artificial intelligence are drying up the options for those displaced.
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Health + Medicine
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Erin Smith, Edith Cowan University
Emergency service workers already have poorer mental health than the rest of us. In the wake of this bushfire crisis, we need to make the well-being of our first responders a top priority.
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Wayne Wilson, The University of Queensland
When you read in the back seat of the car, your eyes tell your brain you're still. But your ears can sense you're moving. Your eyes and ears are having an argument that your brain is trying to settle.
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Education
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Susanne Gannon, Western Sydney University
Today's graduates may average five separate careers and around 17 different employers in their working life. This means an important skill these days is flexibility and the ability to adapt.
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Business + Economy
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Janine Dixon, Victoria University
GDP is well suited to many things, but not to measuring the impact of disasters.
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Environment + Energy
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Lucy Commander, University of Western Australia; Heidi Zimmer, Southern Cross University
When ecosystems aren't able to repair themselves, it's up to us to intervene.
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Andrew Blakers, Australian National University
A technological arms race in the 80s resulted in a world-first solar cell, that today underpins half the world's solar power.
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Science + Technology
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Andrew Barron, Macquarie University
Scientists don't ask how some people evolved to be tall. In the same way, asking how homosexuality evolved is the wrong question. We need to ask how human sexuality evolved in all its forms.
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Antonio Tarquinio, The Conversation
Today we hear about the Parkes radio telescope's role in the search for alien life. Our guide is the irrepressible John Sarkissian, the scientist who's had his eye on The Dish since childhood.
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Arts + Culture
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Amanda Harris, University of Sydney
The world premiere of Nardi Simpson's Black Drop Effect takes in the complex histories of Aboriginal responses to commemoration, and makes space for protest, cultural reclamation and negotiation.
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Politics + Society
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Jessica Richards, Western Sydney University; Daniela Spanjaard, Western Sydney University; Francine Garlin, Western Sydney University; Michelle O'Shea, Western Sydney University
Many believe a move to the winter would be beneficial for football, particularly as our summers grow hotter. But competing directly with AFL and NRL could pose a serious risk to the sport's future.
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