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Editor's note
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As the nation continues to wrangle over same-sex marriage - when much of the developed world has long since resolved the issue - it might be tempting to wonder if we’ve always been a little conservative on social change, hamstrung by a collective fear of the new. But as Frank Bongiorno writes, it hasn’t always been the case - you need only look at Australia’s early embrace of women’s suffrage, for example, to see that we were once pioneers rather than laggards on social progression.
What’s happening, Bongiorno argues, is a profound failure of leadership rather than any innate cultural problem. Political leaders are trailling behind public opinion rather than doing anything to influence it.
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Top story
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Australia is way behind comparable countries on the marriage equality debate, thanks largely to a failure of leadership.
AAP/Paul Miller
Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
Historically, Australians have been leaders rather than followers on progressing social issues. But more recently, our leaders have trailed behind public opinion.
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Education
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Kevin F. McGrath, Macquarie University; Penny Van Bergen, Macquarie University
Despite the need for both male and female teachers, male primary school teachers could be extinct by 2067.
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Health + Medicine
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Justine Naylor, UNSW
Private patients who stay in hospital for costly rehab after major knee surgery recover just as fast as people who go home and have physiotherapy. So, why pay more?
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Rebecca Le Get, La Trobe University
Tuberculosis has had a significant impact on the world, from influencing fashion trends to helping understand how the human body works.
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Arts + Culture
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Elyse Methven, University of Technology Sydney
Australia has a reputation for swearing. Yet this sits at odds with laws that criminalise offensive words.
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Peter Moyes, Griffith University
Laser Beak Man and its superheroic puppetry will delight young and old at the Brisbane Festival.
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James Whitmore, The Conversation
From The Smith to Kendrick Lamar, Conversation readers tell us their favourite albums.
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Jess Carniel, University of Southern Queensland
In Different Class, Pulp got fans singing and dancing to searing commentaries on class and privilege.
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Cities
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Zoe Myers, University of Western Australia
Drains take up precious but inaccessible open space in our cities. Converting these to living streams running through the suburbs could make for healthier places in multiple ways.
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Business + Economy
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Roger Wilkins, University of Melbourne
We can expect to see a rise in part-time employed people using second jobs as a solution to insufficient hours in their main job.
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Kristy Muir, UNSW; Axelle Marjolin, UNSW
Despite decades of economic growth and recent declines in income inequality, Australians are less financially resilient.
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Science + Technology
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Peter Keller, Western Sydney University
Did we evolve the capacity to produce sublime music simply to get more sex? Or are we driven by higher ideals related to living together in harmony? Maybe it's a bit of both.
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Wencheng Yang, Edith Cowan University; Guanglou Zheng, Edith Cowan University
While security researchers are yet to perform a thorough analysis of iOS 11 and Face ID, past issues with the hardware and software of the iPhone point to areas of potential concern.
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Matthew Rockloff, CQUniversity Australia; Nancy Greer, CQUniversity Australia
Research that studied the pokie risks gamblers were prepared to take after they held a live crocodile has been awarded one of this year's Ig Nobel prizes.
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Sophia Casanova, UNSW; Andrew Dempster, UNSW
Space exploration is exciting - but there are barriers for humans hoping to visit and even stay on planets. Buried ice on Mars could be a water source for interplanetary visits of the future.
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Environment + Energy
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Jamie Seymour, James Cook University
If one venomous snake bites a mouse and injects venom into it, you can then feed that same dead mouse to another snake. The second snake won't die.
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Michael Gillings, Macquarie University
When jetting off on holiday, we rarely give a second thought to what microbes we might be taking with us. But humans spread trillions of bacteria around the globe, potentially harming ecosystems' balance.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan speaks to Deep Saini about the week in Australian politics.
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Azadeh Dastyari, Monash University
Like Australia and the US before it, Europe is now flirting with the idea of processing centres for refugees in transit countries.
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Columnists
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Featured jobs
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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Charles Sturt University — Charles Sturt University, New South Wales
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Western Sydney University — Sydney, New South Wales
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Featured events
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55 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia — University of South Australia
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UNSW Sydney CBD, 1 O'Connell Street, Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia — Australia New Zealand School of Government
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UTS Business School, level 2, 14-28 Ultimo Rd, Sydney, New South Wales, 2007, Australia — University of Technology Sydney
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The Clemenger Auditorium, National Gallery of Victoria, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — RMIT University
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