The Conversation

Editor's note

The six Apollo missions that landed humans on the moon brought new kinds of shadows to the lunar surface - those cast by objects left behind, like rovers, cameras and other equipment. In an edited extract from her new book, Alice Gorman writes about how the modern prospect of lunar mining means the moon, and the way we as humans think about it, could be even further changed.

Elsewhere, read the story of how tin changed humanity, and learn about Wanji-wanji, an Indigenous song with lyrics that have remained unchanged by distance or time. Meet some of the women profiled in our Hidden women series, surfing pioneer Isabel Letham and Mrs Fanny Finch, Australia’s first known female voter. And enjoy your Sunday.

Rosanna Hunt

Deputy Editor: Arts + Culture

Shadows on the moon

A large, sea jelly-like antenna shadow from the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. NASA

Friday essay: shadows on the Moon - a tale of ephemeral beauty, humans and hubris

Alice Gorman, Flinders University

This year the Apollo 11 mission turns 50 - but what does the future hold for the Moon? The ephemeral shadows cast by human artefacts may soon be joined by more permanent scars of lunar mining.

More Friday essays

Friday essay: images of mourning and the power of acknowledging grief

Cherine Fahd, University of Technology Sydney

Rarely seen in the family album are photographs of funerals, burials and the suffering of those who are left to mourn.

Friday essay: Nora Heysen, more than her father’s daughter

Joanna Mendelssohn, UNSW

Nora Heysen was the first woman to be awarded the Archibald Prize, but for most of her life she was defined not by her art, but by her relationship to her famous father, the artist Hans Heysen.

Friday essay: rebooting the idea of ‘civilisation’ for Australian soil

Stephen Muecke, University of Adelaide

It's time for a more reasonable, hybrid definition of civilisation that incorporates our Indigenous heritage.

Friday essay: why is Australian satire so rarely risky?

Alex Cothren, Flinders University; Robert Phiddian, Flinders University

Today's screen satire frequently preaches to the converted. Fortunately, there are some notable exceptions that can skewer even the most progressive of viewers.

More than tin cans

Tin comes from the ore cassiterite. Shutterstock/PYP

From the bronze age to food cans, here’s how tin changed humanity

Michael Cortie, University of Technology Sydney

On its own it's just tin. But mix it with other elements and it turns into a material that helped shape the ancient world.

More science long reads

Six images reveal how we ‘see’ data and capture invisible science

Andrea Rassell, RMIT University

Sometimes photographic images are not able to capture and accurately represent science – especially at very tiny scales. This is where scientific visualisation comes in.

The internet is now an arena for conflict, and we’re all caught up in it

Tom Sear, UNSW

Nation states are covertly working against each other on the very same digital platforms they use to collaborate in areas such as trade and manufacturing.

Indigenous culture

Gurindji singers Thomas Monkey Yikapayi, Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpa and Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal sing ‘Wanji-wanji’. Brenda L Croft

Aboriginal Australia’s smash hit that went viral

Myfany Turpin, University of Sydney; Brenda L Croft, Australian National University; Clint Bracknell, Edith Cowan University; Felicity Meakins, The University of Queensland

Wanji-wanji's lyrics have remained unchanged over thousands of kilometres and the past 150 years.

History's hidden women

Hidden women of history: Australia’s first known female voter, the famous Mrs Fanny Finch

Kacey Sinclair, La Trobe University

Decades before most white Australian women were granted the right to vote, a businesswoman and single mother of four took to the polls and signed a ballot paper.

Hidden women of history: Isabel Letham, daring Australian surfing pioneer

Anne Rees, La Trobe University

Isabel Letham was one of the first Australians to ride the waves. After moving to the US in 1918, she became an epitome of the modern woman: economically independent, physically daring and unapologetically ambitious.

Guide to a classic

The death of popular prince Germanicus painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1627. Senex Magister/flickr

Guide to the classics: Tacitus’ Annals and its enduring portrait of monarchical power

Caillan Davenport, Macquarie University

Tacitus' Annals is a powerful and darkly humorous examination of imperial Rome. Though his work was little read in the Roman world, it has influenced great thinkers such as Hobbes and Montesquieu.

 

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