Editor's note
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Coral bleaching, banks behaving badly and students avoiding teaching careers - this week we’ve been copping a lot of bad news. The banking royal commission revealed appalling behaviour by bankers and new research showed the damage that the 2016 and 2017 bleaching event caused to the wider ecosystem functioning of the Great Barrier Reef (it’s not looking good). And to top it off, the
Queensland Deans of Education revealed there have been alarming drops in first
preference applications for this year’s teacher preparation courses (UQ reported a 44% plunge in applications).
But instead of starting the weekend on a downer, here’s all the fun and interesting things we learnt this week; sea otters hold hands so they don’t float away from each other, Alexis Wright won the 2018 Stella Prize for Tracker, Season Two of The Handmaid’s Tale looks amazing, the Pilbara was formed like “a long-forgotten
chocolate bar from your pocket” and mozzie bites itch because of the body’s reaction to mosquito spit.
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Molly Glassey
Newsletter Editor
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Business + Economy
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Angry customers want bankers to face jail time, but better banking practices are just as important.
LUIS ASCUI/AAP
Dimity Kingsford Smith, UNSW; Alex Steel, UNSW
It seems ASIC and the Director of Public Prosecutions will have no lack of evidence to pursue civil penalties and criminal cases. The bigger issue is what charges to go with.
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The difference in ageing between Australia and Tasmania of five weeks per year is largely explained by interstate migration.
DANIEL MUNOZ/AAP
Lisa Denny, University of Tasmania
For Australia, the median age is 37.2 years. The Northern Territory is the youngest state or territory with a a median age of 32.4 years and Tasmania is the oldest at 42 years.
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Cities
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Good Shepherd Chapel (c.1969, architect: A. Ian Ferrier) in Mitchelton, Brisbane, was demolished in 2004.
Ferrier Slide Collection, used with permission
Lisa Marie Daunt, The University of Queensland
Of the thousands of churches erected to serve the fast-growing communities of post-war Australia, very few are protected. Are we happy to lose buildings that are so much part of our modern heritage?
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Sydney’s WestConnex is being constructed as a “high priority” project, despite its business case failing to meet Infrastructure Australia’s stated requirements.
Ben Rushton/AAP
Glen Searle, University of Sydney; Crystal Legacy, University of Melbourne
Analysis of the business cases for three of the biggest projects deemed "high priority" by Infrastructure Australia raises questions about the process.
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Health + Medicine
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Mariah Carey recently announced she has bipolar II disorder. Most of us won’t know what that means.
AAP/Alba Vigaray
Kathryn Fletcher, Swinburne University of Technology; Kristi-Ann Villagonzalo, Swinburne University of Technology
Media portrayals don't help misconceptions about disorders such as bipolar, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. So what do these terms actually mean?
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The flu shot is free for at-risk groups, and available to others for around $10-$25.
Shutterstock
Kanta Subbarao, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
While not perfect, the seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to protect against influenza. There are a few changes to the flu vaccine and what is available this year. Here's what you need to know.
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Arts + Culture
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Popular sitcoms like Modern Family avoid reflecting on wider economic realities: Roseanne has filled a void.
IMDB
Scott Doidge, University of Melbourne
When it debuted in 1988, Roseanne was a breath of fresh air against the conservative middle class family sitcoms then on air. Its reboot in 2018 feels just as relevant.
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Education
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The programs are long and intense, the creativity and relationships aspect of the vocation has been eroded, there is pervasive negativity in the media, and comparatively poor salary and working conditions.
Shutterstock
Nan Bahr, Southern Cross University; Jo-Anne Ferreira, Southern Cross University
There's been a drop in the number of people enrolling in teacher preparation courses. This is due to problems such as pay, professional autonomy, and a national obsession with standardised testing.
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It’s never too early – or too late – to start talking to your children about how to protect their data from people who might misuse it.
Shutterstock
Amanda Third, Western Sydney University
Parents should inform themselves, and review their and their children's privacy settings.
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Politics + Society
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While the occurrence of sexist harassment online is well documented, we less often consider what might be driving this behaviour.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
Bianca Fileborn, UNSW
The online abuse of women by men is underpinned by the same gender norms and power structures as rape and sexual assault.
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Israel Folau’s recent comments are the latest in a string of homophobic and transphobic incidents in Australian sport.
Rohan Thompson/AAP
Ryan Storr, Western Sydney University
Wallaby and Waratahs player Israel Folau's recent comments about gay people are just one example of the homophobia in Australian sport. Recent research suggests the problem is widespread.
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Energy + Environment
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Staghorn and tabular corals suffered mass die-offs, robbing many individual reefs of their characteristic shapes.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies/ Mia Hoogenboom
Selina Ward, The University of Queensland
The 2016 bleaching event resulted in 30% mortality on the Great Barrier Reef, with many corals dying of the heat before they bleached and the loss of branching corals creating less complex reef structure.
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Electric cars are taking over – but they really as green as they look?
Jack Amick / flickr
Martin Brueckner, Murdoch University
Electric cars might be a quick fix to clean up transport, but the problems with cars go beyond just emissions.
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FactCheck
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It’s not the leading cause but it is the leading contributor.
Simone Ziaziaris/AAP
Samara McPhedran, Griffith University
Are claims that intimate partner violence is the leading cause of death for Australian women aged 18-44 substantiated?
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Science + Technology
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NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
NASA Television
Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland
The new planet-hunting telescope TESS was successfully launched today by NASA, and Australia will play a key role in checking out any new worlds it discovers.
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Google’s Project Loon uses high altitude navigable balloons to deliver internet to rural and remote areas.
Andrea Dunlap/Google
Claudio Bozzi, Deakin University
Tech companies such as SpaceX, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are competing to bring internet to areas without access in the developing world. And that's a problem.
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Listen
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Ben Quilty, Life vest, Lesbos. 2016, oil on polyester, 60 x 50cm.
Australian War Memorial
Joanna Mendelssohn, UNSW
Art has always depicted the crimes of our times throughout centuries of wars and humanitarian crises. Can we really expect it to truly make a difference in the real world?
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Featured jobs
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UNSW Sydney — Sydney, New South Wales
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Queensland University of Technology — Brisbane City, Queensland
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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University of Western Australia —
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Featured events
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Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont, Sydney, New South Wales, 2009, Australia — Australasian Hydrographic Society
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PO Box 1371, Mitcham North, Victoria, 3132, Australia — Australian Society for Immunology
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IO Myer Studio, UNSW, Kensignton, New South Wales, 2052, Australia — UNSW
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Schulz Building Level 6, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Adelaide, South Australia, 5005, Australia — University of Adelaide
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