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China's new high-speed train doesn't roll along railways, it flies through tubes.There are hopes it will one day connect cities and villages across the country, running at speeds of up to 4,000 kilometres per hour.The magnetic-levitation (or maglev) train can clock speeds of 623 kph in tests — almost 200 kph quicker...

The parents of a child who killed four people in a school shooting have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward their son Ethan Crumbley's mental health.War...

In short: Leading climate scientists say there is a margin to the extreme heat the world has experienced over the past year that can't be explained by global warming or known climate drivers.All predictions for the global temperature increase by global climate institutions fell way short of the actual number of 1.44...

In short: The first product from an Australian lab-grown meat company is on sale in Singapore. Singapore's food agency approved the Japanese quail cell parfait for sale.What's next? Australia's food regulator is expected to give the product the nod by the end of the year.A parfait made from Japanese quail cells has ...

In short: Burmese python meat has been found to be the most efficient protein ever studied.Rapid growth was observed in pythons on a diet of food waste.What's next? The meat is not commonly sold or eaten in Australia, but a butcher says he would meet demand if a market emerged.Python snake meat could be a super prot...

Could an online, government-issued ID be a safer way to prove who you are online without giving companies your personal details?The federal government hopes so, and last week moved it one step closer to setting up such a system when the Senate approved its Digital ID bill.The bill would establish a voluntary identit...

Mainstream economics is in "disarray."It ignores the reality of power, it neglects questions of equity, and its policy recommendations can be "little more than a license for plunder."That's the opinion of Angus Deaton, the British-American economist who won the economics version of the Nobel Prize in 2015.The 78-yea...

In short: A new study has found that 84 per cent of countries around the globe experienced a drop in life expectancy during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2021.Australia was one of the only countries to record an increase in life expectancy, demonstrating the "relative success" of Australia's handling of the pan...

Construction of Sydney's second airport is well underway with the runway nearly done, but it will be missing one key feature.When the new airport — formally named Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) — opens in late 2026, it won't have a traditional air traffic control tower on site.Airspac...

One morning in January this year, marine scientist Terry Hughes opened X (formerly Twitter) and searched for tweets about the Great Barrier Reef."I keep an eye on what's being tweeted about the reef every day," Professor Hughes, a leading coral researcher at James Cook University, said.What he found that day surpris...

After building four raised veggie beds in my backyard, I baulked at buying in loads of costly soil and compost to fill them. Instead, I opted for a thriftier route — and filled them up for free using rotting logs and old branches.It's called 'hügelkultur' (pronounced 'hoo-gul-culture'), a no-dig layering method ofte...

In short: A court dismissed terror charges against a 13-year-old boy who was fixated with the Islamic State, late last year.The Australian Federal Police has defended a covert operation which was found to have further radicalised the boy.What's next? Greens senator David Shoebridge is calling for an independent revi...

Many modern cars allow us to stream music, get directions and send messages through the internet, but they can also collect a lot of data about their drivers and where they're going.One of the world's largest car companies, Toyota, was this week accused of "collecting extensive customer data" and potentially sharing...

It was an image broadcast for just a few moments on a Melbourne TV news bulletin, but it's since attracted international attention.The digitally altered image of Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell used to introduce a story on Victorian duck hunting saw the white dress she was wearing in the original p...

Nestled at the foot of the Scotsburn Hills of western Victoria is a small, family-run blueberry farm called Thistleberry Farm — however that is not quite the case if you are looking at Apple Maps.Thistleberry Farm's street location and opening hours were removed from Apple MapsThe farm's owners say they're suffering...

The Australian government has announced sanctions against Russian man Aleksandr Ermakov over his role in the Medibank Private data breach.The personal information of 9.7 million Medibank customers was stolen in a 2022 cyber attackThe ASD and the AFP have identified Russian Alexsandr Ermakov as the man responsibleThe...

It was only when a regular customer called to ask why he had shut his restaurant that Chris Pyatt found out his small business had been listed as "permanently closed" on Apple Maps, leaving him with a costly problem.Apple Maps incorrectly listed a restaurant as "permanently closed"The small business owner was unawar...

You may be aware that smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet and too much alcohol are linked to dementia and stroke.But there are some other, perhaps surprising, ways you can reduce your risk of cognitive impairment as you age.Sleep, socialising, challenging your brain, and small amounts of alcohol have all been found...

Scientists are advising people against bludgeoning cane toads to death with golf clubs as Queenslanders prepare to purge their local environments of the pest.Scientists recommend the "cool-and-freeze" method as a humane alternativeHitting the animals can cause them to expel poison, which can temporarily blind humans...

Community science helps us unlock some pretty quirky aspects of the natural world, and those discoveries often come from unlikely places.Take year 3 student Emma Glenfield, who started with a simple question about magpies and wound up conducting some cutting-edge research almost by accident.Emma keeps a journal fill...

A frustrated council in Western Australia has erected signs warning drivers against using Google maps after GPS-based directions repeatedly sent travellers down unsafe roads. Quairading Shire in WA's Wheatbelt has erected signs telling drivers not to follow GPS instructionsIt has attempted to have the online maps co...