The Latest Breaking News from The Conversation

By making protests conditional on state approval, governments are eroding our democracy

In July, a group in Bathurst, New South Wales wanted to hold a small rally in a local park against culling wild horses, known as brumbies.

The Conversation · 48m ago

Pope Leo XIV’s lung cancer highlights growing number of nonsmokers diagnosed with the disease – and younger people too

When many people think of an average lung cancer patient, they often imagine an older man smoking. But the face of lung cancer has changed. Over the past 15 years, more women, never smokers and younger people are being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Conversation · 1h ago

Renters and home buyers are seeing AI-‘enhanced’ property photos. Now NSW is changing the rules

A photograph of a house is supposed to tell you what a house looks like. That sounds obvious. But increasingly, it’s becoming a question, rather than a fact.

The Conversation · 2h ago

Ontario’s alcohol overhaul is costing taxpayers more than expected. The LCBO’s finances explain why

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) generated $1.8 billion for the province in 2025-26, down $358 million from 2024-25 and $757 million from 2023-24.

The Conversation · 7h ago

Spawning coral release quintillions of eggs each year: new research

Most kinds of coral spawn once a year. In an enormous multi-day event synchronised to specific phases of the moon, they release vast slicks of eggs and sperm into the ocean to be mixed together by the drifting currents.

The Conversation · 7h ago

What is the Socratic method? Could it be used to test students in an age of AI?

Most students now use AI in their tertiary studies. AI can also, under certain conditions, answer at least 65% of questions correctly in STEM subjects.

The Conversation · 7h ago

How young people do democracy: pausing, questioning, creating and bringing others along with them

The second annual Shopfront Youth-Led Conference rounded out a weekend of activity celebrating the 50th birthday of the Sydney youth arts company with a radical and celebrated history.

The Conversation · 7h ago

When parents don’t see eye to eye: are differences in parenting styles a bad thing?

Sometimes it can be hard for parents to agree on how to raise children.

The Conversation · 7h ago

Introduced species aren’t good or bad. But when they slip from our control, we are quick to condemn them

In George Orwell’s 1945 allegorical novella Animal Farm, pigs coach the other revolutionary farm animals in their new creed of Animalism using the memorable maxim: four legs good, two legs bad.

The Conversation · 7h ago

Mental disorders are twice as common among victim-survivors of intimate partner violence

Open a newspaper on any given day and you’re likely to read about yet another case of intimate partner violence – a form of domestic violence between current or former partners.

The Conversation · 7h ago