Eureka, what an idea! TU IS/iStock/Getty Images Plus Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Who invented the light bulb? – Preben, age 5, New York City When people name the most important inventions in history, light […]
The NIH is a node in an interconnected system producing health and medical advances. Anchalee Phanmaha/Moment via Getty Images In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40% – from about US$48 billion to $27 billion. Such a move would return NIH funding to levels […]
Claudio Schwarz/Unsplash, CC BY Australia’s workforce is almost evenly split between men and women. Yet fewer than one in four Australians work in a gender-balanced occupation. This has improved over time, but at a glacial rate. In 1990, more than half of men (52%) worked in occupations that were more than 80% male. Thirty-five years […]
Steel played a large role in the Industrial Revolution. Monty Rakusen/DigitalVision via Getty Images Many modern devices – from cellphones and computers to electric vehicles and wind turbines – rely on strong magnets made from a type of minerals called rare earths. As the systems and infrastructure used in daily life have turned digital and […]
Chef Phila Lorn prepares a bowl of noodle soup at Mawn restaurant in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Rourke The Philadelphia restaurant scene is abuzz with the news that the famed Michelin Guide is coming to town. As a research chef and educator at Drexel University in Philadelphia, I am following the Michelin developments closely. Having eaten […]
Steelmaking uses a lot of energy, making it one of the highest greenhouse gas-emitting industries. David McNew/Getty Images The U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to claw back US$3.7 billion in grants from industrial demonstration projects may create an unexpected opening for American manufacturing. Many of the grant recipients were deploying carbon capture and storage – […]
The Earth of the last Ice Age (about 26,000 to 19,000 years ago) was very different from today’s world. In the northern hemisphere, ice sheets up to 8 kilometres tall covered much of Europe, Asia and North America, while much of the southern hemisphere became drier as water was drawn into the northern glaciers. As […]
The federal government wants to boost Australia’s productivity levels – as a matter of national priority. It’s impossible to have that conversation without also talking about innovation. We can be proud of (and perhaps a little surprised by) some of the Australian innovations that have changed the world – such as the refrigerator, the electric […]
In the face of US President Donald Trump’s wavering commitments and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inscrutable ambitions, the talk in European capitals is all about rearmament. To that end, the European Commission has put forward an €800 billion spending scheme designed to “quickly and significantly increase expenditures in defence capabilities”, in the words of Commission President […]
Building material made from recycled plastic waste. Rene Notenbomer/Shutterstock The construction industry accounts for approximately 37% of global CO₂ emissions. Traditional materials like cement, steel, and bricks contribute over 70% of its footprint, with cement production making up an especially large share. To confront this problem, researchers are developing all manner of innovative construction materials […]
