International #ResearchIntegrity conference 16-18 November 2025 Come to hear @elisabethbik.bsky.social Ivan Oransky @jamesheathers.bsky.social @retractionwatch.com Lisa Bero @liammannix.bsky.social @jdwilko.bsky.social @jacksonwryan.com +many others, stay for Sydney in late Spring @sydney.edu.au 🧪

"News titles “should be the best friend of people... Is it somebody who constantly calls you up and says ‘the castle is on fire’? is it someone constantly complaining about everything? People don’t think we are good friends.” www.theage.com.au/national/goo...

How should we deal with the issue of research misconduct in Australia? A growing chorus of voices is now calling for a key reform: the establishment of an independant office of research integrity. My story www.theage.com.au/national/can...

Mark Smyth was one of Australia's most-important scientists, right at the very top of the pile. Until his own institute accused him of "serious academic misconduct" A two part investigation by me in @theage and @smh 1: www.theage.com.au/national/the... 2: www.theage.com.au/national/fol...

Australia's failure to enforce research integrity: "CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton said the Smyth case clearly highlighted the need for an independent research misconduct watchdog instead of allowing universities to investigate allegations against their staff." www.smh.com.au/national/the...

Well done @liammannix.bsky.social good piece of science communication. 🌈 www.smh.com.au/national/out...

What the evidence says about sending your kids to single-sex v co-ed schools www.theage.com.au/national/wha...

Are groundbreaking science discoveries becoming harder to find? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

US's updated COVID vaccine recommendations under Trump's FDA - look like they move it into alignment with Australia? www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

New from me: $10m was spent on these melanoma scanners. Doctors were better at detecting cancer A complex story about technology, overdiagnosis, and Australia's national cancer www.theage.com.au/national/10m...

332 comments on this investigation from me and Henrietta Cook into the vet sector www.theage.com.au/healthcare/t...

The Second Albanese Ministry and its 2025 Administrative Arrangements Order show a government shifting decisively from reform design to delivery architecture www.innovationaus.com/albaneses-ne...

Oh no 💔 cosmosmagazine.com/news/a-new-f...

U.S. Charges Russian Scientist With Smuggling www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/h...

New from me: A stubby goanna-like creature walked across a muddy creek, rewriting the timeline of life 350 million years later www.theage.com.au/national/a-s...

Fascinating piece When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field: An Oral History www.quantamagazine.org/when-chatgpt...

We often talk about micro-political factors that explain election results. Are there structural factors at play as well? Me on the 'thermostasis' theory of politics www.smh.com.au/national/the...

To tell the story of Dandenong, we can begin in a small red-roof hamlet hemmed in by the rolling mountains, dark rivers and thick forests of the Pelagonia Valley. The people who live there call their town Keshava. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

Find me a more Australian photo

The shingles vaccine seems to offer some protection against dementia. Why? And what does this tell us about the real causes of neurodegeneration? My piece from Sunday www.theage.com.au/national/shi...

The science of social media and kids feels a long way from the debate on SocMed age limits in Australia "A 2024 literature review by the US National Academies of Sciences... “did not support the conclusion that social media causes changes in adolescent health”. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New from me: in the last 5 years, ADHD prescribing patterns have undergone a profound shift. More women, more adults. What's driving the change? www.theage.com.au/national/how...

New from me: 'consumer AI models are passing medical exams and acing “clinical reasoning” tests. Perhaps most impressive is their performance on “long case” tests, where physicians are required to have long, complex conversations with their patients' www.smh.com.au/national/cha...

New from me: A small team of Australian scientists won a rare drug approval – and upended the pharma system www.theage.com.au/national/a-s...

New from me: A new study claims fish oil pills slow biological ageing. Should we be taking them? www.theage.com.au/national/a-n...

New from me: A small team of Australian scientists won a rare drug approval – and upended the pharma system www.theage.com.au/national/a-s...

New from Hen Cook and I : Colic treatment containing deadly nightshade under investigation www.theage.com.au/healthcare/c...

New from me: Their arms, legs and throats start randomly swelling. Then scientists ‘engineered’ a precision treatment www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

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@liammannix.bsky.social and I are running a mini-series of deep dives into the pillars of health for Examine, our science column (which you can get for free in your inbox!). Here's Liam's fab evolutionary look at why our bodies penalise us for not exercising: www.smh.com.au/national/why...

TikTok gym bros told me to eat 180 grams of protein per day. It sucked. Here's why I'm listening to Stella - a baboon - instead. 💪 www.smh.com.au/national/wha...

good piece: www.citationneeded.news/trump-memeco...

I think this is super cool: a newsletter profiling how some of the smartest and most-creative Australians work. Starting this week with neuroscientist/really nice guy @SteveKassem thepresentfutureaus.substack.com/p/steve-kass... (disclaimer: author is my gf)

Important story here from Wendy Tuohy: College of GPs pulls support from menopause event as experts criticise influencer claims www.theage.com.au/national/col...

New from me: The science of being unable to meditate – and what to do instead www.theage.com.au/national/the...

'The commission said that people who had a B.M.I. over 25 and too much fat, but who are otherwise healthy, should pretty much be left alone. They should be monitored and counseled not to gain any more weight and possibly to lose some.' www.nytimes.com/2025/01/14/h...

This seems pretty wild. Tests for artificial general intelligence are controversial - but on the ones we use, ChatGPT's 'chain of thought' models score very high www.nature.com/articles/d41...

'In a series of stunning experiments, he and colleagues showed that total energy expenditure is actually similar for active hunter-gatherers and inactive urban couch-dwellers.' Why your body evolved to penalise you for not exercising – even if you hate it www.theage.com.au/national/why...

New from me and Clay Lucas Dying woman and ethical doubts spark probe into cannabis cancer ‘cure’ www.theage.com.au/national/dyi... As always, if you know more, get in touch

What do we may of this story, folks? www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-aust...

‘Should have seen it coming’: How Victoria’s free camping policy came unstuck www.theage.com.au/national/sho...

Why kids need to take more risks: science reveals the benefits of wild, free play www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Good piece here from @angusdalton.bsky.social on bird flu. Key point for me: risk remains low People worried about this should think about what they can do in their *own lives* to cut the risk - eat less meat, particularly chicken - report bird deaths to authorities www.smh.com.au/national/bir...

New from me: ‘We don’t have a Team Australia approach’: Vaccine facility rejects plea for help www.theage.com.au/national/we-...

This is a great story that reminds me of the constant, default skepticism scientists always seem to deploy regarding animal intelligence/agency Do Our Dogs Have Something to Tell the World? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/m...

"“What you see on CSI [the TV show] is a load of crap" www.theage.com.au/national/ins...

When I started covering science, I was fascinated with vitamins and biohacking. But the more time I spend talking to researchers and reading papers, the clearer it becomes the best evidence-based health advice boils down to just a few things www.theage.com.au/national/it-...

Climate reporters may wish to correct me, but I find this story very heartening! reneweconomy.com.au/tidal-wave-o...

it's free!

This story on UPFs is interesting. One thing I wonder about the UPF data: if ~70% of our food supply is ultra-processed, does that get in the way of attributing causality? *everyone* is eating UPFs so how can we link it to health outcomes? www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/o...