It’s Every Monkey for Themselves
Taking off to mend a broken heart, Vanessa Woods left safe, suburban
Canberra and headed for the remote, wild and distinctly unsafe jungles
of Costa Rica. She was stung so often by killer bees she developed a
lethal allergy, and the monkeys she was to study were evasive, mean and
aggressive. The only difference between them and her housemates was
that at least she could tell her housemates apart.
In this talk, science writer Vanessa Woods will explain how to survive
a year in the jungle: a world
Powering the Planet: The Challenge for Science in the 21st Century
The supply of secure, clean, sustainable energy is arguably the most important scientific and technical challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. Rising living standards of a growing world population will cause global energy consumption to increase dramatically over the next half century. Within our lifetimes, energy consumption will increase at least two-fold. This additional energy needed is not attainable from long discussed sources, the global appetite for energy is simply too much. Pet
The Eighth H.W. Arndt Memorial Lecture: Rehabilitating the Unloved Dollar Standard
The international dollar standard is an accident of history that greatly facilitates international trade and exchange. But erratic U.S. monetary and financial policies, have upset the U.S. and a world economy thus makes foreigners unhappy. Paradoxically, the asymmetrical nature of the dollar standard also makes many Americans unhappy because they cannot control their own exchange rate. Although nobody loves the dollar standard, it is a remarkably robust institution that is too valuable to lose a
The Accidental Guerrilla:Â Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One
In the first few years of the post-9/11 era, the established models for fighting ‘small wars' proved distressingly ineffective against resilient insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the insurgents fought Western armies to a stalemate, it was clear that a new approach was necessary. Dr David Kilcullen, a former Australian army officer, and one of the world's most influential experts on guerrilla warfare, became a key architect of the West's revamped military strategy. As the seni
Why Consciousness does not Extend Outside the Brain
There are good reasons for thinking that the physical basis of cognition can be reasonably taken to extend outside the brain to the body and the world. But not so for consciousness. This lecture goes into the logic of experiments that show that even if cognition is extended, consciousness is not. Smart was right: if consciousness is physical, it is a brain process.
JACK SMART LECTURE
Professor J J C Smart was Professor and Head of Philosophy at the Research School of Soc
Obesity as a Complex Problem
Obesity has increased dramatically across the world, and there is currently no solution to its control. While obesity is easily understood as the positive imbalance of energy intake and expenditure, this does not explain why it is easy to overeat and underexercise. Explanatory models that feed into energy balance include those of obesogenic environments, thrifty genotype, obesogenic behaviour, obesogenic culture, nutrition transition, political economic structures and biocultural interactions of
The Next 100 Years - A Forecast for the 21st Century
In his book The Next 100 Years, George Friedman offers a lucid, highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century.
Drawing on history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years, Friedman shows that w
Riding the Gravity Wave
Students write a biographical sketch of an artist or athlete who lives on the edge, riding the gravity wave, to better understand how these artists and athletes work with gravity and manage risk. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.
Climate Change and Global Health
Climate change raises a number of challenges to human wellbeing, among these is the threat to our health. In combination with climate change, large-scale global environmental changes such as loss of biodiversity, changes in fresh water supplies and stresses on food production systems, have the potential to cause systemic adverse alterations in patterns of health and disease. These can combine with many other specific challenges, including the emergence of new infectious diseases and the re-emerg
Obamarama & the audacity of evidence for health reform in the United States
Since President Barrack Obama took office early this year, Congress has proposed bold actions to address the ailing United States health care system. In a system that spends $2.4 trillion each year on health care with some of the worst outcomes in the western world, there is enthusiasm to revitalise primary care. Dr Andrew Bazemore, of the Robert Graham Center in Washington DC, will talk about health reform in the US and the renewed role for evidence-based policy making.
Career Flow: Identifying Life/Career Patterns Using a Circle of Strength
A world authority on Career Development, Professor Norm Amundson, who was recently visiting from the University of British Columbia, spoke to thirty keen ANU Alumni and Friends on the topic of Career Flow, in particular how to identify life / career patterns by using a circle of strength. The seminar was held on Monday 12 April from 6pm - 7pm at University House, ANU.
Truth Maker Semantics
In this lecture, Professor Kit Fine will explore the notion of truth-makers. What are truth-makers? He will argue that truth-makers are helpful for understanding how things are true but not for understanding what is in the world.
The Trading System in Crisis: The Threat from Proliferating Preferences
Preferential trading arrangements are becoming increasingly popular
among the nations of the world. But are they a positive development?
In the Fourth H W Arndt Memorial Lecture – presented by the ANU
College of Asia and the Pacific and the ANU College of Business and
Economics – Professor Jagdish Bhagwati argues that bilateral,
sub-regional and regional free trade agreements, and the granting of
one-way preferences to developing countries of choice, are crea
An Architecture for International Cooperation on Climate Change
The Fifth Annual Sir Leslie Melville Lecture was presented by
Professor Warwick J McKibbin. Sir Leslie Melville’s legacy
includes the design and establishment of new institutions for dealing
with global macroeconomic interdependence. Today the world is grappling
with a far more complex set of problems related to environmental
interdependence on a global scale.
In this lecture, Professor Warwick McKibbin argues that major countries
must respond to the issue of climate change, tak
The Missing Dimension of Stateness
While Professor Francis Fukuyama’s changing evaluation of the arguments
of his one-time Neocon colleagues has illuminated major issues about
American policy and the war in Iraq, his general thinking about weak
states and foreign intervention has received less attention in
Australia. In this lecture he continues his review of policies and
practices on international aid and the rebuilding of weak, failing and
failed states. As Professor Fukuyama has argued, “state-building is one
Reforming the United Nations
Graduate students from The Australian National University have greater access to show their skills on the world stage now The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and ANU have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU will give ANU graduate students the chance to apply directly for allocated internships with the UNDP - places fiercely contested by students worldwide. The MOU was signed today at the University by Professor Lawrence Cram, Acting Vice-Chancellor
Seminar 12 Sustainable Futures
Convened by Dr Sam Wells, this session will review some of the key aspects of the Climate 2030 seminar series, consider innovative approaches to meeting energy demand in a carbon constrained world and look at the role of organisations in achieving a sustainable future.
Seminar 10 International Policy and Law
This seminar, convened by Professor Bradbrook, will discuss the current state of the law and legal research that is taking place to give impetus to energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and other climate-friendly solutions to the world community.
Sea-level rise,coastal impacts and management implications
People around the world are coming to grips with the potential impacts of climate change.What does climate change mean for our coastlines?
What evidence do we have to suggest that sea-levels will rise? How can we assess the vulnerability of our coastlines
Using ancient DNA to study climate change, mass extinctions, and human evolution
Ancient DNA provides a unique means to watch evolution occurring in real time. By tracking genetic changes in ancient populations we can examine the effects of major climatic changes on animal and plant populations from around the world through the last 100,000 years
