Future Tense

Authorities in New York city are planning to introduce a congestion pricing scheme. Vehicles entering certain parts of Manhattan will soon have to pay for the right to do so. Proponents of such schemes say they help reduce traffic, improve air quality, and can boost public transport patronage and funding. But from the experience of other cities around the world, vested interests and partisan polit...

It's time to rethink what we mean by productivity, says work futurist, Dominic Price. What's important isn't output, but outcomes. And confusing the two, he says, is simply counter-productive! Also, benefit corporations — why many businesses are moving away from an obsession with profit at all cost; And why a compulsory savings model could help control inflation without raising interest rates.

Scientists are experimenting with sound to try and lure seabirds back to depleted environments. But not just any sounds – we're talking about the coos and calls associated with breeding. It's all part of an ecological approach called Acoustic Restoration and its already having an impact on Palmyra Atoll – a remote island halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa. It's hoped the acoustic approach c...

Around two billion air conditioners are currently in use across the globe but the amount of electricity they use is not sustainable, so what are some alternatives?

Chatbots and other forms of interactive AI aren't just shaping our online preferences, they're gradually redefining the contours of what we mean by love, sexuality and intimacy. Sociologist Anthony Elliott warns the impacts will be society-wide, not just personal. Also, do we need a set of general principles for managing chatbot liability in the absence of regulation? And how the rights of childre...

Why do otherwise sensible people continue to do things that are bad for them, that impact negatively on their personal future? Also, what happens in the brain when you're trying to make or break a habit?  Temptation, addiction and habit formation – mapping the pathways to self-destruction and how to navigate a better course. 

2023 could be the year we finally reach a tipping point in the fight against climate change. The energy think-tank Ember predicts global greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector (which accounts for 30% of global emissions) are finally on the way down. Also, a tipping point of a very different kind – experimentation in neuro-technology is now so advanced that ethicist Nita Farahany believes co...

Exploring new ideas, new approaches, new technologies — the edge of change.

Amazon now feels more like a racket than an open shopping platform; you can't find posts from your friends on Facebook because it's clogged with unsolicited advertising; and Uber no longer seems like a cool, efficient taxi service, it's morphed instead into a global machine for turning gig workers into the new underclass – it's all part of a process Cory Doctorow has dubbed "enshittification". In...

Exploring new ideas, new approaches, new technologies — the edge of change.

Japan has long prided itself on its pacifist constitution. The country's future after WW II was defined by Article 9 which famously denounced aggression. But, in recent years security has become a paramount concern with increasing tensions around the status of nearby Taiwan and challenges from neighbouring countries. The Japanese are now renegotiating how best to defend themselves and their intere...

Global permission to mine the ocean floor — the International Seabed Authority will soon meet and decide whether or not to allow seabed exploitation, and in what circumstances. We'll hear the arguments both for and against and get some background on this little known, but hugely consequential, international regulatory body. Also, will advanced technology one day make the oceans transparent? And if...

How best to build our homes so they can better withstand natural disasters? It's not just about designing for floods or fire, for example, but creating structures to withstand multiple threats. And to cope with any change of temperature on top of that? Many countries are facing an increase in climate-related threats, and they're struggling to cope and adapt. In Australia, a review of the National...

Robobees and building more hives – there's no easy solution to the global decline in bee population numbers and associated problems with pollination. Scientists around the world are seeking a better understanding of bee behaviour and how it can be modified. Their efforts involve using micro robotics to pamper the Queen bee and to improve the insect environment. A mix of the sophisticated and the v...

Toby Walsh is an expert on Artificial Intelligence. He recently declined an offer to sign an open letter calling for a moratorium on the technology's further development, but he's no techno-utopian. In this feature interview, recorded at the Brisbane Writers Festival, he explains his position and warns the world risks repeating the mistakes made through the unregulated release of social media at t...

22-year old Effy lost her best friend and romantic pen pal unexpectedly. Liam was the victim of a change of algorithms — and he wasn't the only human-like chatbot to suddenly disappear. A timely reminder about the dangers of anthropomorphising technology. And what's lost when researchers take an anthropomorphic approach to the study of animals.

More than a decade ago scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch plotted nine plausible ways by which humanity would cease to exist. Now he's revised his list and he joins us to share his updated predictions. Also, why some philosophers argue the planet would be enhanced by human extinction. And how doomsday scenarios from the Cold War still influence environmental thinking.

Citizen scientists across the world have joined forces to map the microplastic crisis in our oceans. It comes as a UN agency moves to create a global treaty to end plastic pollution. Also, the idea that trees can communicate via extensive networks of underground fungi is increasingly popular, but is it correct? New research casts doubt on the extent of the claim. And, replacing cargo planes with d...

Beijing likes to trumpet its economic clout. And as the second largest economy in the world there's no denying its power and influence. But the Chinese economy is a "black box" according to noted historian, Frank Dikötter, which even senior Chinese officials don't fully understand. It's an economic cauldron powered by massive debt, political spin and ideological dogma – a unique fusion of ersatz c...

Understanding the universe isn't just about visually mapping celestial bodies, it's also about listening to the heavens. Data sonification takes astronomical data and turns it into sound. It could help find new patterns in the huge amount of digital information. And it's a way of enhancing astronomy by promoting greater engagement and accessibility — a musical mix of science, art and cold, hard da...

As food security issues increase across the world, expenditure on agri-food research and development is going the other way – in fact, funding in some western countries is now back at 1980s levels. We also hear about a refrigeration initiative in Rwanda that could help increase food nutrition levels in the developing world and significantly cut food wastage.

Are attitudes towards drinking changing as we learn more about the impact alcohol can have on our bodies? Drinking has been part of our social and cultural activities for centuries. But cultural norms appear to be shifting. So, could alcohol go the way of cigarettes and become socially unacceptable?

The Arctic permafrost is melting, and ancient viruses and bacteria are gradually being freed from the ice. The risks are significant, and it's only one of several possible sources for the next pandemic. But scientists and researchers are working to identify potential threats and better prepare the world for future pandemics.

Bribery involves using money to try and buy a person's favour, but what do you call it when someone uses their resources not to win someone over, but to destroy their political career? Until now, it's had no name. But James D'Angelo, from the Congressional Research Institute in the US, has just invented one . He calls it "brubery" – and it's threatening the very future of Western politics, he says...

Our modern understanding of innovation isn't modern at all, it turns out. Historian, Iwan Rhys Morus, says we're being held back by Victorian-era notions of the future as a land to be conquered; and the lone-genius inventor as the standard bearer of technological advance. Which might explain why research productivity is now sharply declining, despite a substantial rise in research investment.