Articles
Re-evaluating Buchanan’s conception of law and law-making
Nobel laureate James Buchanan might not be as well-known to a broader public as other 20th century economists such as Milton Friedman or Maynard Keynes. But in extending the economic behavioural model to democratic politics Buchanan was pivotal. Being an anti-elitist foe of populism, before its ascent he appealed to the democratic electorate to vote for constraining democratic politics by […]
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How dialogue and democracy evolve through the interactions of children
It used to be said that children should be ‘seen and not heard’. However, since 1989 the United Nations enshrined child-centred education into its core values, and this educational style is now the norm for many societies. Recognising children as human beings with individual rights and agency, this style of education aimed to change how society views and treats children. […]
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Fathers who use violence: Shifting the focus toward the perpetrator
Professor Cathy Humphreys of the University of Melbourne and Dr Susan Heward-Belle of the University of Sydney examine the best ways we can bring about organisational change in the way we handle domestic abuse and domestic violence by fathers, using communities of practice that allow bottom-up participatory action research to bring about top-down complex systems change. When examining the field […]
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Discovering perfect squares and building square roots
Mathematicians have been faced with the problem of finding perfect squares and their roots since ancient times. Recent findings in computational number theory have enabled the development of efficient algorithms for discovering square numbers. Professor Philip Brown from the Department of Foundational Sciences (Mathematics) at Texas A&M University Galveston Campus has developed a new algorithm that can detect a perfect […]
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Telemetry reveals how river connectivity affects fish ecology
Human impacts on river systems have reduced connectivity by creating barriers that often prevent fish passage. The Lake Winnipeg Basin Fish Movement Project has used acoustic telemetry to track fish migration along the river system and build vital knowledge and understanding of fish ecology. The results will inform river restoration and conservation of two fish species, the Channel Catfish and […]
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The effect of religiosity on emotional well-being among prisoners
Studies show that religion enhances emotional well-being among prisoners, but they rarely address how. Professors Sung Joon Jang and Byron R. Johnson at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, examine the effects of religion on offenders in the South African correctional system. They test whether religiosity is likely to lead to a sense of meaning and purpose […]
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Brains over brawn: Mating strategies in Japanese macaques
If you’re a Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata yakui), you don’t have to be the alpha male to be the most successful. In fact, recent research from Dr Yosuke Otani at Osaka University shows that a better mating strategy is likely to give you the best reproductive success. These monkeys may have evolved to outsmart the primate hierarchy. We have a […]
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Meaningful human control: Designing safety into automated driving systems
Automated vehicles hold great potential for improving traffic flow, fuel consumption and road safety, while reducing workload and stress for drivers. However, the vehicle still requires human supervision, with the human-machine interface improving the human’s ability to supervise the automated driving system (ADS). Simply putting the human in control of supervising such an automated system, however, is not meaningful. Humans […]
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Understanding statistical significance of subgroups in the data science era
Statistical models are routinely used to derive inferences from large amounts of data. They directly impact several disciplines, including precision medicine and individualised learning, which rely on information concerning individuals and groups to make predictions on the expected effects of a specific intervention on population subgroups. Although it is relatively easy to find impressive-looking associations in big data, for instance […]
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A new academic discipline: Advancing factory science, economics and artifacts science
Professor Masayuki Matsui from The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, proposes that Industrial Engineering and Operational Research (IEOR) can be viewed as the art of his 3M&I-body system. His methods have led to a new academic discipline that contribute to the integration of knowledge and intelligence in nature versus artifacts science. This research facilitates the realisation of the cyber/real world, including […]