Explainers
Explainer
Psychology
Why do smart people join cults? And how do they get out of them?
It’s not just doomsday bunkers and goat’s blood. Cults are all around the world, including in Australia. What are the red flags and how do cult leaders operate?
- by Sherryn Groch
Latest
Explainer
Meteorology
What is the ‘feels like’ temperature?
There can be quite a gap between the forecast temperature and the ‘feels like’. What’s the actual difference? And why does it sometimes feel especially cold?
- by Millie Muroi and Stuart Layt
Explainer
Space
James Webb sees billions of years into the past. How could it shape the future?
The successor to the Hubble telescope could answer key questions like whether aliens exist and how the universe began. How does Webb work and what does it mean?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
Science
Ten years on from the God particle, we may have found a fifth force of nature
It took four decades to find. Homer Simpson predicted it. And, depending on who you ask, it could one day destroy the universe. What’s the Higgs boson? And what is left to discover?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
Russia-Ukraine war
How could Putin’s Ukraine war trigger famine more than 8000km away?
Block a port in one country and food supply dwindles in another. But who bears the brunt of the crisis, and what can be done about it?
- by Matt Wade
Explainer
Extreme weather
Scientists thought these monster waves were myth. Now they’re racing to understand them
These are the real sea monsters: waves so tall they can block out the sky. So what happens when waves go “rogue”? Why do they strike out of nowhere? And how do sailors survive them?
- by Sherryn Groch
Explainer
Investing
From Gosling to GameStop, ‘shorting’ is having a moment. But what exactly is it?
Shorting someone of change is pretty clearly a bad thing – but what about “shorting” a company?
- by Millie Muroi
Explainer
LGBTQ
What are the stages of puberty and are they a good measure of sporting power?
New rules affecting transgender women athletes in elite swimming have sparked controversy. What do they have to do with the stages of puberty? And what does the science say?
- by Wendy Tuohy
Explainer
Food culture
Why do people queue for brunch?
On weekends across Australia, you’ll see them: the long queues outside feted eateries. Some cafes try to make long queues happen on purpose. What are they thinking?
- by Osman Faruqi and Carla Jaeger
Explainer
Energy
Our fast guide to the energy crisis and what you can do about it
How did we get here? Will price caps help households? And where will it end?
- by Nick O'Malley and Angus Thomson
Explainer
US politics
What are the Capitol riot hearings all about?
The hearings aim to show that Donald Trump was central to a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 US election results. But how do they work?
- by Farrah Tomazin