ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 8, 2026.
Are we ever truly free to make decisions? New study tracks a universal process in the brain
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Claire Fong, PhD Candidate in Cognitive Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne Imagine you’re in line at your favourite bakery, deciding whether to have a doughnut or a tart. You weigh them up, the doughnut wins, and you settle on that. By the time you’re at the
Is sitting with your legs crossed actually bad for you?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Pate, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney Most of us were told off at some point for how we sat. “Don’t cross your legs, you’ll ruin your knees.” “You’ll get varicose veins.” “Sit properly.” “Sit up straight.” It belongs to that familiar pile of
‘Someone, everyone, stop them’ – and now Trump has pulled back from the brink
COMMENTARY: By Marilyn Garson, of Sh’ma Koleinu – Alternative Jewish Voices Vietnam survived Nixon’s madman theory and the world survived the era of mutually assured destruction. Now we face the moment of two super-empowered shitheads. There is nothing nicer to call them. Who will stop two self-obsessed, very old men, already dedicated to tearing down
Spotted a jellyfish bloom recently? Here’s what may have triggered it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa-ann Gershwin, Research Scientist in Marine Biology, University of Tasmania On a calm summer morning in southern Australia, the water can look deceptively clear, until you see thousands of gelatinous shapes washing ashore. In January, thousands of pink lion’s mane jellyfish washed into Port Phillip Bay, prompting
What’s the place of humans in a world redefined by AI? Steve Toltz’s new novel has some ideas
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Robinson, Lecturer, Professional Communications, Public Humanities & Creative Writing, The University of Melbourne The conditions for Russell “Rusty” Wilson’s life were set with the roll of a dice. After his parents announced their divorce, Rusty and his twin sister, Bonnie, were split up in a move
Polls suggest Trump still shielding Labor as right-wing vote drops
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne In my March 30 article about Newspoll and two other polls, I said Donald Trump’s unpopularity was shielding Labor from a backlash over the fuel crisis. The
The government has boxed itself in over fuel saving strategies – but there is a way out
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau While the government works to reassure New Zealanders that fuel stocks are stable, the numbers tell an uncomfortable story: the country has about 27 days of onshore cover for petrol and 17 days of
Earthrise to Earthset: how the planet’s climate has changed since the photo that inspired the environmental movement
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Dunstone, Climate Science Fellow, Met Office Hadley Centre A new Earthset image has been captured by the crew of Artemis II, 58 years since the iconic Earthrise photograph taken by the crew of Apollo 8. Over these past six decades, the climate has changed dramatically. “Oh
Swum into a jellyfish bloom recently? Here’s what may have triggered it
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa-ann Gershwin, Research Scientist in Marine Biology, University of Tasmania On a calm summer morning in southern Australia, the water can look deceptively clear, until you see thousands of gelatinous shapes washing ashore. In January, thousands of pink lion’s mane jellyfish washed into Port Phillip Bay, prompting
Keith Rankin Analysis – The Axis Nuclear Option in light of Japan 1945
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 8 April 2026. Based on my reading of the latest upscaling of US rhetoric, one of the military options being considered by the Israeli-American axis is the nuclear option. Refer Trump says a ‘whole civilization will die tonight’ if deal isn’t reached, One News, 8 April 2026. The possibility of Netanyahu
Should clinics prescribe medicinal cannabis that they also supply? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Mintzes, Professor in Pharmaceutical Policy, School of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney You can have an online consultation, be prescribed medicinal cannabis, and have it sent directly to your home, in a seamless operation. This one-stop-shop certainly sounds convenient. But not everyone’s happy.
6 things Australia should do to tackle the energy crisis rather than just building bigger fuel reserves
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University The three-page fuel plan the Australian government released last week was very light on detail. So too was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s address to the nation. This week, Energy Minister Chris Bowen moved to reassure Australians their fuel supply was
Australia’s biggest stock exchange needs tougher competition, or we all risk paying the price
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Bird, Industry Fellow, Corporate Governance & Senior Lecturer, Swinburne Law School, Swinburne University of Technology Almost every Australian has a stake in how well the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) works. Most working adults have superannuation savings invested in companies listed on the ASX, which together are
Ancient Romans were obsessed with a plant said to be contraception and aphrodisiac. Then one day, it went extinct
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas J. Derrick, Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University Roman leader Julius Caesar is said to have kept a stock of it in the treasury. Ancient writer Pliny the Elder says Rome’s Emperor Nero owned the last stalk of it. And some
Plagiarised research passed automated tests, and I detected it – but only because it copied my work
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolyn Heward, Senior lecturer, Clinical Psychology, James Cook University Earlier this year, I published a paper on the ethics of researching military populations. The core argument was straightforward: the standard rules researchers follow to protect participants – for example, informed consent and voluntary participation – don’t work
Slopaganda wars: how (and why) the US and Iran are flooding the zone with viral AI-generated noise
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Alfano, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University In early March, a week after the first US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the White House posted a video of real American attacks mixed with clips from popular movies, television series, video games and anime. Iran and its sympathisers responded
Open letter to Peters: We fought fascism. Why are we silent now?
OPEN LETTER: By Nureddin Abdurahman to NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters Minister, You are about to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a time of real global tension. Moments like this define countries. My great-grandfather fought fascism. In 1935, when fascist Italy invaded my country of birth, Ethiopia, then Abyssinia, Emperor Haile Selassie
Ben Roberts-Smith is accused of 5 war crime murder charges. How did we get here?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Taucher, Lecturer in History, Murdoch University After landing in Sydney airport following a flight from Brisbane, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested by Australian Federal Police. He’s faced court in New South Wales and been charged with five counts of the war crime
This isn’t journalism – Australia’s Bowen beat-up and the Iran war
The Murdoch press runs cover for an illegal war by blaming the wrong man entirely, instead of informing the public of facts. Michael West Media reports. COMMENTARY: By Andrew Brown Here is a reliable indicator that you are being managed rather than informed. When the story gets complicated, when the real cause of your pain
It’s now easier to get antibiotics for UTIs. But here’s what to do if your symptoms don’t go away
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Iris Lim, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Science, Bond University You wake up with that familiar urgency to go to the toilet and burning when you pee – and no matter how many times you go, that urgency doesn’t let up. You know exactly what it is: a
