The two phases of the coronavirus
July 17 marked the 200th day of counting the number of infections and deaths arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, writes Dr John Egan. This count by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and…
Energy
Covid conundrum: interact, produce, consume, or infect
There are early signs to suggest that a coronavirus and a steam engine have enough in common to provide a useful perspective for our economic well-being, writes Dr John Egan in part…
A changing climate boosts the political divide
The young have taken to the streets in peaceful protest showing governments that they too have a voice. The upcoming Australian election may prove them right, says Geoff Kitney. As the world…
Maxwell’s Brexit: A case of intangible destruction
Strip away from Brexit the bitterness, debate and division and what is left – an abrupt change of circumstance with a future that is unknowable, concludes John Egan. There has been no…
Maxwell’s Consumer: seeking a sustainable world
The recent uprising of the Gilets Jaunes in France is one idiosyncratic national reaction to a global problem. But global problems demand global answers and Maxwell’s demon offers a possible solution, writes…
Maxwell’s Entrepreneur: finding the edge
If there is a powerful take-home message from last week – for chief-execs and business students alike – the succinct observations of Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, on “thoughtful disagreement” would…
Climate of division, even in the Lucky Country
Australia was once dubbed ‘the lucky country’. The difficult and divisive issue of climate change may just have put paid to that, writes Geoff Kitney. Travelling through Europe over the past month,…
Plasma drive puts Mars within reach for humans
EXCLUSIVE Interplanetary travel: science has finally caught up with fiction, James Fitzgerald discovers. Gene “Star Trek” Roddenberry’s vision of a pioneering intergalactic society has been with us since the 1960s, but only…
Tracing the path of an energy dissipative UK economy
Today saw the publication of the latest GDP figures for the UK economy. It grew 0.3 per cent over the first quarter of 2017, according to preliminary estimates. Here John Egan introduces…
On sustainability and profit
What determines the sustainability of your commercial enterprise? What makes it profitable? An answer is in the balance of investment into innovation and production, writes John Egan. You are a product manager…