By Janna Thompson, La Trobe University

Academic freedom has been put in the spotlight with two universities recently coming down hard on academics for comments on social media.

By Hazel Hall, Edinburgh Napier University

What was the greatest astronomical discovery of the 20th century?

Some would say pulsars – highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars emitting beams of electromagnetic radiation. The scientific world was informed of these in a paper published by Nature in 1968.

It's Ada Lovelace day. Image credit: unknown

By Jan Bogg, University of Liverpool

Throughout the year there are special days that see newsagents fill with celebratory cards. Perhaps punched cards would be more appropriate for Ada Lovelace Day, which marks both the mathematical prowess of the woman dubbed the “first computer programmer” and the cultural barriers she faced – those women in science and technical fields still face today.

By Dustin Welbourne

You have likely been to a zoo at some point and visited their reptile house.

A building where the climate control dial is stuck on the “wet sauna” setting, and filled with maniacal children competing to be the first to press their ice cream covered face and hands on every available piece of clean glass.

By Luc Henry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne

By Nick Kelly, University of Southern Queensland