February 14-20, 2015
News
Comment
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Books
Life
Science
I, wormbot: the next step in artificial intelligence
If a robot can be made to think like a worm, how will we define living and non-living beings?
The Quiz
Quotes
MEMORABILIA
“It helped to bring down the Labor government, indirectly.”
The Lugarno resident advertises his infamous “Ditch The Witch” sign on the trading website Gumtree, with an asking price of $3000. Ordinarily, you can buy Pete’s misogyny for about the cost of a pint of beer.
MUSIC
“Beck needs to respect artistry and he should’ve given his award to Beyoncé.”
The rapper explains what should have happened at the Grammys, where Beck won album of the year. Nothing says “respects artistry” like mounting Kim Kardashian in a music video.
ALLIES
“Is Australian prime minister Tony Abbott the most incompetent leader of any industrialised democracy?”
The senior fellow for South-East Asia at the US Council on Foreign Relations muses in a piece for the think tank. Although he takes many more words to say so, the answer is broadly “yes”.
HONOURS
“The best thing I’ve ever worn on my head.”
The cricketer reflects on being named King of Moomba. The crown narrowly beat out peroxide, “Advanced Laser Therapy” and other people’s underpants in the hierarchy of “Things Shane has had on his head”.
POLITICS
“Whether I was a rooster or a feather duster, I think I’m still doing my job.”
The treasurer mixes tenses and logic to explain why he will not be removed from office. How he would perform as an egg or laying hen went unexamined.
RHETORIC
“There was a holocaust of jobs in defence industries.”
The prime minister blames Labor for a loss of one-in-ten defence jobs, managing to be both hugely offensive and, tragically, to miss a rare opportunity to correctly use the word “decimation”. He later withdrew the comment.
