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The first step on the Moon was one of humanity’s most exciting accomplishments. Now scientists are planning return trips – and dreaming of Mars beyond.

For many years, the US company Nvidia shaped the foundations of modern artificial intelligence. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are a specialised type of computer chip originally designed to handle the processing demands of graphics and animation. But they’re also great for the repetitive calculations required by AI systems.

This year, a series of rallies organised by neo-Nazi groups in Australian cities sparked public outrage and concern about the extreme right.

Today, the Albanese Labor government released the long-awaited National AI Plan, “a whole-of-government framework that ensures technology works for people, not the other way around”.

Last week, police confirmed four students at Victorian boarding school Ballarat Grammar had been cautioned over a series of “strappings” of younger students. This followed other allegations of hazings and abuse at the school, which emerged earlier this year. Some of these dated back decades.

Every year, government workers around Australia start fires in the bush. The idea behind these prescribed burning programs is that removing dry leaves and branches reduces the chance of bigger, more dangerous fires. Over many decades, prescribed burning has settled into a dogma – an unquestionable good.

From causing a major phone outage to shutting down street lights across parks, suburbs and roads, copper theft has become a clear public safety risk.

Conservationists have long anticipated the recent announcement that the national effort to eradicate possums, stoats and rats will now include feral cats.

If you were to wander along the parts of Antarctica that are ice-free, you might be surprised to see something soft and luxurious growing right at your feet: deep green carpets of moss that look like draped green velvet nestled between rocks.