James Purtill

Humanoid robots may be part of our future, but human psychology and the uncanny valley may stand between them and world domination.

As Christmas approaches, it's time to prepare for a great but undeclared festive tradition: Not reading the many books we'll be kindly given as presents. Why do we do this to each other?

New rules around NOx, the most deadly form of vehicle pollution, come into force today, as testing reveals which popular models are pumping out more than others.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are sweeping the Australian market. Exclusive modelling suggests the "low-emission" sales boom may actually delay emissions reductions.

Darren Woolley spent years sharing his expert knowledge of marketing on the web for free. Almost overnight, the world mostly stopped listening to businesses like his.

The launch of 'AI Mode' ushers in a future where news sites are kept alive to train AI chatbots for a US tech company.

One year on from the rollout of Google AI Overviews in Australia, exclusive data shows steep year-on-year declines in readership for the top news websites as smaller publishers warn of lay-offs.

Slowed progress in AI is narrowing the gap between big tech's proprietary models and their cheaper, open source rivals. 

Home battery installers in Western Australia say they're collectively owed millions of dollars in rebates and loans from a government scheme.

Plug-in hybrids now account for a quarter of electric vehicle sales, as Australians reluctant to entirely drop the fuel tank opt for a compromise.

Vehicle emissions may contribute to more than 1,800 premature deaths in Australia each year, according to the nation's first assessment of the health impact of traffic-related pollution.

After surrendering its dominance of Australian electric vehicle sales, Tesla is also now also rapidly losing ground in the home battery market.

A new generation of low-emission wood heaters that produce a fraction of the particulate pollution of current models could save lives by improving air quality, researchers say.

Less than 10 per cent of homes burn wood for heat, but the smoke is breathed by millions. 

Wood heaters are estimated to be responsible for more particulate pollution-related deaths than all the cars on our roads. This national map shows which areas are affected the most. 

Over the past 30 years, a technology we barely notice has quietly shaped where and how Australians live. But our love of 'manufactured air' also comes at a cost.

A relatively new type of advertising is seeing "explosive growth" due to converging trends in consumer behaviour, with industry experts saying this Christmas will be the biggest ever for affiliate marketers.

Electric Vehicles may be rapidly growing in popularity, but the latest hurdle in uptake is battery fires.

Strata owners are increasingly banning electric vehicles from charging in basement carparks as fire safety authorities disagree over the risk of battery fires.

Redflow had political backing and a soaring ambition to sell energy storage to the world, but its $10,000 batteries regularly failed within months of installation leaving customers out of pocket.

Vehicle-to-grid charging promises to save households money and get more value out of EV batteries. Here's how to take advantage of "V2G".

Defence and communications analysts worry Australia's growing reliance on Starlink presents a security threat as Elon Musk could abruptly deny access "in a crisis".

Huge data centres built for generative AI will generate millions of tonnes of electronic waste by 2030, the equivalent of discarding billions of smartphones each year, a study suggests.

Meta's new experiment is part of the tech giant's cautious return to the use of facial recognition, having backed away from the technology amid a series of costly lawsuits.

In what now seems like an act of reckless naivety, I bought my brother a 23andMe at-home DNA-test birthday present. Now the struggling company may sell its treasure trove of genetic data.