Australia faces a sharp decline in Asian language and cultural knowledge — a gap that weakens national capability. The inquiry urges long-term investment, stronger pathways, and better use of diaspora skills to rebuild regional understanding.

The author argues Defence’s restructure rebrands old systems without fixing core problems. Shuffling staff may not lift performance. Cutting senior bureaucratic numbers and simplifying command could deliver clearer accountability, faster capability outcomes, and better value for taxpayers.

Science fiction is merging with reality as exemplified by the development of bio-hybrid computer systems. With stem cell technology, scientists are now in the infancy of mixing living tissue with machines; flagging urgent ethical issues about consciousness and personhood.

The investment will advance collaborative air capabilities and transition the MQ-28A Ghost Bat into a fully-operational warfighting asset, as well as strengthen sovereign defence industry leadership in autonomous air combat systems.

Enshittified can be an offensive term. However, it is widely applied in the tech world to explain how the internet has transposed into a colossal surveillance apparatus capable of tracking our most private behaviours and producing powerless, compliant consumers.

Brain games can help boost focus, attention and improve processing speed. The best games to train brains are different to ticklers like wordle and cross words. Exercise and diet can also help suppress slowing cognitive functions.

Replicator, now under the Defence Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), continues with a focus on larger attack drones, war-games, and counter-drone defence, complementing the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance initiative for smaller systems and homeland security.

A new directed-energy system shows how fast-moving aerial threats can be countered with precise, low-cost strikes — offering a glimpse of future defensive tools shaped by rapid innovation. The Dragonfire test team emphasised pinpoint accuracy at long range.

Cost-per-effect analysis must account for the full operational, sustainment, and production costs of a capability, not just the headline price of individual munitions. True effectiveness considers both tactical outcomes and scalability under wartime conditions.

Taiwan faces constant Chinese pressure across the Strait, blending military threat with political coercion; sustaining stability requires resilient defence, whole-of-society preparedness, and carefully calibrated support from regional partners.