A collection of articles written by us and our collaborators about designing a museum and our experiments in science, art, and innovation.
Sticky Beginnings: Microbiomes, Ectogenesis, and the Ethics of Reproductive Futures
Around the room, people worked small handfuls of sticky material between their fingers. It stretched. It clung. It had to be handled, adjusted, and worked. It was messy, lively, exciting, and harder to shape than expected. The slime activity at Ethos: Bioethics of Beginnings was playful, but not trivial. It introduced the vaginal microbiome by […]
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During the Fringe Festival season in March 2026, MOD. visited Whyalla and Mount Gambier to run public shows that bring together researchers from diverse fields alongside comedian and host Jason Chong. These annual events are an ongoing part of the museum programming, this year being an extension of the current in-gallery exhibition at MOD. called […]
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MOD.’s recent Ethos Event begs the million-dollar question – does history belong in museums, or in our backyards?
The year is 2027. You are on a mission to the original Jurassic Park research facility to retrieve dinosaur DNA for a life-saving drug. Amidst this operation, a failed dinosaur mutant escapes, killing innocent civilians and changing life as we know it today. This is the rough plot line of Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025). The […]
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The ethics of AI in the health space.
Would you trust Doctor Chatbot with your health advice? The first Ethos event of 2025 explored the ethics of AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbots in the health space. Ethos Community of Practice aims to foster a culture of ethical questioning amongst researchers and the public. Dr Aaron Davis and Andrew Lymn-Penning began with a Mentimeter survey […]
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Ethos: the ethics of health and safety in the workplace
How do we know if we are thriving or merely surviving at work? Ethos hosted its final event for 2024 by exploring the ethics of health and safety in the workplace. Ethos Community of Practice aims to foster a culture of ethical questioning amongst researchers and the public. Led by ARC Laureate Professor Maureen Dollard, […]
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The unbe-leaf-able reality of Indigenous native foods and how this affects past, present, and emerging Indigenous intellectual property rights.
It is the 1960’s. A Kangaroo Apple is seen growing on a shrub. Before reaching full ripeness, an Indigenous Woman is seen picking said Kangaroo Apple, and consumes it. A non-Indigenous man watches on, intrigued. This fruit stops pregnancy. Extracts from Kangaroo Apple are one of the ingredients of the contraceptive pill. This Indigenous Cultural […]
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Nature is important Life is wonderful, nature is life, nature is important. Nature is important, that’s something that most of us agree on. But housing, infrastructure, agriculture, animals, re-creation and wellbeing are important too. How do we share nature to satisfy the needs and desires of people, whilst nurturing plants, animals, earth and skies? MOD.’s […]
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With emerging technology becoming a large part of our everyday lives, our capabilities are more enhanced. Where do we draw the line? What do we feel comfortable with? September’s Ethos event considered the ethics of augmenting humans, including questions about using external technologies – like our phones – to enhance ourselves more broadly. Ethos aims […]
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MOD. hosted its second Ethos event of the year in May to discuss the million dollar question: should you be able to inherit wealth? May’s event considered the ethics of inheriting wealth including questions about equitable distribution of inheritance more broadly. Ethos aims to foster a culture of ethical questioning amongst students, researchers, and the […]
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MOD. hosted its first Ethos event for 2023 to consider the ethical implications of human interaction in space – including questions about living, working, and mining the moon, and space more broadly. Ethos aims to foster a culture of ethical questioning amongst students, researchers, and the public. April’s gathering delved into the ethics of space […]
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