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This week Professor Matthew Bailes won the Prime Minister’s 2024 Prize for Science for his ground-breaking work on gravitational waves and fast radio bursts. Two years ago Bailes talked to our reporter Graem Sims, explaining his excitement about the growing understanding about the value of radio waves. A lot of undergraduate physics is taught using […]

The motion of falling snowflakes can be used to help predict precipitation, according to a new study. The research, which modelled 3D-printed ice crystals falling in glycerine, could be used to improve weather and cloud predictions. The study is published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. Modelled falling snowflakes. Credit: Stout et al., 2024, Atmospheric Chemistry […]

A breakdancer who had been headspinning for more than 19 years developed a growth on his scalp that needed surgical removal. The man, who is in his early 30s, has recovered well from the surgery according to Danish doctors. They’ve published a paper in BMJ Case Reports. The researchers say the case “underscores the importance […]

Chris Gibson is a Senior Professor in the School of Geography and Sustainable Communities at the University of Wollongong. For his ARC Fellowship, he is investigating how decarbonisation impacts Australian regions. Professor Chris Gibson: finding a truce in the climate wars. Decarbonisation and energy transition are at the sharp edge of a hot political battle. […]

The printing press – and a particular manual it printed – played a big role in early modern witch trials, according to a fascinating new study. Between 1450 and 1750, some 90,000 people were put on trial for being witches across Europe.  About 45,000 of these people were executed. Reasons for the fervour of this […]

When you’re pregnant, most guidelines recommend keeping caffeine intake to roughly 200mg (or 1 espresso) per day. But the evidence on coffee and pregnancy is still contested. A new study hasn’t found any strong links between coffee drinking during pregnancy and child brain development. The study, done on a Norwegian cohort, is published in Psychological […]

A trio of scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking work using computing and artificial intelligence to unlock the secrets of protein structure. “One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins,” says Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. “The other is […]

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has announced the immediate cancellation of the controversial herbicide chlorthal dimethyl, also known as Dacthal or DCPA. The cancellation follows evidence that chlorthal dimethyl can cause damage to the development of unborn babies. The herbicide is currently used in 12 products in Australia, all of which are […]

Evidence is mounting that Uranus moon Ariel may be the latest world found to have, or once have had, a subsurface ocean, scientists have revealed at a meeting in Idaho in the US today. If so, that brings to at least 10 the number of such worlds identified as such since NASA announced its astrobiology […]

In a field 40km down the road from Warrnambool in Western Victoria, scientists are beginning the next stage of a long-term carbon storage project. The Otway International Test Centre, run by the CO2CRC, has been injecting carbon dioxide into the ground for 20 years. This month, it’s starting Stage 4 of the research, pumping 15,000  tonnes […]

The worlds of physics and computer science are abuzz as this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has gone to two trailblazers in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies. John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton share the prize. Hopfield, an emeritus professor at Princeton University in the US, invented in 1982 an artificial network that can […]

Your closest biodiversity hotspot could be found no further than the bathroom. According to new research in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, showerheads and toothbrushes are home to a diverse community of viruses – most of which are currently unknown to science. “The number of viruses that we found is absolutely wild,” says Erica M. […]

NASA’s Curiosity rover has found new details in Mars’s Gale crater which helps explain how the Red Planet went from one with a climate with liquid water to the inhospitable place it is today. It may help scientists determine if there ever was life on Mars. Evidence gained by rovers on Mars makes the pretty […]

Carbon capture and recycling technology can deal with emissions from fossil fuel energy production by turning them into naturally occurring chemicals, like methane, adding financial, energy and renewable value, according to Distinguished Professor Tianyi Ma. While carbon capture and storage often face criticisms for potentially prolonging or expanding the use of fossil fuels, they are […]

For the first time, scientists have sequenced the entire genome of the critically endangered Tasmanian spotted handfish, one of the world’s rarest fish. The spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus) is named for its hand-like fins, which it uses to walk short distances on the shallow seabed.  A relative of deep-sea anglerfish, the spotted handfish is an […]

A new report out today says the world is on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster; quoting the United Nations Environment Programme, it says the global temperature will rise by 2.7°C by 2100. According to NASA, the mean temperature on Earth is approximately 15°C or 59°F. But what does this all mean? When we […]

While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change operates on cycles that take most of a decade to ensure scientific rigour, the rest of the world needs to move faster . In fact, according to the 2024 State of the Climate report, an annual missive published in BioScience, multiple climate-related disasters are occurring each month. “We […]

An international team of scientists has warned the world is on “the brink of an irreversible climate disaster”. Their annual report – the 2024 State of the Climate Report, published in BioScience, finds more of Earth’s vital signs are in extreme distress. The team behind the report says that a global carbon price, renewable energy, […]

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA – class of tiny RNA molecules governing how gene activity is regulated. Ambros, now a professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and Ruvkun, a professor at Harvard Medical School […]

A galaxy very similar to our Milky Way home has been found confounding astronomers with its location and age. About a billion years after the Big Bang, things settled in the universe. It hasn’t changed much since then. But before this period, when the universe was still young, things were much more turbulent. At least […]

A global study has found that whale sharks will be 15,000 times more likely to collide with ships by the end of the century due to climate change. The study is published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Sharks and other large marine animals are increasingly encountering human vessels. While the reasons and impact of […]

A new study reveals that Australian people under the age of 50 are facing stagnating life expectancy. The comparative study examined longevity trends in 6 English-speaking (Anglophone) countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These were then compared with other high-income countries. The research is published in the International […]

For years, astronomers have been engaged in a concerted effort to find potentially hazardous asteroids that could hit us with a wallop big enough to seriously impact civilization. Happily, they think they’ve found the vast majority of them. But that doesn’t mean they’ve found them all – not to mention smaller ones still big enough […]

Next-generation optical fibre manufactured in microgravity aboard the International Space Station has been returned safely to Earth. Scientists at Adelaide University in South Australia are now comparing the fibres to otherwise identical Earth-made counterparts to confirm whether the space-made product is superior. It’s thought likely that it is, but the results won’t be known for […]