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A supernova seen by astronomers more than 800 years ago has had its remnants thoroughly examined – and they’re weird. Researchers have found a “zombie star” remaining at the centre of the supernova explosion, with dandelion-like filaments peeling away from it. They’ve published their description in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The supernova was spotted by […]

With a milestone in its development looming large, the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is expected to take the stage in the middle of next year, but health bodies and experts are saying that funding for the permanent centre can’t wait. Australia is the only OECD country without a CDC. The Labor Party committed […]

The risks and ethical considerations associated with the data used to train Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care have been outlined by an international expert at a health conference in Adelaide. The problem, says Professor Alastair Denniston, director of the Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham, in the UK, is […]

Palaeontologists studying fossils of corals and algae from 385 million years ago have found  a symbiotic relationship between the organisms today was present in the ancient past as well. Photosynthetic algae recycle nutrients and are important for corals living in nutrient-poor waters. Research published in Nature shows that this relationship was around nearly 400 million […]

For the first time, a black hole has been discovered with two orbiting stars, leading astrophysicists to suggest a surprising way such systems could form. Many black holes have been discovered in binary systems. These pairs involve a central black hole and another object such as a star, denser neutron star or another black hole. […]

A study of two coastal landmarks in the southwest corner of Australia has traced their complex history over thousands of years and how they will change in the future. Samples collected from locations along the coastline of Western Australia’s capital city Perth were analysed by geologists from Curtin University. Their findings are published in the […]

Palaeontologists have turned to robotics in an unusual attempt to recreate ancient life. The aptly named “palaeo-robots” could help scientists reconstruct how fish evolved to walk. Four-legged land animals such as frogs, humans and dinosaurs all evolved from a marine ancestor. The fossil record shows that this transition from water to land occurred about 390 […]

A public health physician and planetary health expert says that healthcare workers now have a “duty of care to both their patients and the planet”. “We have to change our mindset in healthcare, because climate change is harming health,” says Professor Tony Capon, director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute in Australia, whose work has […]

Researchers in Berkeley, California have created a new material they believe might hold the key to capturing carbon from the atmosphere more cheaply and efficiently.   Carbon capture technologies exist but mostly only work well for concentrated sources of carbon like emissions from power plant exhausts and flues. These methods don’t translate efficiently or cheaply […]

Researchers have found the body traits which help ethnic Tibetan women reproduce in the oxygen-scarce, highest region on Earth. Women with the most live births had a combination of blood and cardiovascular characteristics which enhance oxygen delivery to the body’s tissues. “Understanding how populations like these adapt gives us a better grasp of the processes […]

A Pacific region academy of science has been launched with a promise that science can make the region more prosperous. The Pacific Academy of Sciences was launched in Samoa at a side event during the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Pacific Islands was the only region in the world without a science academy. […]

Ice core samples collected in Greenland, spanning 120,000 years of climate history, reveal abrupt “tipping points,” related to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation which plunged Earth into the last ice age. The last ice age, known as the Last Glacial Period (LGP), spanned the period 115,000–11,700 years ago. It’s believed it was triggered by changes […]

New global research has revealed that people don’t want developing countries left out of the climate change debate. Climate change brought about by the burning of fossil fuels is largely driven by the wealthiest nations, while the burden – rising temperatures, sea level increase, food insecurity and environmental degradation – is most keenly felt in […]

A long term and well funded project to reduce the incidence of eye disease in Indigenous communities is having significant impact, with a forecast that one devastating illness will soon be all but eliminated. Preventable vision problems, such as trachoma and cataracts, affect Indigenous people aged 40 and over at much higher rates than non-Indigenous […]

Scientists have come up with a new theory to explain why the 10th brightest star in the sky, Betelgeuse, has been dimming and generally acting oddly in recent years. The new study suggests the red supergiant star has a companion – lovingly called its “Betelbuddy”. Between November 2019 and March 2020, Betelgeuse visibly dimmed. Some […]

Elephant fossils from 300,000–400,000 years ago bear the marks of the earliest signs of ancient humans butchering animals in the Indian subcontinent. The fossils were discovered near the Kashmir town Pampore (also known as Pampar, Panpar) in the foothills of the Himalayas in 2000. The identity of the elephant species and the interaction with ancient […]

A US study has found men who are more concerned about seeming masculine are less likely to forgive transgressions at work. The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. According to the researchers, there’s evidence that men are generally less forgiving than women, and people who forgive more frequently tend to have […]

As part of the Ultramarine project we are diving into our archives and republishing some paid content for free. This long read was originally published in issue 97 of Cosmos print magazine, in December 2022. You can read more amazing long reads if you subscribe now. In a remote archipelago off Australia’s Top End, scientists and Indigenous rangers are […]

Around 3.26 billion years ago, an enormous meteorite slammed into Earth and surprisingly created conditions for some early lifeforms to flourish. Evidence of these lucky lifeforms was discovered and described by early-Earth geologists publishing in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The meteorite, inconspicuously named “S2”, was up to 200 times larger […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have the potential to transform the way healthcare is delivered, but there are also unique challenges to adopting AI technologies ethically and responsibly. AI Ethicist Dr Melissa McCradden, the AI Director of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital Network (WCHN) in South Australia says machine learning is exceptionally good at […]

Marine biologists have challenged the claim that lack of food is driving a population crash in killer whales in the Pacific Ocean saying boat noise may be the issue. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) frequent the waters of British Columbia and feed on Chinook salmon. Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada used echosounder […]

Drying climates spell danger for amphibian species already on the decline. New research shows that global warming of 2°C would result in 6.6% of habitats crucial for frogs and toads dry up. A temperature rise of 4°C could see 33% of frog habitats become arid. The new paper, published in Nature Climate Change, focuses on […]

Australians are set to have stricter guidelines on PFAS “forever chemicals” in their water, after a review by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The council has published new draft recommendations for the concentrations of PFAS in drinking water. The new thresholds are significantly lower than those set in 2018, during the last […]

An extremely well-preserved sawfly fossil dating to 11–16 million years ago has been found in central New South Wales. The specimen is an extinct species described for the first time in the journal Systematic Entomology. It was discovered at McGraths Flat near the town of Gulgong, more than 200km northwest of Sydney. McGraths Flat is […]