Ten fruit flies, encased in individual test tubes, pace the lengths of their glassy quarters like the prisoners they are. On a screen, a graph is plotting each fly’s horizontal position over time. For periods, the flies are still. The occasional nudge spurs a flurry of activity. Bruno van Swinderen, a professorial research fellow at […]
A new report has concluded that 24 of the world’s richest companies are hiding climate inaction behind a veil of greenwashing, while they rake in a combined revenue of over $4.5 trillion and contribute 4% of global emissions. The 2023 edition of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor – a joint initiative from the NewClimate Institute […]
It’s a source of helium, oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, manganese and titanium, and legal headaches.
On a summer’s morning in 2019, in the small New South Wales farming community of Bolong, on the Shoalhaven River, Dr Pia Winberg walked into the processing plant from which she was building her budding seaweed business. Winberg had overnight left a tank of liquid to filter. It contained an extract of a native species […]
As the climate catastrophe morphs from looming threat to ever-present reality, our relationship with it is changing. Australians in particular are watching its effects play out in record-breaking natural disasters, from fires to floods. It’s clear by now that our actions have consequences. Those consequences are being felt around the globe, often in those regions that are most vulnerable to extremes […]
On a soaking wet spring day at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus in Victoria, under a leaden sky devoid of sunshine, two former engineering students are finally taking the solar-powered car they have painstakingly designed over three long years for a spin. “It’s so smooth,” enthuses Angus McDonald, one of the two key designers among […]
Woodside Energy’s quarterly revenue has nearly doubled in a year thanks to strong gas pricing, following a similar announcement from oil and gas giant Santos last week. Woodside on Wednesday reported an 81% jump in its fourth-quarter revenue despite recent declines in oil prices. The company’s high performance is likely down to the fact that most of Woodside’s LNG […]
Western Australia is to enshrine its commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 into law, but environmental groups warn that the state’s proposed gas projects could derail the goal before it gets off the ground. The announcement, made today by Climate Action Minister Reece Whitby, includes a provision requiring Whitby and his ministerial successors to […]
UNSW Sydney projects have been awarded a glut of funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to support research and development that will significantly reduce the cost of solar. As reported this week, the funding is part of ARENA’s ‘Solar 30 30 30’ target, aimed at achieving 30% module efficiency and 30 cents-per-installed-watt at […]
Leaders in the EU and the UK have announced markedly different plans to manage the escalating energy crisis, as August power-prices in Europe soar to an all-time high and Putin vows to shutter the Nord Stream 1 pipeline until sanctions are lifted. The newly-minted UK prime minister Liz Truss declined to follow the EU lead […]
Australia, a country with vast tracts of agricultural land, escalating natural hazards and a booming resources industry, is a world-leader in field robotics.
UK supermarkets are scrapping date labels on hundreds of products to tackle food waste: could it happen here? And is it microbiologically safe?
Stand by for the global weather report.
The “clean” energy that needs to clean up its act.
Soaring power prices have fermented opposition to net-zero targets, so can lower energy bills and climate mitigation be compatible?
How can we fight antibiotic resistance by decoding its evolutionary history?
How can we be so specific about an event so far in the past?
The IPCC report released this week signals hope, but it comes with a fair few ‘ifs’. One of them is about the success of carbon drawdown.
IPCC sixth assessment report on mitigation: The bad news? We’re polluting more than ever. The good news, though, is mitigation strategies are more possible than ever.
Critical science-funding opportunities have been ignored, say the experts.
New research sheds light on the origin story of our mysterious monotremes.
A massive bleaching event – the first during a La Niña climate cycle– has alarmed scientists, meanwhile new research suggests a potential conservation avenue.
As a whistle-blower exposes flaws in Australia’s carbon offsetting schemes it’s worth asking the question: can offsetting be done right?
A non-hormonal contraceptive shows promise in mouse trials – is there hope for humans?
Clearest image yet of a mysterious new space object.
In the first of many small steps, the first Moon-bound Artemis spacecraft is out on the launch pad for a series of tests.
Our national leaders have signalled the importance of mining and refining critical minerals in Australia. What are these resources, and what’s at stake?
A “business as usual” approach failed to deliver vaccines to many that needed them most.
Our precious biodiversity is disappearing before we can even put a name to it.
It’s a multi-million-dollar project, and the best chance yet to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from the abyss. Could de-extinction become a reality? And should it?
How can we go about quantifying the amount of protein removed from our oceans? And what does it tell us about our reliance on seafood, and the possibility of sustainable fishing into the future?
Airbus to test zero-emissions aircraft, but how does it work?
What’s in a name? When it comes to conservation priorities, potentially a plant’s very survival.
As storms batters the east coast, is this what our future looks like?
As well as providing vital insights into the risks from future earthquakes, Australia’s most sophisticated seismic network, run by Melbourne University, may also have a role to play in climate change mitigation. Read the full article in The Saturday Paper here.
I chat with Zara about the week’s science news.
I join Cosmos journalists Lauren Fuge and Ellen Phiddian to talk about the week in science.
I join Cosmos journalists Lauren Fuge and Matilda Handsley-Davis to talk about the week in science.
I join Cosmos journalists Ellen Phiddian and Jamie Priest to talk about the week in science.
Genetic risk variant for severe COVID-19 actually protects against HIV.
But how does it work, and how soon can we use it?
The colour of hydrogen is a source of heated discussion and debate, but hydrogen’s rainbow is anything but clear cut.
There is, there isn’t, there is, there isn’t… what’s the deal with liquid water on the red planet?
This new world record was no flash in a pan.
How can we be so specific about an event so far in the past?
More like cousin of Omicron, it seems. But how worried do we need to be?
Russian cemetery provides a glimpse into a society’s response to a mini-Ice Age.
What to make of a newly discovered pulsing radiation source?
Breakthrough Australian research is a major advance in quantum computing.
There may be earlier remains of modern humans – but science is certain about these ones.
Immunity can vary between individuals. But the sooner you can boost, the better.
New technology shows the promise of an energy revolution.
New theory on the origins of life is a gas.
Researchers are starting to use AI to develop and test abstract mathematical theorems – with surprisingly creative results.
Persistent human-made debris is providing pelagic habitat for some coastal species. What happens if they make landfall someplace new?
It appears our early ancestors were more diverse than we thought, and co-existed with each other.
UN passes proposal to discuss new space laws as countries flex their cosmic muscles.
Researchers identify key genes that help hardy shrubs adapt to the Atacama desert.
Species dying out as waterways trickle to a stop in the jarrah forests.
Six-million-year-old Cretan footprints challenge beliefs about human evolution
Species dying out as waterways trickle to a stop in the jarrah forests.
There’s more evidence – if any were needed – to underline the importance of correct diagnosis for endometriosis.
New research reveals some of the last practitioners of an archaic human culture.
The AUKUS submarine deal has re-ignited debate around nuclear power. What are the pros and cons?
Dogged archaeologists continue to make discoveries that extend knowledge of early human history in this part of the world.
Population genetics and machine learning draw timelines on Pacific Island migrations.
With Australia’s first cryogenics facility set to open this year, will human cryopreservation ever be a reality?
The state will phase out native forest logging by 2024 – so is this decision backed by science?
An interview with Meecham Philpott of ABC Tropical North about Space-X, satellites and the legality of putting things into orbit.
Competing interests are vying for the resources of WA’s magnificent Martuwarra (Fitzroy) River system, while Traditional Owners sound the alarm.
Illegal trade bust reveals a remarkable specimen of a ground-dwelling pterosaur.
Genomic clues from the grave of an ancient ‘princess’ reveal a vanished people.
A green-future wealth that could stabilise Afghanistan for decades lies trapped by the country’s past.
New research shows just how much the 1987 Montreal Protocol has protected the planet.
A new way to manipulate spin qubits – and hasten the arrival of the quantum computer.
It’s certain that rising sea levels are due to anthropogenic climate change, but the effects are not felt equally. Low-lying communities across Australia and the Pacific are already gasping for air – if action isn’t taken, some islands – and entire nations – could slip beneath the waves.
The mammoth covered enough of Alaska’s ranging wilds to circle the Earth twice over – in only 28 years
3M State of Science Index shows Aussies have deep trust in science and scientists
A looted relic is finally returned to its rightful place, but the problem is enormous.
137 full genomes from eight Middle-Eastern populations reveals links to agriculture
Sales of complementary medicines have been driven up by COVID fears, but Immune-boosting claims for them are doing more harm than good.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has said that his Starlink satellite-based internet will be able to connect anyone, anywhere – except the polar regions – by August of this year. Musk’s floating head made the extraordinary promise via video call at the 2021 Mobile World Congress (an annual mobile communications trade show) in early July. Starlink, a […]
Ahead of World Environment Day, Amalyah Hart explores legal ‘rights of nature’.
Rapid and drastic melting last summer of the area predicted to be the Arctic’s final refuge of ice has been pinned to unusual meteorological conditions and climate change, with scientists suggesting the ‘Last Ice Area’ (LIA) is more vulnerable than previously thought. The LIA is a region north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island in the […]
Between November 2019 and March 2020, the star Betelgeuse – the second closest red supergiant to Earth, and a star that’s slowly pulsing towards the end of its lifespan – dimmed visibly, sparking global speculation about the cause. For many in the astronomical community, it was thought at first that Betelgeuse might be about to supernova – […]
American biotech company Novavax announced yesterday that their COVID-19 vaccine PREVENT-19 demonstrated 90% overall efficacy in its phase 3 trial, and provides 100% protection against moderate and severe disease. The phase 3 trial showed PREVENT-19 had high efficacy (90.3%) against newer variants of concern and variants of interest (VOC and VOI respectively). This means that PREVENT-19 may […]
Solar and wind are the cheapest sources of new electricity generation in Australia, and renewables are outcompeting fossil fuels for cost efficiency across the board, according to a new report from CSIRO. The latest report confirms findings from previous years that renewables are not just good for the planet, they’re good for the nation’s coffers […]
The New Zealand mud snail is a small but hardy creature that can reproduce at epic rates. Dispersed across the globe on the waves of globalisation, populations of this tiny aquatic mollusc are crowding out native species in riverbeds around the world. Now, a team of scientists from the University of Iowa, US, have deployed […]
Sometimes AI makes its own rules to solve puzzles. For Cosmos Magazine.
Scientists say pre-clinical cellular research needs to be diversified. For Cosmos Magazine.
Experts argue that health workers who choose not to get vaccinated should have their jobs modified. For Cosmos Magazine.
Discovery sheds light on the evolution of modern human behaviour. For Cosmos Magazine.
Two new papers assess the impact of melting land ice on sea level rise. For Cosmos Magazine.
NASA scientists to unveil planning for an interstellar space probe at the EGU General Assembly. For Cosmos Magazine.
Dutch researchers build the basis for the internet of the future. For Cosmos Magazine.