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 […]
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 […]
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?
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.
As a whistle-blower exposes flaws in Australia’s carbon offsetting schemes it’s worth asking the question: can offsetting be done right?
Our national leaders have signalled the importance of mining and refining critical minerals in Australia. What are these resources, and what’s at stake?
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?
What’s in a name? When it comes to conservation priorities, potentially a plant’s very survival.
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.
The colour of hydrogen is a source of heated discussion and debate, but hydrogen’s rainbow is anything but clear cut.
New technology shows the promise of an energy revolution.
Researchers are starting to use AI to develop and test abstract mathematical theorems – with surprisingly creative results.
UN passes proposal to discuss new space laws as countries flex their cosmic muscles.
Six-million-year-old Cretan footprints challenge beliefs about human evolution
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.
The state will phase out native forest logging by 2024 – so is this decision backed by science?
Competing interests are vying for the resources of WA’s magnificent Martuwarra (Fitzroy) River system, while Traditional Owners sound the alarm.
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.
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.
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’.
In Victoria’s Central Highlands, ancient survivors of a lost world cling on against the odds. Economy and industry, fires and drought, loom as close threats. Amalyah Hart journeys deep into the forest, navigating the human stories that will shape it’s future.
This year’s La Nina has allowed some respite and healing after the devastation of Black Summer, but scientists warn that recognising the risks of more fires, more often, will be crucial to species survival. Originally published at: https://www.thecitizen.org.au/articles/seared-into-country-and-memory-lessons-for-a-fiery-future The lush folds of the Newnes Plateau swamps, a critical but endangered habitat in the Blue Mountains […]
Enlisting local initiatives, networks and the lessons of the past, Aboriginal health services were quick off the mark when coronavirus came. Their success to date is powerful testimony to the importance of Indigenous leadership in narrowing the health gap, experts say.