The radioactive legacy of the arms race solves a mystery about the world’s largest fish.
AIMS researcher Mark Meekan swimming with a whale shark. (Horizontal) Credit: Wayne Osborn
Atomic bomb tests conducted during the
Cold War have helped scientists for the first time correctly determine the age
of whale sharks.
The
discovery, published
in the journalFrontiers
in Marine Science, will help ensure the survival of the species – the
largest fish in the world – which is classified as endangered.
Using a face mask, Adelaide researchers have a new way to detect a major hidden equine health issue.
Surita du Preez, The University of Adelaide
Up to 80 percent of horses – including racehorses and showjumpers – suffer from a form of asthma that affects their performance and wellbeing.
Researchers led by veterinarian Surita Du Preez from the University of Adelaide are designing a way to detect the condition – which often produces no obvious symptoms – without adding further stress to the affected animals.
“Currently the methods that are available to diagnose the mild to moderate form of horse asthma are invasive,” says Surita.
After 90 years, scientists reveal the structure of benzene.
Professor Timothy Schmidt, unravelling the mystery of benzene. Credit Exciton Science
One of the fundamental
mysteries of chemistry has been solved by Australian scientists – and the
result may have implications for future designs of solar cells, organic
light-emitting diodes and other next gen technologies.
Ever since the 1930s debate has raged inside chemistry
circles concerning the fundamental structure of benzene. It is a debate that in
recent years has taken on added urgency, because benzene – which comprises six
carbon atoms matched with six hydrogen atoms – is the smallest molecule that
can be used in the production of opto-electronic materials, which are
revolutionising renewable energy and telecommunications tech.
A new type of concrete that is
made out of waste materials and can bend under load has been developed by
researchers from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
Behzad Nematollahi, Swinburne University
This material, which
incorporates industrial waste products such as fly ash produced by coal-fired
power stations, is especially suited for construction in earthquake zones – in
which the brittle nature of conventional concrete often leads to disastrous
building collapses.
Using zircon crystals, researchers have discovered the route of a massive ancient river that could help find new reservoirs of fossil fuels and suggest how modern rivers might change over time.
Sara Morón, The University of Sydney
More than two thirds of the worlds’ major cities are located in coastal deltas. How they change over time can impact communities that live around them.
Nanotech technique could revolutionise neurological treatments.
Blanca del Rosal Rabes, Swinburn University of Technology
Light could replace invasive techniques to measure brain temperature– eliminating the need to place a thermometer in the brain when treating a range of neurological disorders.
Researchers from Victoria’ Swinburne University have teamed up with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain and Stanford University in the US to develop a technique for measuring sub-degree brain temperature changes using near-infrared light.
The iconic Australian tea tree (Melaleuca decora) is more vulnerable than native eucalypt species to extreme temperature and moisture stress, Western Sydney University researcher Anne Griebel has discovered.
Anne Griebel, Western Sydney University
To make the finding, Anne and colleagues fitted instruments that measure the exchange of carbon, water and heat at 10 times a second to an extendable mast on a trailer deployed in a critically endangered woodland in Western Sydney.
Written by Akila Rekima and the University of Western Australia – UWA press release.
Akila Rekima from The University of Western Australia. Photos credit: Ross Swanborough.
A research team at UWA is investigating the complex
interactions of breast milk with allergens and baby’s gut immune system.
They’ve found that food-derived but also airborne allergens are present in breast milk. Some do give protection and reduce allergies later in life.
Their preclinical data and human birth cohorts analysis strongly suggest that egg-derived allergen protect against egg allergy. But they’ve also found that other allergens in breast milk such as house dust mite derived allergens may interfere with protection from allergies.
Animals play critical roles in ecosystems, but they are broadly overlooked in assessments of mine site restoration success says Sophie Cross, an ecologist at Curtin University.
She tracked Australia’s largest lizard species, the perentie, using VHF radio and GPS tracking, and walked hundreds of kilometres through unmined and restoration bushland on a mine site in the mid-west region of Western Australia for her study published in the Australian Journal of Zoology.
