The National Indigenous Science
Education Program (NISEP),
based at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Sydney’s Macquarie
University, won the inaugural the Eureka Prize for STEM Inclusion at the 2019 Australian Museum Eureka
Prizes.
The awards were
held in Sydney on Wednesday, August 28.
Carbon dioxide capture by coastal ecosystems operates in direct relation
to the speed of sea level rise.
That was the conclusion of extensive research conducted by a team of
scientists from Macquarie
University, University of Wollongong and ANSTO – work that has now won the
scientists the NSW
Environment, Energy and Science (DPIE) Eureka Prize for Environmental Research.
Australia-UK
researchers identify ancient protein pumps that make bacteria tough to treat –
but could be key to new green polymers
The molecular machinery used by bacteria to
resist chemicals designed to kill them could also help produce precursors for a
new generation of nylon and other polymers, according to new research by
scientists from Australia and the UK.
“Resistance to artificial antiseptics
appears to be a lucky accident for the bacteria, and it could also be useful
for humans,” says Professor Ian Paulsen of Australia’s Macquarie University,
one of the leaders of the research group.
Scientists urge priority action on hundreds of surviving reefs.
Image credit: Jeremy Bishop
The majority of 2500 reefs surveyed in a major international exercise retain the coral species that give them their distinctive structure.
More than 80 marine scientists, including several from Australia, contributed to the study, which is published in the journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Early results from Australia-wide experiment suggest being outdoors can be a good way to trigger “aha” moments.
People are most likely to have a sudden bright idea when
out in the bush – or lying in bed.
That’s one of the early observations arising from The Aha!
Challenge, the month-long Australia-wide science experiment that kicked off
during National Science Week and runs until the end of August.
The experiment, which revolves around a series of online
brainteasers, aims to explore sudden bursts of clarity and insight, and their
role in problem-solving. In effect, it’s a nationwide quest to find the things
that make you go “aha!”…
Australian scientists develop cheap and rapid way to identify antibiotic-resistant golden staph (MRSA).
Researchers Anwar Sunna (right) and Vinoth Kumar Rajendran with their smartphone-enabled MRSA detector. Credit: Sunna Lab
A combination of off-the-shelf quantum dot nanotechnology
and a smartphone camera soon could allow doctors to identify
antibiotic-resistant bacteria in just 40 minutes, potentially saving patient
lives.
Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph), is a common form of bacterium that causes serious and sometimes fatal conditions such as pneumonia and heart valve infections. Of particular concern is a strain that does not respond to methicillin, the antibiotic of first resort, and is known as methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA.
Recent
reports estimate that 700 000 deaths globally could be attributed to antimicrobial
resistance, such as methicillin-resistance. Rapid identification of MRSA is
essential for effective treatment, but current methods make it a challenging
process, even within well-equipped hospitals.
Chinese-Australian research finds climate change good news, and solves an evolutionary mystery
Chinese Pond Turtle (Mauremys reevesii) Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Baby turtles influence their gender by moving around inside
their eggs, research has revealed.
The idea that an embryo reptile can act in a way that
affects its chances of developing as male or female has long been thought
impossible, but findings by scientists from China and Australia have now provided
clear proof of the process.
The research, published in the journal Current Biology,
solves a long-standing evolutionary mystery – and offers hope that at least
some species thought especially vulnerable to effects of climate change will prove
more robust than thought.
Australian-led astronomers find the most iron-poor star in the Galaxy, hinting at the nature of the first stars in the Universe.
A visualisation of the formation of the first stars. Credit: Wise, Abel, Kaehler (KIPAC/SLAC)
A newly discovered ancient star containing a record-low amount of iron carries evidence of a class of even older stars, long hypothesised but assumed to have vanished.
In a paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, researchers led by Dr Thomas
Nordlander of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3
Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) confirm the existence of an ultra-metal-poor red
giant star, located in the halo of the Milky Way, on the other side of the
Galaxy about 35,000 light-years from Earth.
Macquarie University’s Professor Rob Harcourt urges Oceania-wide action to safeguard several species.
Sharks in Australian waters are well protected but
are at risk as soon as they leave them, a new international study reveals.
The North Atlantic blue shark shares much of its territory with longline fishing fleets. Credit: Neil Hammerschlag
The study compiled by 150 scientists around the
world – including 26 with ties to Australia – has found thateven in the most remote parts of the world’s oceans migratory
sharks are in severe danger from commercial fishing fleets, new research
reveals.
In a paper published in the journal Nature,
more than 150 scientists, including Professor Rob Harcourt from the Department
of Biological Sciences at Australia’s Macquarie University, report that the
sharks – which include iconic species such as the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and the great white (Carcharodon
carcharias) –
congregate in food-rich areas that are also prime hunting grounds for
commercial longline fishing fleets.
Dr Stuart Ryder is venturing into the stratosphere on a NASA jet to study the birthplace of massive stars.
Macquarie University astronomer Dr Stuart Ryder is in New Zealand to hitch a ride on a NASA jet and take a closer look at how stars are born in one of the most active stellar nurseries ever seen.
“We’re looking at a molecular cloud called BYF73, which is collapsing in on itself at extremely high speeds and forming massive stars,” says Stuart, who is an Adjunct Fellow with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University.
