Fresh Science is a national competition helping early-career researchers find, and then share, their stories of discovery.
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Image credit: David Coto, Pexels
We can’t easily monitor the health of plants, by the time we see that they’re sick it’s usually too late to save that. That’s an issue for your house plants, a field of wheat, orchards and plantations.
Karina Khambatta has developed a way to use the waxy surface of leaves to monitor their health.
Continue reading Is that plant healthy?
Estimates of tree hollows – which form the houses of several endangered species in northern Australia – are much too high, researchers at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory have found.
And the discovery could be bad news for several of Australia’s most vulnerable species, including the Black-Footed Tree-Rat (Mesembriomys gouldii) and Brush Tailed Rabbit-Rat (Conilurus penicillatus).
Continue reading Protecting Tiwi wildlife is a hollow argument
A lithium sulfur battery that has four times the capacity than existing electric car batteries has been built and tested by researchers at Monash University, revealed in a paper published in Science Advances.
This would allow you to drive Melbourne to Sydney with just one charge – driving the coastal route. A current edition prius would require to stop in Albury-Wodonga to recharge.
Continue reading Cheaper, more efficient lithium sulfur battery outperforms current electric car battery fourfoldImage credit: Pixabay
Peanut allergens cross a model of the gut lining, causing it to leak, new research by Dr Dwan Price from Deakin University in Victoria has revealed.
The allergens hijack the transport mechanisms of cells in the intestine, disrupting the bonds that hold the gut lining together, making it permeable.
Continue reading Peanut Allergy: a pain in the gutsImage credit: Pixabay
Mathematics can help reduce poaching and illegal logging in national parks, researchers have found.
A team of applied mathematicians including Macquarie University’s David Arnold has developed an algorithm that predicts which areas inside park boundaries offer the greatest possibilities for criminals – and how rangers can most efficiently combat them.
Continue reading Stopping poaching by the numbersImage credit: Jim De Ramos
A new microscope-based method for detecting a particular molecule in the spinal cord could help lead to an accurate and independent universal pain scale, research from Australia’s Macquarie University suggests.
An accurate way of measuring pain is of critical importance because at present degrees of discomfort are generally assessed by asking a patient to estimate pain on a one-to-10 scale. The situation is even more acute in the treatment of babies, the very old and animals, where speech is absent.
Continue reading Hunting molecules that signal painImage Credit: @mikebirdy /Pexels
A new device turns electric vehicles into chargers for houses and stranded cars.
Researchers led by Seyedfoad Taghizadeh from Australia’s Macquarie University are looking to commercialise the technology, which may significantly increase the appeal of the vehicles.
Continue reading Device makes electric vehicle charging a two-way streetImage credit: Vikrant Minhas
Adelaide researchers find how a bacteria digests a sugar can be key to new treatments
The severity of a common and often lethal type of bacteria depends on its ability to process a type of sugar, research from the University of Adelaide reveals.
Streptococcus pneumoniae causes diseases of the lungs, blood, ear and brain, killing an estimated one million people every year. Moreover S. pneumoniae causes otitis media (infection of the middle ear), which devastates Aboriginal populations. It also rapidly develops resistance to antibiotics, making it challenging to treat.
Continue reading Sugar found to boost lethal bacteriaImage credit: Mehwish Nasim
Researchers have created an algorithm that distinguishes between misinformation and genuine conversations on Twitter, by detecting messages churned out by social bots.
Dr Mehwish Nasim and colleagues at the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Adelaide say the algorithm will make it easier for emergency services to detect major events such as civil unrest, natural disasters, and influenza epidemics in real time.
“When something really big is going on, people tweet a huge amount of useful information,” says Mehwish.
Continue reading Better emergency responses by removing social botsSoundwaves. Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.
Drugs can be delivered into individual cells by using soundwaves, Melbourne researchers have discovered.
Adapting a technique used in the telecommunications industry for decades, Dr Shwathy Ramesan from RMIT, and colleagues, used the mechanical force of sound to push against cell walls and deliver drugs more effectively than treatments currently in use.
The new technique aids in silencing genes responsible for some diseases, including cancer, by switching them on or off.
Continue reading Researchers use sound to deliver drugs
