Find below discoveries on IQ, epilepsy, energy drinks and more.
Read the full article →
Media bulletins
Science in Public’s occasional bulletins to journalists with an interest in science.
Here’s a rundown on some stories this week, plus our weekly overview on what we saw last week that you may have missed.
Tonight, Graeme Clark, inventor of Australia’s bionic ear will be announced as the winner of the $50,000 CSL Florey Medal (note: announcement embargoed until 5pm Melbourne time).
On Tuesday, the National Press Excellence in Health Journalism awards will be held at the National Press Club – Melbourne film-maker Sonya Pemberton has been short-listed.
On Wednesday, Blamey & Saunders Hearing (formerly Australia Hears) officially launches its new office and new name.
For 30 years the Menzies Foundation has been awarding scholarships to graduates in the health sciences, engineering, law and the humanities.
The 2011 Menzies Memorial Scholars will be announced on Thursday – more information closer to the date.
And in case you missed any Australian research of note, read here.
This week I’ve got a couple of media alerts and some stories you may have missed from last week – things that we saw and liked. This week it includes: insulin without needles; a memory test for dementia risk; vitamin B reduces work stress and more.
Next Monday we will announce the $50,000 CSL Florey Medal. Previous winners include Ian Frazer and Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.
We’ll be releasing information on embargo later in the week, if you’d like to receive a heads-up, give me a call on 0417 131 977.
Prostate cancers are made up of hungry, growing cells. Now we’ve discovered how to cut off their food supply thanks to a study published in Cancer Research and supported by Movember. More below.
Also Australian science discoveries you may have missed from the past week.
- Heart cells growing in a test-tube – Melbourne
- How birds fly through narrow spaces without crashing – Brisbane
- A shoe to improve osteoarthritis – Melbourne
- Could yoghurt reduce heart disease – Perth
- Heavy metal music and depression – Melbourne
- And a dozen other stories below
Science in Public media bulletin 18 October 2011.
- Immune peacekeepers discovered
- The Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize
- 2011 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science
- What’s behind Australia’s Physics Nobel
- Nobel Laureate Brian Schmidt on the 2011 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science
- Australian “Immortal” documentary wins international film festival prize
The $500,000 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science will be announced Wednesday evening at Parliament and are strictly embargoed to 5 pm Wednesday afternoon, 12 October.
The winners are from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. They are all remarkable achievers whose work is largely unknown outside of their discipline. Read the full article →
Our livers can fight back against the immune system—reducing organ rejection but also making us more susceptible to liver disease.
In this bulletin:
- How our liver kills “killer cells”
- Tamara Davis and the hunt for dark energy
- PM’s Prizes
- CSL Florey Medal
- Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize
| On Tuesday L’Oréal Australia announce their $20,000 For Women in Science Fellowships for 2011.
This year’s winners are from Melbourne, Brisbane and Townsville. Their details are now on line at http://www.scienceinpublic.com/loreal/. Read the full article → |
Life on Earth depends on plants, algae and fungi.
For humanity, all seven billion of us, they are the major source of food, clothing, shelter and medicine.
Our fossil fuels were formed by them. They clean our air and water, store carbon, and protect us from floods and drought. Read the full article →
For the past few years Victorian students have been walking on the (facsimile) surface of Mars at the Victoria Space Science Education Centre in Strathmore. Now they will also be able to control a Mars rover and search for water—emulating the intrepid Mars rovers that have caught public imagination in recent years.
The Victorian Education Minister is launching the robotic mission at 11 am tomorrow, Thursday.
Read the full article →
Can we design plant roots to use less water? A Queensland scientist says yes, and her genetic discoveries are now being used by sorghum growers as a first step to drought-resistant food crops by changing the shape of the roots to absorb more water.
Read the full article →
Tuesday’s Korumburra earthquake reached Melbourne, but Christchurch has experienced approximately 105 earthquakes of equivalent or greater magnitude to 4.4. in the last 10 months. Experts from IUGG, the big Earth science conference in Melbourne are explaining the quake and putting it into perspective. Read the full article →
Tonight in Melbourne meet join Ed Sykes from the Australian Science Media Centre, Dr Mark Quigley, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch and Professor Kevin Furlong, Professor of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University to discuss how scientists, science communicators and the media dealt with this year’s natural disasters. What are the lessons for future reporting?
Read the full article →
Today at IUGG: Man v the World. Are we producing more CO2 than the planet? And could we reduce the impact of climate change through climate engineering. That’s the topic of a media briefing today at IUGG in Melbourne. You can participate in person or on line – details below.
Read the full article →
- Can we better predict earthquakes and other natural disasters?
- Big tsunamis have hit Australia and the South Pacific in pre-history – could it happen again?
- Can we protect nuclear plants and other infrastructure?
- Can a city such as Christchurch be quake-proof?
On Monday and Tuesday we’re holding three media briefings at Earth on the Edge, the huge earth science conference on in Melbourne covering prediction, survival and ‘The World versus Man’.
Join us online or in the room at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The sessions are being run by the Australian Science Media Centre. Read the full article →
Ocean warming, ice sheets and sea-level rise: what does it mean for Australia? And could we have an earthquake or tsunami here?
Talk with experts on vulcanology; ocean warming; aerosols and pollution; volcanic ash plumes; the global survey of the atmosphere of Venus; the Russian heatwave and other natural disasters. And meet leaders of the Southern California Earthquake Center, French space agency CNES, the US Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the British Antarctic Survey.
Experts on almost every kind of natural disaster are in Australia for Earth on the Edge, an international earth sciences conference being held in Melbourne till Thursday 7 July. Read the full article →
Till next Thursday, 7 July, Australia is hosting a conference earth scientists who will be providing the most up-to-date information on the Japanese tsunami, the safety of nuclear installations, the Christchurch earthquake, Cyclone Yasi, the ash clouds and more.
Earth on the Edge is the 25th General Assembly of the International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy (IUGG) and has attracted almost 4,000 delegates from around 100 countries.
Here are a just a few of the speakers and topics:
Australian researchers have revealed a new pattern of ocean circulation which will change our understanding of marine events.
Research at the University of Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology has overturned conventional ideas of ocean circulation. Read the full article → Thin, flexible, cheaper solar cells that are printed rather than manufactured are where we’re heading with new technology patented by Melbourne researchers.
While other researchers have discovered that HIV can hide out in the brain, leading to increased understanding of the link between HIV infection and HIV dementia.
Both of these discoveries were selected for Fresh Science, a national competition that highlights the work of early-career researchers.
Also, a moody earth: extreme natural hazards, selling seawater, tsunamis in the Pacific and recent floods in Pakistan. These are some of the topics being discussed today at Earth on the Edge, an international earth sciences conference in Melbourne from today till Thursday 7 July. Read the full article →
