Media releases

JWST reveals a massive and ancient galaxy that challenges our models of the young Universe

Galaxies and stars developed faster after the Big Bang than expected

Detailed pictures of one of the very first galaxies show growth was much faster than we thought

JWST shows details of massive galaxy merger 13 billion years ago (insert of another early galaxy shows how significant the new JWST images are)

An international research team have made unprecedentedly detailed observations of the earliest merger of galaxies ever witnessed. They suggest stars developed much faster and more efficiently than we thought.

They used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the massive object as it was 510 million years after the Big Bang – i.e. around 13 billion years ago.

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Talk to your family on Sunday, World Hearing Day, about their hearing issues. Help is available.

Sunday is World Hearing Day. Many people wait too long to act with hearing issues that could be improved. MindEar’s audiologists and tinnitus researchers are available for media interviews Saturday and Sunday morning to encourage people to do something about their hearing issues. Details below

Changing mindsets: Let’s make ear and hearing care a reality for all!

World Hearing Day Changing Mindsets. Changing mindsets is crucial for improving access and reducing the cost of unaddressed hearing loss. Let's make ear and hearing care a reality for all! 03 March 2024 #WorldHearingDay
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How does the atmosphere’s washing machine work?

A German aircraft flying out of Cairns is measuring the chemistry of the clouds above Australia and the Pacific.

FEBRUARY 23, 2024: This week, a German research aircraft is sampling air up to 15 km above Australia and the Pacific Ocean. The CAFE-Pacific Mission aims to better understand:

  • how the tropical atmosphere deals with air pollution;
  • how clouds form over oceans;
  • how to refine weather and climate models, leading to better forecasts and projections; and, fundamentally
  • to better understand the chemistry of climate.

Flying out of Cairns in the northeast of Australia, the Chemistry of the Atmosphere: Field Experiment (CAFE) team are tracking weather events and taking atmospheric measurements to better understand the atmospheric chemistry occurring above the clouds.

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Help is available for 1.5 million Australians with serious tinnitus

Let them know during International Tinnitus Awareness Week, from 5 to 11 February. 

  • Millions of people have been told there is nothing they can do about their tinnitus.
  • That’s bad advice and for many it leads to more stress anxiety and depression.
  • Our researchers in Auckland, Sydney, France, Belgium, the UK and the USA are available for interview throughout Tinnitus Week.
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Train your brain to overcome tinnitus

An app can change the lives of those affected by tinnitus

  • Millions of people have been told to there is nothing they can do about their tinnitus.
  • That’s bad advice and for many it leads to more stress anxiety and depression. 
  • With specialist psychological support you can train your brain to ignore tinnitus. But that’s expensive and not widely available. 
  • Now, a research team led by the University of Auckland have developed an app that, in a trial published today in Frontiers in Audiology and Otologyreduced the impact of tinnitus in two-thirds of users in weeks. 
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We achieved gender parity in astronomy in just five years

… all while discovering how the Universe evolved, how galaxies form and where the elements come from.

The ASTRO 3D team at the 2022 annual retreat. Credit: Cristy Roberts.

Around the world, research agencies are struggling to achieve gender parity.

A paper published in Nature Astronomy today reports how a national Australian astronomy centre achieved equal numbers of women and men using science.

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Gas-rich baby galaxies set the early universe alight

Images of a distant extreme emission line galaxy. Seen by James Webb Space Telescope (left) and Hubble Space Telescope (right). This comparison highlights the clarity of JWST images.

New images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have helped Australian astronomers unlock secrets of how infant galaxies started an explosion of star formation in the very early Universe.

Some early galaxies were abundant with a gas that glowed so bright it outshone emerging stars. In research published today, astronomers have now discovered just how prevalent these bright galaxies were some 12 billion years ago.

Images from the JWST have shown that almost 90% of the galaxies in the early universe had this glowing gas, producing so-called ‘extreme emission line features’.

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Will you see a sawfish next week?

From Perth across the North to Sydney tell us if you do or don’t see a sawfish for National Sawfish Sighting Week October 23-29, 2023

Sawfish are remarkable creatures that detect the electrical impulses of fish, then slice and dice them for dinner.

“Today it’s rare to see large sawfish,” says Dr Barbara Wueringer, Principal Scientist and Director at Sharks And Rays Australia. “Most reports are three metres or smaller. But we could be wrong. There may still be some big ones out there.”

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Shifting lifestyle trends boost Victorians’ demand for energy

Monash University’s Emerging Technologies Research Lab unveils massive shifts in future household energy demands in a new report published today. The pivotal study offers energy distribution networks an invaluable glimpse into the future – empowering them to sharpen their forecasts, develop future business plans, and ensure the lights stay on.

The increase in home-based care, a rise in the energy needs to support study and work from home and the increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) are among the 51 specific trends found by the research to be affecting Victorians’ future energy needs.

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