SA

Tracing cosmic rays from radio pulses

The energy of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays that strike the Earth’s atmosphere make the energy produced from particle collisions by the Large Hadron Collider look puny. A team based in South Australia is now developing the techniques and technology to find out where such energetic particles could possibly originate. They ultimately hope to use [...]

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Putting Einstein to the ultimate test

Einstein’s theories predicted them, and they could be everywhere throughout the universe. But they’ve never been directly detected. They are gravitational waves, unseen “ripples” in the fabric of space and time.

Scientists using CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope are leading the way in trying to find them, by studying signals coming from pulsars.

Pulsars are the collapsed cores of giant stars that have exploded. Spinning at up to hundreds of times per second, they emit highly-regular radio pulses that appear to flash on and off like a lighthouse. And that’s the key.

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Japanese spacecraft calls Australia home

On 13 June 2010, a Japanese spacecraft bearing pieces of another world parachuted down to Australian soil after a seven-year-long journey through deep space. During its journey, the spacecraft, called Hayabusa, encountered the 530-metre-long asteroid called Itokawa in November 2005, and briefly landed on it. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed Hayabusa to collect [...]

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Spot the nutrients

South Australian researchers are using the Australian Synchrotron in their work on how to increase levels of iron and other micronutrients in staple grains such as rice and barley. The intense X-rays of the synchrotron can pinpoint where in the grain those micronutrients are found. One third of the world’s population suffers from iron deficiency. [...]

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OPAL reactor fingerprints Aboriginal ochre

A Flinders University chemist is using Australia’s OPAL research reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney to investigate ancient Aboriginal Australian society.

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Helping eyes to help themselves

Donor corneas conditioned with DNA before being transplanted into new eyes are already actively contributing to their own success in experimental animals such as sheep. The DNA is inserted into the cells of the cornea after it has been harvested. Then, following implantation, it produces proteins that help overcome immunological rejection.

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Computing with a single electron

Australian engineers and physicists have developed a ‘single electron reader’, one of the key building blocks needed to make a quantum computer. Quantum computers will use the spin, or magnetic orientation, of individual electrons for their calculations. And, because of the quantum nature of electrons, quantum computers could be exponentially faster at certain tasks than [...]

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Fresh Science 2010

Each year we identify early-career scientists with a discovery and bring them to Melbourne for a communication boot camp. Here are some of their stories. More at www.freshscience.org.au Print your own lasers, lights and TV screens Imagine printing your own room lighting, lasers, or solar cells from inks you buy at the local newsagent. Jacek [...]

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Yeast—the next wine frontier

Australia’s scientific approach to grape growing and winemaking means that you can be confident in what you’re buying when you drink Australian wines. And that’s helped Australian wine become the market leader in the UK and second behind Italy in the US market.

Now researchers at the Australian Wine Research Institute are tracking down the compounds that give wine its complexity. In 2007 they identified the compound responsible for the ‘black pepper’ aroma in Shiraz, and more recently they found the cause of the ‘minty eucalypt’ aroma of some Australian reds.

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