Welcome to my bulletin covering physics news and events for May 2012 and beyond. It’s a bumper month for nuclear physics: in Sydney, ANSTO is opening its doors for a tour of its particle accelerators and a talk by Vincent Smith from CERN. There’s also a public lecture in Tasmania April 30 by ANU physicist Matthew Hole—he’ll be talking about 40 years of developments and achievements in fusion power technology.
See a $1.2 million high-containment laboratory opening tomorrow at 11 am in Sydney before they lock it up forever and start work with live TB.
The lab will speed up efforts to understand and fight back against tuberculosis (TB), a bacterium that lives inside two billion people worldwide and kills three people every minute. More below.
Also this week
Canberra-based medical researchers have completed the first comprehensive survey of the tiny cellular molecules found in the heart and which are essential for its healthy function. The work could lead to the development of targeted therapeutic treatments for heart disease.
The team used the latest sequencing technology to capture and identify thousands of microRNAs found in the cells of the heart. Even though they are tiny molecules, microRNAs are abundant in cells and act like an army of ants – individually making small changes to the expression of many genes, but in combination resulting in large changes to the cell. When these molecules are deregulated, or ‘not co-ordinating their efforts’, they can cause disease.
Prof Thomas Preiss, Dr Jennifer Clancy, John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU
PLoS ONE; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13491
Clearing vegetation close to houses is the best way to reduce the impacts of severe bushfires, according to a team of scientists from Australia and the USA who examined house loss as a result of Black Saturday. The research involving 12,000 measurements at 500 houses affected by the Black Saturday fires was only made possible by the sheer size of the devastation of February 7, 2009.
Dr Philip Gibbons, Prof David Lindenmayer, Australian National University
PLoS ONE; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13431
New and better ways of measuring high-tech energy consumption could lead to significant environmental and economic gains, an international study has found. The researchers completed the first systematic profile of microprocessors – the integrated computer chips that act as a central processing unit in electronic devices like smart phones, computers and giant data centres.
They say their findings could help lower the energy costs of electronic devices ranging from small mobile devices, supercomputers to massive server farms.
Dr Steve Blackburn, College of Engineering and Computer Science, ANU
IEEE Micro; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13521
Welcome back – this is my first 2012 bulletin for journalists interested in science.
Scientists have found a signal in plants which may act as a drought alarm, allowing them to adapt to drought conditions. The signal was discovered while trying to understand how different parts of the cell communicate with each other under drought conditions in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of canola.
Inside every animal and plant cell there are a series of connected pathways, like the production lines of a factory. For it to work efficiently, each department must be able to communicate product shortages, adverse conditions or breakdowns.
For some time, scientists have proposed that chemical signals must be sent by a particular “plant department”, or organelle, to the nucleus (the cell’s control centre) for plants to become aware of, and adapt to, harsh conditions.
Dr Gonzalo Estavillo, Professor Barry Pogson, ARC Centre for Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, Research School of Biology, ANU
The Plant Cell; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13421
http://www.plantenergy.uwa.edu.au/news/news_centre.html#drought
Canberra biologists have discovered that the male-specific Y-chromosome is shrinking – and it’s happening at different rates across species. The research team discovered that a marsupial’s Y-chromosome is genetically denser than the human Y-chromosome, meaning that animals like the tammar wallaby are bounds ahead on the ‘manliness’ scale.
However, even though the Y-chromosome is shrinking, in this case size doesn’t matter. The international study analysed DNA samples from tammar wallabies and found more genes on the male chromosome than expected.
Dr Paul Waters, Research School of Biology, ANU
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13381
Canberra geologists have used the latest earthquake-measuring technology to image the tectonic plate beneath southeast Australia and reveal the continent’s geological building blocks for the first time. The Australian scientists, with international colleagues, conducted the research using seismometers placed throughout eastern Australia.
The instruments – which record ground motions caused by earthquakes as far away as Indonesia, Fiji and Japan – allowed researchers to probe deep beneath the Earth’s surface and find evidence of some key geological events that shaped the land mass we know today.
“The southeast of the Australian continent preserves a rich geological history that spans almost half a billion years. This history involves significant geological events like the opening of the Tasman Sea, the break-up of Australia and Antarctica and more recent volcanic events.”
Dr Nick Rawlinson, Research School of Earth Sciences, ANU
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13391
A good upbringing can make you more attractive to females – if you are a mosquito fish, that is. Researchers from the ACT have shown that female mosquito fish prefer males who had a solid nutritional upbringing, even if the males are superficially identical to their poorly-fed brothers.
“Males similar in body size, but differing in developmental history, are not equally attractive to females.”
Andrew Kahn, Jules Livingston, Research School of Biology, ANU.
Biology Letters; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13401
Canberra-based medical researchers have discovered a potential new treatment for Type-1 diabetes – an autoimmune disease which currently affects some 130,000 Australians. They have identified a previously unknown process which causes destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The researchers found that the insulin-producing cells need a complex sugar, heparan sulphate, for their survival.
Dr Charmaine Simeonovic and Prof Christopher Parish, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU
The Journal of Clinical Investigation; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13221
Canberra astronomers have found that extensive regions of the sub-surface of Mars could contain water and be at comfortable temperatures for terrestrial – and potentially Martian – microbes. The researchers modelled Mars to evaluate its potential for harbouring inhabitable water. They found more than they were expecting.
“Our models tell us that if there is water present in the Martian sub-surface then it could be habitable – as an extensive region of the subsurface is at temperatures and pressures comfortable for terrestrial life.”
Eriita Jones, Dr Charley Lineweaver, Planetary Science Institute, ANU
Astrobiology Journal
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12911
The treatment of male infertility could soon be boosted through intervention at a sub-DNA ‘epigenetic’ level, according to researchers in Canberra.
The research team has uncovered a new mechanism of gene activation which will have important implications in understanding how cellular differentiation is achieved. The team made the breakthrough by looking at what’s happening in our bodies at the epigenetic level, which controls how our DNA is activated.
Prof David Tremethick, Dr Tanya Soboleva, Dr Maxim Nekrasov, John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU
Nature Structural and Molecular Biology
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12861
The century-old mystery of a missing mineral in coral reefs has been solved by a team from Canberra. The team uncovered a hidden stash of the mineral dolomite in coral reefs around the globe.
“We have discovered that dolomite is in fact present in large quantities in modern coral reefs, but from an unexpected source.” The team’s eureka moment came when they found large quantities of dolomite packed inside a ‘reef builder’ species of red algae, Hydrolithon onkodes.
Dr Bradley Opdyke, Ms Marinda Nash, Dr Uli Troitzsch, Research School of Earth Sciences, ANU
Biogeosciences
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12891
Canberra medical researchers have discovered a new type of cell which boosts the human body’s ability to fight off infections and life-threatening diseases. They have found a type of cell which recognises lipid antigens, or foreign molecules, which sit on infectious bacteria which invade the body.
Once recognising the lipids, the cell, called Natural Killer T follicular helper (NKTfh), generates antibody responses in B cells – which are the body’s natural defence against invasion by viruses and bacteria.
Prof Carola Vinuesa, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU
Nature Immunology; Immunity
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12561
New research has shown that women are more likely to make risky choices when they are surrounded by other women. The findings could help to reduce gender inequality in the workforce.
Prof Alison Booth, Research School of Economics, ANU
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12571
A new Canberra shows that online therapy programs can play a major and long-lasting role in treating depression. Researchers trialed the effectiveness of online programs MoodGYM and BluePages when used in conjunction with telephone counselling services provided by Lifeline. There was an immediate drop in symptoms of depression among callers to Lifeline who used the two programs.
Dr Lou Farrer, Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12621
Climate change is already harming health in Australia, and poses a significant threat for the future, according to a report released by the Climate Commission.
The critical decade: climate change and health
http://climatecommission.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/key-messages_FINAL-FOR-WEB1.pdf
The revival of a 150-year-old theory on how the human ear protects itself from damage caused by loud sounds could lead to better noise protection says a Canberra researcher. He urges reconsideration of the long-discarded ‘pressure theory’ saying it explains inconsistencies that have long puzzled hearing researchers.
Dr Andrew Bell, Research School of Biology, ANU
Journal of Hearing Science
http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12641
Patients with depression will be able to monitor their mental health using a computer as easily as those with diabetes can manage their condition thanks to new research presented in Canberra. The work is developing a computerised diagnostic aid that is already able to diagnose depression with up to 80 percent accuracy. The researchers’ next step is to develop a laptop based prototype.
Dr Roland Goecke, Human-Centred Computing Laboratory, University of Canberra—also researchers from Queensland Institute of Medical Research and Black Dog Institute, UNSW
