Find below discoveries on IQ, epilepsy, energy drinks and more.
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QLD
Nature paper reveals the genetic influence on our IQ as we age
Embargo 6 am AEST, Thursday 19 January 2012
Issued for the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland.
Researchers from Brisbane, Edinburgh and Aberdeen have revisited about 2,000 people who had intelligence tests in 1932 or1947, and shown that genetic factors may account for about a quarter of the changes in intelligence over their lives.
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Queensland research into the world’s most deadly influenza pandemic in 1918 has shed light on a major medical mystery. The study examined US and Commonwealth military records and controversially suggests that the presence of two different viruses is the reason the second wave of the pandemic was so much deadlier. The conclusions highlight the importance of acquired immunity and the use of modern vaccinations.
Prof G. Dennis Shanks, Centre for Military & Veterans’ Health, UQ
Lancet Infectious Diseases
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=24069
Researchers from UQ, Harvard University and RocheNimblegen Inc. have developed a new method for examining genetic information that reveals clues to understanding gene structure and activity in the body.
The method allows researchers to delve further than ever before into the human genome. It involves combining existing gene capture techniques with state-of-the-art ‘deep sequencing’ technology. Deep sequencing enables millions of different DNA molecules to be read in parallel.
Dr Tim Mercer, Prof John Mattick, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ
Nature Biotechnology
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=24062
Researchers have developed a memory stress test that can be used to predict those at risk of developing dementia. It is based on the finding that the brain’s response to increasing mental stress can predict a future decline in everyday functioning.
Prof Michael Breakspear, Coordinator, Mental Health and Complex Disorders, Queensland Institute of Medical Research
A Brisbane study has found that people suffering from more extensive vision loss from glaucoma are at a higher risk of having a fall than those with better vision.
Dr Alex Black, Faculty of Health, QUT
Optometry and Vision Science
http://www.qut.edu.au/about/news/news?news-id=37681
Marine life in the areas to the north of Australia and elsewhere along the Equator, as well as the waters off Australia’s east coast, have emerged as being at particular risk from temperature changes due to climate change, international marine scientists have warned.
- http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201111044114/international/marine-life-australia-most-risk-temperature-changes-due-climate-change;
- http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=24019;
- http://www.csiro.au/news/No-plain-sailing-for-marine-life.html
Prof Carlos Duarte, Director, Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia
Prof John Pandolfi of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland
Science
An evaluation of the recent changes to car child restraint laws has found almost a quarter of children up to seven years of age weren’t wearing the right type of restraint for their age. This was especially the case for three to four-year-old children who were being moved into booster seats or adult seat belts too early.
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=37604
Dr Alexia Lennon, Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland, Queensland University of Technology
Australian researchers have developed new technology capable of removing radioactive material from contaminated water and aiding clean-up efforts following nuclear disasters.
The innovation could also solve the problem of how to clean up millions of tonnes of water contaminated by dangerous radioactive material and safely store the concentrated waste.
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=37568
Prof Huai-Yong Zhu, Chemistry, QUT
New Australian research has found evidence that playing violent video games leads players to see themselves, and their opponents, as lacking in core human qualities such as warmth, open-mindedness, and intelligence.
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=23987
Dr Brock Bastian, School of Psychology, UQ
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
The secret of how birds zip flawlessly through narrow spaces without crashing into obstacles has been unlocked by Australian scientists. The discovery could be used to design ‘bird-safe’ buildings and windmills, and improve the versatility of pilotless aircraft.
Prof Mandyam Srinivasan, The Vision Centre and The University of Queensland
Current Biology, http://www.vision.edu.au/news/Media%20Release%20DB/VC%20-%20birdscrash%2028Oct11.pdf
Marine biologists have written an open letter against shark culls, and calling for non-lethal alternatives.
Over 100 academics and professionals in the shark and ray field have signed the letter. In addition, a petition from the public has already collected over 5000 signatures.
Barbara Wueringer, Research Associate, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia and Adjunct Research Associate, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University.
Scientists at UQ are part of an international team mapping the Brassica plant genome – that’s cabbages, broccoli and canola.
Australia is the world’s second largest exporter of canola. Mapping the genome will help scientists breed and engineer canola which is resistant to disease and fungal infection.
Dr David Edwards and Dr Jacqueline Batley, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, UQ
Nature Genetics, http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=23953
Deep-reef coral grows more prosperously in very little sunlight researchers at The University of Queensland and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies have found.
Dr Pim Bongaerts, School of Biological Sciences, UQ
BMC Evolutionary Biology, http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=23944
New research by The University of Queensland and the University of Exeter has found that cyclone activity is clustered instead of random, as was previously thought, which has important long-term implications for coastal ecosystems and human population.
Professor Peter Mumby, Global Change Institute and the School of Biological Sciences, UQ
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=23943
Coral, Cancer Capsules & Conservation
Three $20,000 L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships for 2011 were awarded to talented Australian women in science on Tuesday, 23 August 2011.
Then on 24 August the three fellows visited the Australian Synchrotron and presented their research to 160 female students in year's 9-11 for the L'Oréal Australia Girls in Science forum.
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Tracy Ainsworth James Cook University Coral interactions more complex than ever suspected. Dr Tracy Ainsworth’s research is changing our understanding of the life of the tiny coral animals that built Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef. Her work comes at a critical time for the future of coral reefs—threatened by a warming ocean and by coral [...]
Eve McDonald-Madden The University of Queensland Turning to mathematics to allow us to make smarter conservation decisions. The diversity of life on Earth underpins the global economy. But we’re losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate and human-induced climate change will threaten more species—up to 37 per cent of the plants and animals with which we [...]
