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.
A West Australian study has found that heavy smoking by fathers around the time of conception greatly increases the risk of the child developing Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. The results indicated that when fathers smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day around the time conception the risk of ALL increased by 35%, when compared with dads who did not smoke. Tobacco is a known carcinogen and, in terms of childhood leukaemia, there’s a plausible biological pathway whereby paternal smoking could actually contribute to disease risk in the offspring, according to the researchers.
Dr Elizabeth Milne, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth
American Journal of Epidemiology; http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3879-childhood-leukaemia-study-points-to-fathers-smoking.html
They can stop the world’s biggest warships, cripple power stations and kill humans with a single sting but jellyfish are not about to take over the world and turn our oceans to slime, as some reports have claimed. A team of international marine scientists – including an Australian – said they found no hard evidence to support claims that jellyfish numbers are increasing worldwide at an alarming rate. Despite widespread media reports of such claims, the lack of a comprehensive database of jellyfish numbers had prevented a reliable scientific assessment of global trends.
Prof Carlos Duarte, Director, Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia
BioScience; http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201202024308/research/jedi-scientists-repel-jellyfish-invasion
Heart disease may kill brain cells, say West Australian researchers. Their findings suggest that heart disease may affect a part of people’s brains governing mentally demanding tasks. The work showed that with heart failure and ischaemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to the heart) may suffer impaired memory, reasoning and planning. Heart disease could also affect emotions and mental activity.
Prof Osvaldo Almeida, Director of Research, Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing, the University of Western Australia
European Heart Journal; http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201202064315/research/ailing-heart-link-grey-matter-loss
Sex plays a much more important role in the reproduction of vitally important seagrasses than previously thought, according to important new findings by researchers from Western Australia. It forms a major re-think of the way seagrass populations spread and is regarded as critically important to help conserve and restore endangered seagrass meadows.
Healthy seagrass populations are extremely important for coastal stability and carbon sequestration. They grow predominately via vegetative growth or cloning, using rhizomes that spread under the seabed, then sent out roots and shoots. But the researchers found that seagrasses also relied a great deal on sexual reproduction involving male and female flowers, pollen, seeds and seedlings.
Prof Gary Kendrick, Oceans Institute, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia
Bioscience; http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201201164278/research/secret-sex-life-help-save-worlds-endangered-seagrasses
A pioneering therapy that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy and stroke is now better understood thanks to Western Australian researchers. The researchers tested the therapy – known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) – on mice to find out how it can be applied to treating human neurological disease. The work demonstrated for the first time that pulsed magnetic fields promote changes in brain chemicals that correct abnormal brain connections, resulting in improved behaviour and brain function.
A/Prof Jennifer Rodger, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia
FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology); http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201202024309/research/magnetic-research-better-brain-health
A weapon invented by a West Australian farmer to smash and destroy weed seeds is nearing commercial production. The Harrington Seed Destructor was trialled and demonstrated during last year’s harvest in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales after extensive WA testing.
The destructor, based on mining technology, is towed behind a header at harvest. The header separates the chaff fraction containing weed seeds from the straw and fed into a cage mill. This pulverises any weed seeds in the chaff and returns it to the paddock. In studies using dyed seed, up to 95 per cent of ryegrass seed was destroyed.
Associate Professor Michael Walsh, Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia
The last mineral thought to have been unique to the Moon has been discovered in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. Tranquillityite, named after the Sea of Tranquillity where the Apollo 11 moon-walkers landed in July 1969, was tentatively identified while studying a polished slice of Earthly rock in a scanning electron microscope.
Prof Birger Rasmussen, Curtin University
Dr Janet Muhling, A/Prof Alexandra Suvorova, Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, University of Western Australia
Geology; http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201201164276/international/moon-walk-mineral-discovered-western-australia
Welcome back – this is my first 2012 bulletin for journalists interested in science.
And yet the latest research reported in Perth this week suggests they have little to fear from ‘nano-sunscreens’.More than three in five Australians are concerned enough about the health implications of nanoparticles in sunscreens to want to know more about their impact. And while the initial scientific information released suggests little cause for alarm, it does justify the community’s confusion.
That’s the message that emerges from a survey and three research papers on nanoparticles in sunscreens presented at the 2012 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN) in Perth this week. Read the full article →
West Australian researchers have come up with a sensitive acoustic device that can detect termite infestation by ‘hearing’ them chewing through timber. Once detected, the device can immediately send an SMS or email to a pest control firm—with the termites’ GPS location—so they can take appropriate action to protect the property. The device can also detect termite activity in timber bridges and wooden power poles.
The developers are looking to commercialise the device in Australia within the next 12 months and say it has the potential to revolutionise the pest control industry. The device is called WiSPr (short for ‘wireless smart probe’) network for acoustic detection.
A/Prof Adam Osseiran, Edith Cowan University, Perth
http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3794-smart-probe-detects-termites-by-hearing-them-eat.html
A West Australian radio astronomer is a step closer to understanding how black holes can launch superfast ‘bullets’ of gas into space, by identifying the exact moment when these ‘bullets’ form. Combining observations from NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope, he led the international team of radio astronomers who made the discovery.
Identifying the moment when the ‘bullets’ of gas were launched will assist radio astronomers to better understand the physics of how and why black holes launch fast-moving flows of material outwards. This, in turn could help reveal more about similar processes occurring around super-sized black holes at the centres of galaxies.
Dr James Miller-Jones, principal investigator, The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)
http://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/scientists-pinpoint-timing-of-powerful-black-hole-activity/
West Australian researchers have found people who engage in vigorous physical activity may be protected against types of colorectal cancer. The study used a Western Australian cohort.
Researchers examined 870 participants who had bowel cancer and a control group of 996 who did not have the disease. Study participants were asked to answer questions about their recreational physical activity, lifestyle, diet, medication and occupation.
Terry Boyle, University of Western Australia
Cancer Causes Control; http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3813.html
WA researchers have developed a technique that uses eggshells from endangered and extinct birds as a molecular resource—revealing insights into the behaviour and evolutionary history of Australian feathered fauna.
Eggshell has been largely overlooked as a substrate despite its impermeability and resistance to decay, owing largely to the calcium carbonate matrix which acts to protect biomolecules. Researchers take the eggs of extinct and endangered birds and grind them down before sequencing the DNA to learn new information about birds.
Dr James Haile, Murdoch University
http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3805.html
A new study suggests long-term modern fire regimes could pose a threat to WA mistletoes (Loranthaceae sp). Fires ignited by lightning, arson or by prescribed burning often destroy thousands of hectares in the Pilbara region. This scale of damage poses a problem for mistletoe species because of their physical vulnerability and regeneration methods.
Across species, mistletoe foliage and fresh seed are killed when scorched. Mistletoe varieties comprise a key component of Pilbara biodiversity, with many insects dependant on them for larval food, including butterfly genera Ogyris(Lycenidae) and Delias (Pieridae). Mistletoes also support the highly adapted mistletoebird (Dicaeum hiundinaceum) as well as spiny-cheeked and grey honeyeaters, important pollinators within the region.
Dr A.N. Start, WA Department of Environment and Conservation
http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3808-pilbara-mistletoe-faces-sub-regional-extinction.html
Protein and cell biology research at The University of Western Australia has contributed to a ground-breaking international study that demonstrates a way to alter the survival of cancer cells. The work demonstrates for the first time that the active sarcoma (Src) gene product is differentially targeted in cancer cells to maintain the viability of the cancer cells.
Prof Wally Langdon, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UWA
Nature Cell Biology
http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201112054204/international/researchers-find-clue-cancer-cell-survival
Western Australian researchers have come up with a new drug (VX-770), which essentially reverses the abnormality caused by the cystic fibrosis mutation G551D. Patients treated with the new medication showed a significant and sustained improvement in lung function, a lower rate in pulmonary exacerbations and a reduction in sweat chloride and weight gain.
Prof Phil Thompson, Lung Institute of Western Australia
New England Journal of Medicine
New research has found bananas are photoperiod responsive, overruling the widely accepted belief that temperature is the key variable in banana development. Seasonal variation in banana production is an issue for growers worldwide, and has driven research focused on what influences the plant’s rate of development and flowering.
Prof David Turner, honorary research fellow, UWA
Functional Plant Biology
http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3754-banana-crop-abundance-linked-to-length-of-day.html
A recent Australian study shows that isolated reefs may have a better ability to regenerate compared to those closer to human activity. The study focused on WA’s Ashmore Reef, located on the north-west shelf, which is home to 275 species, making it one of the most diverse coral systems in the region.
Dr Daniela Ceccarelli, CSIRO
Marine and Freshwater Research
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20112711-22884.html
A new Phytophthora fungi species might be a significant factor in decline of tuart trees. Western Australian researchers have found that Phytophthora multivora might be a large contributing factor in tuart decline. Other contributing factors include site clearing, insect pests, fire damage, site degradation, groundwater modification and climate change.
Mr Peter Scott, Tuart Health Research Group, Murdoch University
http://www.sciencewa.net.au/3757.html
