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Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

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Giant machines for giant questions

Square Kilometre Array sites in South Africa and Australia. Credit: SKA Observatory. 
  • The biggest radio telescope
  • The dark side of the universe – could Australia host a gravitational wave detector?
  • Too wet for next generation telescopes

Australian researchers are in pole position to solve some of the Universe’s greatest mysteries by participating in three massive global projects.

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We need to lose our fear of the ‘nuclear’ word

  • A call to action to train a nuclear savvy generation
  • Australia will need thousands of people trained in nuclear science
  • For submarines, cancer treatments, space industry, mining…

Our new submarine fleet, new cancer therapies, quantum computing, space industry and satellites, the extraction of critical minerals and monitoring the environment will all demand levels of training in nuclear science we cannot at present meet.

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Quantum composer, fusion energy, navigation without GPS, war disrupts physics, nuclear jobs

Listen to ‘Alice’s caffeine rush’ composed by quantum computer, Quanthoven

Find out what it means for quantum AI and understanding consciousness with Bob Coecke, Chief Scientist at Quantinuum, making quantum software and hardware, and Emeritus Professor at Wolfson College, Oxford.

Stories from the physics national congress in Adelaide.

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The messy death of a star

  • Reconstructed by a global forensic team of astronomers
  • Using stunning James Webb Space Telescope images
  • Reported in Nature Astronomy today

All images and detailed analysis available from the Space Telescope Science Institute at webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-059.

Around 2500 years ago, a star ejected most of its gas, forming the beautiful Southern Ring Nebula, NGC 3132, chosen as one of the first five image packages from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Two views of the gas in the Southern Ring Nebula (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Images). Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam
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A lifetime investigating malaria leads to drugs that push back on resistance… And a CSL Florey Medal

Alan Cowman wins $50,000 CSL Florey Medal for Lifetime Achievement for revealing how malaria parasites infect humans, paving the way for new drugs and vaccines for a disease that infects more than 240 million people a year, and keeps communities in poverty.

Past CSL Florey Medallists include Graeme Clark, Ian Frazer, Ruth Bishop, and Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.

Professor Alan Cowman. Image credit: WEHI

Melbourne scientist Professor Alan Cowman AC has worked to understand how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum causes disease in humans and how it evolves to outwit antimalarial drugs. He has also created genetic tools to modify the parasite, which have been used by malaria researchers worldwide.

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Using stem cells to give sight and controlling rogue blood stem cells

Winners of the 2022 National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia’s Metcalf Prizes announced

SCIENTISTS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:

Researchers working with stem cells to restore sight and fight blood cancers are the two winners of the 2022 Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, awarded by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.

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