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National Science Week – Top tips for Twitter: getting started

By Tanya Ha @Ha_Tanya, Director of Engagement at Science in Public

Here are some Twitter tips we prepared for the Inspiring Australia community. We thought they might be useful for National Science Week.

And don’t forget to use the hashtags #ScienceWeek or #BrainBreak and follow @Aus_ScienceWeek.

Once upon a time, I remarked that Twitter was just a distraction for illiterate Gen Y people with a short attention span. After two weeks on Twitter, I was eating my words.

We’re often asked for tips to get scientists going on Twitter. So here are a few thoughts. [Read more…] about National Science Week – Top tips for Twitter: getting started

Solving a mystery in 126 dimensions

After 90 years, scientists reveal the structure of benzene.

One of the fundamental mysteries of chemistry has been solved by Australian scientists – and the result may have implications for future designs of solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes and other next gen technologies.

Ever since the 1930s debate has raged inside chemistry circles concerning the fundamental structure of benzene. It is a debate that in recent years has taken on added urgency, because benzene – which comprises six carbon atoms matched with six hydrogen atoms – is the smallest molecule that can be used in the production of opto-electronic materials, which are revolutionising renewable energy and telecommunications tech.

[Read more…] about Solving a mystery in 126 dimensions

New bendable cement-free concrete can potentially make safer, long-lasting and greener infrastructure.

A new type of concrete that is made out of waste materials and can bend under load has been developed by researchers from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

This material, which incorporates industrial waste products such as fly ash produced by coal-fired power stations, is especially suited for construction in earthquake zones – in which the brittle nature of conventional concrete often leads to disastrous building collapses.

[Read more…] about New bendable cement-free concrete can potentially make safer, long-lasting and greener infrastructure.

You saw sawfish!

Hundreds of citizen science sightings reveal opportunities to protect Australia’s four iconic sawfish species

Green Sawfish (P. zijsron) – Weipa, QLD 2019
  • New hotspots for green sawfish in Weipa and Karratha.
  • A sawfish nursery in the Brisbane River until about 1950.
  • Evidence that sawfish have not completely disappeared from NSW waters, with a Newcastle sighting.
  • Juvenile sawfish reported down the WA coast.
  • More action needed in Queensland as only one species reported south of Cooktown.
  • A new call to action to step up conservation and assess the impact of net-free zones in Weipa and Queensland’s east coast.
  • And keep reporting your sightings. Together we can save sawfish.
[Read more…] about You saw sawfish!

Making light work more cheaply

Dr Girish Lakhwani, chief investigator for the Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science.

Australian researchers unlock the key to cheaper high-tech telecom and medical diagnostic devices.

Scientists and engineers will soon have a much cheaper way of stabilising, blocking and steering light – potentially lowering the costs of high-tech equipment used in telecommunications, medical diagnostics and consumer electronics.

Researchers led by Dr Girish Lakhwani, a chief investigator for the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (ACEx), have found a way to manipulate light produced by lasers at a fraction of the cost of existing methods.

[Read more…] about Making light work more cheaply

Innovative projects to help Australians celebrate science

Media release from The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology

Forensic science, ocean sustainability and pop-up health lab projects are among those being funded by the Morrison Government’s 2020 National Science Week Grants.

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said 33 projects across Australia will share in $500,000 of funding to support creative and engaging events during National Science Week in August.

[Read more…] about Innovative projects to help Australians celebrate science

Brain temperature can now be measured using light

Nanotech technique could revolutionise neurological treatments.

Light could replace invasive techniques to measure brain temperature– eliminating the need to place a thermometer in the brain when treating a range of neurological disorders.

Researchers from Victoria’ Swinburne University have teamed up with Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in Spain and Stanford University in the US to develop a technique for measuring sub-degree brain temperature changes using near-infrared light. 

[Read more…] about Brain temperature can now be measured using light

Tea trees crave water during hot and dry summer days

The iconic Australian tea tree (Melaleuca decora) is more vulnerable than native eucalypt species to extreme temperature and moisture stress, Western Sydney University researcher Anne Griebel has discovered. 

To make the finding, Anne and colleagues fitted instruments that measure the exchange of carbon, water and heat at 10 times a second to an extendable mast on a trailer deployed in a critically endangered woodland in Western Sydney.

[Read more…] about Tea trees crave water during hot and dry summer days

New clues for allergy prevention by breast milk

Written by Akila Rekima and the University of Western Australia. For the full UWA press release, click here.

A research team at UWA is investigating the complex interactions of breast milk with allergens and baby’s gut immune system.

They’ve found that food-derived but also airborne allergens are present in breast milk. Some do give protection and reduce allergies later in life.

[Read more…] about New clues for allergy prevention by breast milk