Click here for high-res images. Background information below. And feature story by lead author Ian Wright for The Conversation here. A global team of researchers have cracked the mystery of leaf size. Their research was published today as a cover story in Science. Why is a banana leaf a million times bigger than a common heather leaf?…
Caring for Country in Arnhem Land Macquarie University Eureka Prize winners Macquarie University congratulates its winners in the 2017 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes and the winner of the Macquarie University Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher. High-power diamond lasers invented at Macquarie University High-power lasers have many potential applications: from medical imaging to manufacturing,…
High-power diamond lasers, invented at Macquarie University, Eureka finalist High-power lasers have many potential applications: from medical imaging to manufacturing, shooting down drones or space junk, or powering deep space probes. But current laser technologies overheat at high power. Rich Mildren and his team have developed a technique to make diamond lasers that, in theory,…
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A unique collaboration between scientists and Aboriginal people in remote south-eastern Arnhem Land is building knowledge about country and how local people can better manage it. In the last nine years the Ngukurr Wi Stadi bla Kantri (We Study the Country) Research Team has discovered species new to science, found new populations of threatened species,…
Are you a slave to your smartphone? Or have you mastered your mobile? Researchers want your help to build a deeper understanding of our relationship with our smartphones. Take part in Australia’s Biggest Smartphone Survey—the online project for National Science Week. How has having a smartphone changed your life? Has it made your life easier?…
New dating of ancient human teeth discovered in a Sumatran cave site suggests modern humans were in Southeast Asia 20,000 years earlier than previously thought. The international research led by Dr Kira Westaway from Macquarie University and published in Nature, has pushed back the timing of when humans first left Africa, their arrival in Southeast…
A taste of some of the 1,800+ National Science Week events and activities around the country. What’s your relationship with your phone? (national) Is your future written in your genes? (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth) NASA scientists and potential Martians on the Red Planet (NSW) Science Gallery International’s bloody Australian debut (VIC) Hunting pests in pantries…
Four years ago life in Pulau Bau, a village on a tiny island off North Maluku in Indonesia, was transformed. The community was supplied with electricity via small-scale diesel generators and a state-of-the-art solar energy system with battery backup. Every house was receiving some electricity—not a lot, but some. But early in 2017 the system…
What fly guts could reveal about our health: microbes in the gut can influence diet and reproduction, and the changes could be passed on to the next generation. Discoveries from Macquarie University and Sydney University illustrate how microbes in the gut can influence host animals. The work could be important for understanding the effects of…