Science In Public
Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations
SeaSim – the National Sea Simulator – opened in Townsville by Innovation Minister Carr
Event: 12noon-2.30pm, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, North Queensland
Visuals: Aquaria with specimens, scientists available for interview, reef footage, crown-of-thorns starfish.
[Read more…] about Solving the ocean’s mysteries with the world’s smartest aquarium
Media background information, 1 August 2013
SeaSim is a research aquarium. It comprises a seawater processing plant, several controlled environment rooms, and open plan spaces for large tanks and long-term experiments.
In short, it brings together a reliable, consistent supply of high quality seawater with the technology to enable precise control over environmental factors, such as temperature, light, acidity, salinity, sedimentation and contaminants. [Read more…] about About SeaSim, the National Sea Simulator
Luke Smith, Environment Manager from Woodside Energy, Russell Reichelt, Chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and scientists from CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Western Australian and James Cook University in Townsville tell what the new Sea Simulator facility means to them. More comments will be added during the day. [Read more…] about The National Sea Simulator – Reaction comments
Despite the claims of some, commercially viable fuels from algae have not yet been developed. But newly trialled native algae species provide real hope, a Queensland scientist has found.
Dr Evan Stephens and the team at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, in collaboration with Germany’s Bielefeld University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, have identified fast-growing and hardy microscopic algae that could prove the key to cheaper and more efficient production of the alternative fuel.
With the help of these native species, Australia could potentially become an oil exporter like Middle East by devoting just 1% of its land to algae farms.
The discovery of a link between a specific gene and ageing in a species of worm could reveal valuable lessons for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.Low levels of the protein generated from the gene known as ‘tau’—also present in humans—not only hastens age-related changes in the brain of the worm, but also shortens the worm’s life, Sydney University PhD candidate Yee Lian Chew has found.
[Read more…] about Worms reveal link between dementia gene and ageing
Two tiny fossils are prompting an overhaul of theories about marsupial evolution after they revealed unexpected links to South America – and possibly Africa.One of the fossils, found at the Tingamarra site in south-eastern Queensland, is a 55 million-year-old ankle bone from a mouse-sized marsupial previously known only from South America. The second is a tooth, which derives from a formerly unknown species that shows similarities to fossils found in South America and, surprisingly, North Africa.
[Read more…] about Tiny fossils link ‘old bastard’ marsupials to South America and Africa
The invention was inspired by a boyhood interest in electric fishes, such as the black ghost knifefish.
The patented detection system, already being employed by local electricity companies, could help prevent the major discharges that lead to sparking and blackouts, says Dr. Alexe Bojovschi, a post-doctoral fellow in electrical and computer engineering at RMIT University.
[Read more…] about Electric fishes spark safer power line technology
Asthma inhalers could soon become much more effective, thanks to a clever new way of making the particles they deliver invented by a Melbourne chemical engineer and his team.
Current puffer designs and typical size ranges of particles mean a large portion of the medication propelled into a patient’s throat remains there. Only a fraction reaches the lungs.
[Read more…] about Mixing drugs and alcohol for better asthma inhalers