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Bat caves, eating bugs, beer science, and a NASA astrobiologist

Dozens of Science Week stories around Tasmania

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

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Planting butterflies, bottled cures and quackery, cancer art, and hundreds of mini-rockets take to the skies

Dozens of Science Week stories around Queensland

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

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Factchecking 5G, future energy, swarming behaviour, and how real is virtual reality?

Dozens of Science Week stories around Victoria

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

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Soil, seafood, and seeing your future health

Dozens of Science Week stories around the Territory

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

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Indigenous astronomy, internet evils, the poo palace, and what will the Antarctic look like in the future?

Dozens of Science Week stories around New South Wales

More on these highlights below.

Scientists, experts and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

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Sex in the sea, the science in sci-fi, dance hall becomes a lab, and measuring a Footy Quake

Dozens of Science Week stories around ACT

More on these highlights below.

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Australia’s Favourite Tree: the contenders

Images available for media use.

Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) — a long-lived wattle with cream ball-shaped flowers. Native to eastern states and SA, it’s now also found in WA, often as a feature or shade tree. Blackwood is used for furniture and guitars; and by Indigenous people for food, medicine and weapons.

Boab (Adansonia gregorii) — found in the Kimberly, WA and western NT, Australia’s boab has a huge bottle-shaped trunk that stores water: just one of the reasons this is an important tree for the local Indigenous people. The boab is deciduous during the dry season.

Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii) — a large, symmetrical ancient conifer native to Qld. It has huge cones containing large, delicious seeds traditionally roasted and eaten by Indigenous people. Weighing up to 10kg, these cones can be a hazard when they fall.

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National Grant Round Recipients for 2022

Congratulations to the 35 recipients of National Science Week grants for 2022.

Minister for Science and Technology The Hon Melissa Price MP said “Science plays a huge part in our daily life, even if we don’t always realise. The great events and activities in National Science Week are not only fun and interactive, but they can show us just how much we use science in our everyday life.

“This year, we’ve got a huge range of events and there’s something for everyone, whether it’s learning about the science of bush tucker, quantum physics, robotics or even how our bodies work.

Read the Minister’s press release.

More than $500,000 was allocated to projects from across Australia. The grant round was conducted by AusIndustry.

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Inspiring the next generation for National Science Week

Media release from the Hon Melissa Price MP, Minister for Science and Technology

A quantum technology road trip, robotics competitions and an inflatable digestive system ‘poo palace’ are just some of the science projects being supported by the Morrison Government’s 2022 National Science Week grants.

Thirty-five public science projects will share in more than $500,000 as part of Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology. 

The grants include funding for:

  • The University of Melbourne’s interactive travelling science and art show bringing quantum physics to regional and rural areas.
  • Student Robotics Club of South Australia’s Robot Scrimmage competition day where students can work together to battle it out.
  • The Hunter Medical Research Institute’s oversized inflatable re-creation of the digestive system where children can conduct interactive food experiments and learn about digestion.

Minister for Science and Technology Melissa Price said National Science Week was a great way to encourage interest and participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). 

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More ‘good cells’, safer treatments for leukemia patients

Associate Professor Siok Tey.
Credit: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

Associate Professor Siok Tey is researching treatments that will improve the survival and quality of life for her patients with leukaemia or other blood cancers.

“Bone marrow transplantation is an important form of treatment for blood cancers, but it cures only two-thirds of patients,” says Siok, a clinician researcher at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Siok will use her $55,000 Metcalf Prize to improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation, which rebuilds the blood and immune systems to protect patients from leukaemia relapse. Not all patients, however, stay in long-term remission, and the treatment often comes with serious side effects.

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