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 –…
Using zircon crystals, researchers have discovered the route of a massive ancient river that could help find new reservoirs of fossil fuels and suggest how modern rivers might change over time. More than two thirds of the worlds’ major cities are located in coastal deltas. How they change over time can impact communities that live…
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…
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…
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…
Animals play critical roles in ecosystems, but they are broadly overlooked in assessments of mine site restoration success says Sophie Cross, an ecologist at Curtin University. She tracked Australia’s largest lizard species, the perentie, using VHF radio and GPS tracking, and walked hundreds of kilometres through unmined and restoration bushland on a mine site in…
Researchers discover that protective immune cells are not created equally Personalised treatment of cancers has moved one step closer, thanks to University of Melbourne researcher Dr Susan Christo. Increasingly, cancers are being treated using an approach called immunotherapy – which uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight the disease. However, challenges arise in so-called…
Researchers discover how whooping cough is evolving paving the way to a new vaccine. Whooping cough strains are adapting to better infect humans, a team of Sydney researchers has found. The scientists, led by microbiologist Dr Laurence Luu of the University of New South Wales, may have solved the mystery of why, despite widespread vaccinations,…
We can’t easily monitor the health of plants, by the time we see that they’re sick it’s usually too late to save that. That’s an issue for your house plants, a field of wheat, orchards and plantations. Karina Khambatta has developed a way to use the waxy surface of leaves to monitor their health. Currently…
Climbing trees reveals a housing shortage for tree-rats and other endangered animals. Estimates of tree hollows – which form the houses of several endangered species in northern Australia – are much too high, researchers at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory have found. And the discovery could be bad news for several of Australia’s…