Tools once used just to diagnose human diseases are being used to save coral reefs; depression patients will be able to monitor their mental health using a computer and a bodybuilder’s health supplement could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting hundreds of Australian children.

These are just some of the interesting stories that emerged from Australian research published in the last week.  Find over a dozen other stories below.

[continue reading…]

Here’s a rundown on some stories this week, plus our weekly overview on what we saw last week that you may have missed.

Tonight, Graeme Clark, inventor of Australia’s bionic ear will be announced as the winner of the $50,000 CSL Florey Medal (note: announcement embargoed until 5pm Melbourne time).

On Tuesday, the National Press Excellence in Health Journalism awards will be held at the National Press Club – Melbourne film-maker Sonya Pemberton has been short-listed.

On Wednesday, Blamey & Saunders Hearing (formerly Australia Hears) officially launches its new office and new name.

For 30 years the Menzies Foundation has been awarding scholarships to graduates in the health sciences, engineering, law and the humanities.

The 2011 Menzies Memorial Scholars will be announced on Thursday – more information closer to the date.

And in case you missed any Australian research of note, read here.

This week I’ve got a couple of media alerts and some stories you may have missed from last week – things that we saw and liked. This week it includes: insulin without needles; a memory test for dementia risk; vitamin B reduces work stress and more.

Next Monday we will announce the $50,000 CSL Florey Medal. Previous winners include Ian Frazer and Nobel Laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren.

We’ll be releasing information on embargo later in the week, if you’d like to receive a heads-up, give me a call on 0417 131 977.

[continue reading…]

New technology for cleaning up nuclear spills, kids wearing the wrong seatbelts and re-writing the textbook on muscles and are just some of the stories we found interesting in Australian science in the last week.
[continue reading…]

Prostate cancers are made up of hungry, growing cells. Now we’ve discovered how to cut off their food supply thanks to a study published in Cancer Research and supported by Movember. More below.

Also Australian science discoveries you may have missed from the past week.

• Heart cells growing in a test-tube – Melbourne
• How birds fly through narrow spaces without crashing – Brisbane
• A shoe to improve osteoarthritis – Melbourne
• Could yoghurt reduce heart disease – Perth
• Heavy metal music and depression – Melbourne
• And a dozen other stories below

[continue reading…]

In 1768 the British Admiralty sent Captain James Cook to the Pacific to monitor the transit of the planet Venus across the Sun. On his way home to England, Cook mapped Australia’s east coast, and claimed New South Wales.

For about 40,000 years before that, the indigenous peoples of Australia had been developing remarkably sophisticated explanations of the workings of the Southern Sky. [continue reading…]

We’ve opened submissions for Stories of Australian Science 2011 –our third edition of this magazine style collection of science stories.

We’ve also included a reminder of the closing dates for L’Oréal’s For Women In Science Fellowships, the PM’s Prizes and Eureka Prizes, and a brief mention of The Conversation – another way of getting your ideas to a national audience.

Our collection of Stories of Australian Science 2011 will put your research and researchers in front of hundreds of science journalists who came to Melbourne in 2007, including reporters from Nature, Scientific American, Science News, Reuters, BBC, China Daily, Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
[continue reading…]