Scientists use computer simulations of joint and muscle movements to teach us to exercise smarter

Image: Dr Pizzolato is making digital twins to help improve how people move in real life. Credit: Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research Alliance, Griffith University

Researchers have developed computer simulations of joint and muscle movements that can teach us how to exercise smarter and prevent knee pain and further damage.

One in five Australians over the age of 45 suffer from painful and debilitating osteoarthritis, with the knee being the most commonly affected joint.  

Dr Claudio Pizzolato from Griffith University is making computer avatars or ‘digital twins’ of individual patients to see how their muscles and joints work. [continue reading…]

Steven Inchcoombe, Chief Publishing Officer for Springer Nature, is visiting Australia.

Steven Inchcoombe is the Chief Publishing Officer for Springer Nature, overseeing the publication of over 2,900 journals including influential titles like Nature and Scientific Reports.

Steven was responsible for the Nature Publishing Group’s move into open access publishing, resulting in 60 per cent of their 2015 research articles being open access. Following the merger of the parent company in the same year, Springer Nature became the world’s largest open access publisher.

He was also behind the SharedIt content-sharing initiative which allows authors, subscribers and media partners to share links to the Springer Nature’s peer-reviewed research articles on social network and websites. A 15-month trial of this idea on nature.com led to 1.3 million additional article views.

Visiting Australia from the UK, Steven is speaking about big data, open data and open access publishing, and their value for academic research at a series of half-day symposia and networking events being held this week in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

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Locating science in Red Dog tales, citizen scientists monitor sea turtles, Robogals across Queensland and more.

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Do you know any exceptional early career researchers with peer reviewed papers and potential to be a media star?

If so, consider nominating them for Fresh Science – a competition where we train them and throw them to the media lions – generating hundreds of stories.

More info on that below, and also:

• Put your science in front of pollies and journos
• 30 travel grants to Europe for PhD students via EMBL Australia
• Never miss a prize deadline – check our science prize calendar
• Forever young – growing old gracefully with science
• ‘The Sound of Breaking Glass’ – women in science news
• Women in Science Parliamentary Friendship Group
• Media training for scientists – Melbourne, Sydney (and maybe Adelaide)

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And what are the benefits for Australian research?

Today in Washington DC, the Australian Ambassador Kim Beazley will open a four day workshop with more than 60 US defence researchers and 33 Australian nanotechnology scientists.

The meeting, organised by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF), will explore opportunities for collaboration in nanotechnology and nano-manufacturing.

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• Time to apply for the 2012 L’Oréal For Women in Science Fellowships – and now New Zealanders are invited to apply too;
• Prof Ingrid Scheffer receives her award at UNESCO HQ in Paris;
• last year’s Fellows – diving on the Great Barrier Reef, studying climate change in France and being recognised in The Age’s top 100   influential people; and
• A Women in Science and Engineering social group and a Women in Science Parliamentary Friendship Group

This is an occasional bulletin about L’Oréal’s For Women in Science program. [continue reading…]

Applications for the L’Oréal For Women In Science Fellowships will open on 1 April 2012.

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Find below discoveries on IQ, epilepsy, energy drinks and more.
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Embargo 6 am AEST, Thursday 19 January 2012

Issued for the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland.

Researchers from Brisbane, Edinburgh and Aberdeen have revisited about 2,000 people who had intelligence tests in 1932 or1947, and shown that genetic factors may account for about a quarter of the changes in intelligence over their lives.
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