geology

Prime Minister's Science Prizes, CERN director to visit Australia, and more

Tomorrow the Prime Minister will present her Prizes for Science. The embargo is 5 pm on Wednesday 17 November 2010.

The winners will be at Parliament House from 11 am tomorrow morning and available in the Press Gallery from 1 pm.

Other science news: a L’Oréal award and $100,000 for an Aussie scientist discovering bacteria everywhere; Chinese science leaders in Australia marking 30 years of collaboration; CERN director here soon for physics congress; the end of the world; and…

‘When you’re up to your arse in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your original intention was to drain the swamp.’ This quote sets the scene for a black comedy on biodiversity staged in the skeleton gallery of the Australian Museum tonight and Thursday. [continue reading…]

Ancient zombie ants, liquefying your body, recovering meteorites and more. What Tim’s talking about on radio this week.

This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about tracking and recovering meteorites; liquefying your body; chlorophyll that works with low energy light; ancient zombie ants; and more…

1. Desert fireballs—An intelligent camera system has been set up to track and recover meteorites in the Nullarbor. It is expected to detect about three or four of them a year. Many of these will be recovered. As debris left over from when planets were constructed, they carry a unique record of the birth of the Solar System.—Australasian Science.

This story can be found in the latest issue of Australasian Science. [continue reading…]

Ancient zombie ants, liquefying your body, recovering meteorites and more. What Tim's talking about on radio this week.

This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about tracking and recovering meteorites; liquefying your body; chlorophyll that works with low energy light; ancient zombie ants; and more…

1. Desert fireballs—An intelligent camera system has been set up to track and recover meteorites in the Nullarbor. It is expected to detect about three or four of them a year. Many of these will be recovered. As debris left over from when planets were constructed, they carry a unique record of the birth of the Solar System.—Australasian Science.

This story can be found in the latest issue of Australasian Science. [continue reading…]

UN coming to town, L’Oréal fellows to be announced, the future of minerals and more

In two weeks Australia will play host to a major UN conference focusing on global health and the Millennium Development Goals. More than 70 countries and over 300 organisations will be represented. There will be many compelling stories that matter to Australia and our region. More details and downloads below.

Also, in Canberra today the Australian Academy of Science Think Tank is tackling questions regarding Australia’s mineral deposits. Will we run out of minerals? How much more mineral wealth is still to be found? Do we have the technologies to find it and extract it safely? The media releases are online at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog

These issues are being discussed in Canberra at a forum on 19 and 20 August. The media are invited to day one and the speakers are available for interview. The findings will be published later in the year. [continue reading…]

Quarrying data for gems of knowledge

Released on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science

Predicting where Australia’s next mineral boom will come from is serious business. Data collected using satellite sensing, airborne surveys, seismic crews and prospecting teams is immense and is piling up rapidly. But what use are all these data? [continue reading…]

Are we all mined out?

Released on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science

Most of the easily-found, economically exploitable mineral deposits in Australia have already been discovered, and are steadily being mined out. We need new, large, rich ore bodies to replace them.

How we go about finding and developing them is at the core of an Australian Academy of Science Think Tank to be held in Canberra on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 August. The media are invited to the first day, and the speakers are available for interview. [continue reading…]

How did we get here?

Zenobia Jacobs

University of Wollongong

Zenobia Jacobs wants to know where we came from, and how we got here. When did our distant ancestors leave Africa and spread across the world? Why? And when was Australia first settled? [continue reading…]