Astronomers see ‘cosmic ring of fire’, 11 billion years ago

Operations on 26 May, 2020

Unusual galaxy set to prompt rethink on how structures in the Universe form

Full paper, Full video, and images available. Details below.

Astronomers have captured an image of a super-rare type of galaxy – described as a “cosmic ring of fire” – as it existed 11 billion years ago.

The galaxy, which has roughly the mass of the Milky Way, is circular with a hole in the middle, rather like a titanic doughnut. Its discovery, announced in the journal Nature Astronomy, is set to shake up theories about the earliest formation of galactic structures and how they evolve.

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Solving the puzzle of complex inherited diseases

Operations on 15 November, 2012

Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize goes to young Brisbane researcher

Jian Yang, 2012 Centenary Lawrence Creative Prize winner (credit: Centenary Institute)

The winner of the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize is Dr Jian Yang, from the Diamantina Institute of the University of Queensland.

He has solved one of the great puzzles of human genetics—why the genes typically implicated in inherited diseases like schizophrenia, obesity and diabetes only account for a small amount of their heritability. Read More about Solving the puzzle of complex inherited diseases

Keeping our best young bioscience brains in Australia: Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize

Tamzin on 14 November, 2012

The winner of the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize will be announced at 12.30 pm, Thursday 15 November 2012, at a lunch at UBS in Sydney.

He will receive $25,000, and a glass trophy designed by Australian sculptor Nick Mount.

The 2012 finalists are:

  • Robert McLaughlin, a medical engineer from the University of Western Australia (UWA), who has developed an optical probe that fits inside a hypodermic needle and can help surgeons accurately determine the boundaries of breast cancer tumours.
  • Marc Pellegrini, from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), whose discoveries about how the body regulates its immune system are being applied to clinical trials of cancer vaccines and treatments for HIV and hepatitis.
  • Jian Yang, from the Diamantina Institute at the University of Queensland, who has solved a major puzzle of missing heritability by developing software and methods to determine the multiple genes involved in conditions such as schizophrenia, obesity and diabetes.

How does our intelligence change through life

Niall on 19 January, 2012

Nature paper reveals the genetic influence on our IQ as we age

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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Mentor of L’Oréal Fellow wins Nobel Prize

Science in Public on 10 October, 2011

Tamara Davis, 2009 L’Oréal Australia Fellow tells of how she felt when she heard her mentors had won the Nobel Prize. Tuesday morning found me dancing in excitement when I heard the news that Brian Schmidt, Saul Perlmutter, and Adam Riess had won th…

Revealing the dark side – in Tasmania this week

Science in Public on 26 September, 2011

What we see in the night sky is only five per cent of the Universe. So what’s the other 95 per cent of the Universe made of – a young physicist has the answers across Tasmania this week. One of Australia’s leading young physicists will reveal the…

2011 Fellows announced

Science in Public on 23 August, 2011

Coral, Cancer Capsules & Conservation Three $20,000 L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowships for 2011 were awarded to  talented Australian women in science on Tuesday, 23 August 2011. L’Oréal this year awards three remarkable young…

Can we save the tiger with mathematics?

Operations on 23 August, 2011

Eve McDonald-Madden The University of Queensland Turning to mathematics to allow us to make smarter conservation decisions. The diversity of life on Earth underpins the global economy. But we’re losing biodiversity at an unprecedented rate and human-…

2011 award ceremony photos

Science in Public on 23 August, 2011

The three L’Oréal Australia For Women In Science Fellows for 2011 received their awards on Tuesday 23 August at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. A professional photographer took pictures of the Fellows on the night, you can see so…