Tag: University of Sydney

‘Sharkskin’ makes planes faster, smoother, cheaper

Maddy De Gabriele on 14 June, 2022

A sharkskin-inspired coating on planes will save thousands of dollars per flight and slash carbon emissions, says Aussie start-up, MicroTau.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) today announces a $5.6 million investment in MicroTau’s ‘sharkskin’ technology developed with the help of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF).

Sharks famously swim smoothly and quietly, helped by their unique skin with thousands of overlapping layers of tiny ‘scales’ or denticles to reduce their drag in the water.

Mimicking this structure on airplanes reduces turbulence, increases flying speed, and cuts fuel emissions and cost. Unfortunately, it is excruciatingly difficult to replicate the microscopic grooves and bumps with traditional manufacturing.

MicroTau have solved this puzzle using specialist laser manufacturing technology to rapidly produce the shark skin pattern in a light-curable material onto large, self-adhesive patches. Today’s funding announcement will allow them to scale-up manufacturing and grow their team of scientists, engineers, and business development specialists.

Ghostly traces of massive ancient river revealed

Operations on 26 February, 2020

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 around them.

Indonesian and Australian scientists test new TB vaccine targets for the TB fight in Indonesia and Australia

Operations on 22 March, 2016

World TB Day on March 24 reminds us of the growing TB threat

Scientists available for interview in English and Bahasa Indonesia for World TB Day. Read the release in Bahasa Indonesia.
More images below.

Better vaccines are needed for the global fight against tuberculosis (TB). The Global Fund reports an estimated nine million new cases globally per year of TB, which is second only to AIDS as the world’s most deadly infectious disease. Indonesia had more than 320,000 reported cases in 2014 according to the World Health Organization, while Australia’s reported cases were just over 1,000. But the rise of drug-resistant TB poses a threat to all countries.

Two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium have shown promising results in investigations in mice for a new vaccine. Scientists from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney, with colleagues at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, have found that the injected proteins can prime the immune system to induce protection against TB in mice.

The team has established a laboratory and immunological techniques to test if the two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium can be used as the basis for a vaccine. Credit: Centenary Institute

Sydney doctor inaugurates $4-million Chair to explore a hidden organ

Science in Public on 25 March, 2012

Revealing the cells that make and police our 80,000 km internal transport network.

Sydney doctor and philanthropist Tom Wenkart will donate $4 million on Monday 26 March, in the presence of the NSW Governor Dr Marie Bashir, to endow the University of Sydney Wenkart Chair in Endothelium Medicine at the Centenary Institute.

A new chlorophyll – redefining photosynthesis: 2011 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year

Operations on 12 October, 2011

Min Chen

Among the single-celled cyanobacteria—formerly known as blue-green algae—which live in the ancient rock-like accumulations called stromatolites in Shark Bay, Western Australia, Associate Professor Min Chen of the University of Sydney last year found the first new form of chlorophyll in 67 years.

Tag: University of Sydney

‘Sharkskin’ makes planes faster, smoother, cheaper

A sharkskin-inspired coating on planes will save thousands of dollars per flight and slash carbon emissions, says Aussie start-up, MicroTau.

Ghostly traces of massive ancient river revealed

Indonesian and Australian scientists test new TB vaccine targets for the TB fight in Indonesia and Australia

Sydney doctor inaugurates $4-million Chair to explore a hidden organ

Revealing the cells that make and police our 80,000 km internal transport network.

A new chlorophyll – redefining photosynthesis: 2011 Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year

Min Chen

Five years of L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellows

2010 award ceremony photos

2010 Fellows announced

Mopping up gases