Australian researchers have invented nanotech solar cells that are thin, flexible and use 1/100^th the materials of conventional solar cells. [continue reading…]

From tomorrow, for nearly two weeks Australia is hosting a huge meeting of earth scientists – many of them flying directly from their work at recent hot spots.

They will be providing the most up-to-date information on the Japanese tsunami, the safety of nuclear installations, the Christchurch earthquake, Cyclone Yasi, the ash clouds and more. They will also be putting all of this in context and reveal the bigger picture about our planet in all its moods.

The conference is Earth on the Edge, the 25^th General Assembly of the International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy (IUGG), and it has attracted almost 4,000 delegates from around 100 countries. [continue reading…]

In flour it reduces heart disease risk say Melbourne and WA researchers

You can lower your risk of heart disease significantly, just by using flour containing 40 per cent lupin beans in the place of conventional wholemeal flour, according to research by Victoria University dietitian Dr Regina Belski and colleagues from the University of Western Australia. [continue reading…]

Melbourne researchers have developed smart bandages that change colour to reveal the state of the wound beneath.

Their invention could reduce the $500 million cost of chronic wound care in Australia. [continue reading…]

Life on other planets, sex determination in marsupials, the links between genetics and mental health—that’s the breadth of research spanned by the four Australians and one New Zealander, life scientists all, who have become L’Oréal Laureate fellows since the awards were inaugurated in 1998. In 2009, one of these women, Elizabeth Blackburn, went on to win Nobel Prize in Medicine.

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March Bulletin
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Welcome to my first bulletin in 2011 for people around the country with an interest in physics. 2010 was another big year for physics in Australia with the 50th anniversary of the laser, celebrated by a lecture tour organised by the Australian Optical …

A molecular assassin literally punches its way into rogue cells say a team of Melbourne and London researchers. Their discovery is published today in Nature.

More effective treatments for cancer and viral diseases; better therapy for autoimmune conditions; a deeper understanding of the body’s defences enabling the development of more tightly focused immunosuppressive drugs—these are some of the wide-ranging possibilities arising from research published in the science journal Nature on Monday 31 October by research groups at Monash University and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, and Birkbeck College in London.
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From Brian James, President of the Australian Institute of Physics Welcome to my monthly email to people around the country with an interest in physics. It has with news and events for November 2010 and beyond. The AIP National Congress is almost upon …