Category: News
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Big Data…Big Deal
Data is everywhere. It touches and informs every aspect of our lives. You go to the doctor, and your medical records are electronic on a computer screen before your eyes. You bank online. The stock market is all done by computers. We are living in The Data Age. I grew up in a time where…
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Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab
Go behind the scenes and take a virtual tour of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. The lab aims to research psychological experimentation in the virtual world, according to Associate Professor of Communication Jeremy Bailenson. “We integrate three virtual senses in a way that’s very psychologically persuasive — sight, sound and touch. The state-of-the-art lab also…
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A Planetary Perspective: With Landsat and Google Earth Engine
Since July 1972, NASA’s Landsat satellites have gathered images over the entire land surface of the Earth, creating the most complete record ever assembled. These images, archived at USGS, reveal dynamic changes over time due to human activity (deforestation, urbanization) and natural processes (volcanic eruptions, wildfire). Now, Google Earth Engine allows scientists, researchers and the…
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Weekly Science Picks
Well, it’s a new day in Australia with the election of Tony Abbott. It will be interesting to see what changes may be ahead for environmental laws and science. But this is Weekly Science Picks and not a political roundup at the moment, so let’s get started on some of the fascinating stories in the…
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Plasma-treated nano filters help purify world water supply
The study paves the way for the next generation of portable water purification devices, which could provide relief to the 780 million people around the world who face every day without access to a clean water supply. An international team of researchers – led by Associate Professor Hui Ying Yang from Singapore University of Technology…
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Australia’s big broadband ‘app-ortunity’
Alarms which send you mobile alerts warning of smoke detected in your house and tele-health systems which help to measure home-based breathing exercises for patients suffering from chronic disease are just some of the potential applications available over next generation broadband networks, according to a new report released today by the Australian Centre for Broadband…
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Weekly Science Picks
Sundays. They were meant for science. Without any further ado… For all those who have always thought about doing what we here at Australian Science do — science blogging — here are some word-shaped pearls of wisdom. Should you write a science blog? “I used to think there should really be more scientists blogging. That’s…
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CSIRO telescope marks 25 years of success
One of the world’s most successful astronomy observatories, CSIRO’s Australia Telescope Compact Array near Narrabri, NSW, turns 25 years of age on 2 September. The Universe is a huge natural laboratory and astronomers study it to observe nature at its most extreme. “Every possible experiment is being played out somewhere in the Universe,” said Dr Jamie…
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Weekly Science Picks
It’s that time of the week again. Time for some science-y goodness from around the globe!! NASA Spitzer Telescope celebrates 10 years in space! Ten years ago the Spitzer Space Telescope was launched about a Delta II rocket from Canaveral, Florida. Spitzer is an infrared telescope and is the fourth of the NASA’s four Great…
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The Forgotten Home of Coffee
Coffee is one of the world’s favourite drinks, one of the most important commercial crop-plants, and the second most valuable international commodity; Arabica coffee is considered to produce the finest coffee beans. Production of coffee helps support the livelihood of 25 million farming families around the world and it is estimated that around 32 pairs of…
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Hyperloop – A Reality for Commuters?
As many of you may have heard, Elon Musk – founder of Tesla Motors, PayPal and SpaceX – released his plans for an extraordinary new mode of transportation, the Hyperloop. Whether they are ‘his’ plans, and if it is a ‘new’ idea, is up for debate. But we’ll leave it there and focus on the idea…
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Water, water everywhere?
We often don’t plan for water in the broader sense when we think of developing communities and towns. The water pipes are underground, sure, and they flow to the water and sewer treatment plant, and we have water whenever we command the faucet to release it. But when you think about it, the water cycle…
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Pulsars make a GPS for the cosmos
CSIRO scientists have written software that could guide spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, show that the planet Nibiru doesn’t exist … and prove that the Earth goes around the Sun. Dr George Hobbs (CSIRO) and his colleagues study pulsars — small spinning stars that deliver regular ‘blips’ or ‘pulses’ of radio waves and, sometimes, X-rays. Usually…
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The Psychology of First Impressions
Though one must not judge a book by its cover, a job candidate only has thirty minutes to prove his or her worth to a hiring manager. Thus an interviewee’s cover must be able to represent the qualifications and potential that lies within. Since the job market is full to the brim, it is not…