Category: News
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Bacon Fans United: The Pig Genome Sequenced
Breeding healthier and meatier piggies has been one of the many scientific challenges of the past decades; creating more reliable models to study human diseases is another. The swine disease model is indeed much better to use when studying human disorders than the (thus far) widely used murine models. Although pigs reproduce slower than mice…
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The Science Surrounding James Bond
Bond. Double Bond. That was a quip a lab partner of mine cracked during a sophomore chemistry class and I have not forgotten since. And it is a perfect lead in for this week’s post as I take you through the past and into a closer look with – The Science Surrounding James Bond. This…
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First research to successfully predict the responses of children with autism to treatment models
Research Fellow Dr Giacomo Vivanti and his team of researchers at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University have successfully profiled children with autism in order to predict how well they will respond to a particular form of developmental therapy. Dr Cheryl Dissanayake, Director of OTARC, says that Dr Vivanti¹s research, published last week in…
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Weekly Science Picks
It seems the rate of everything has increased exponentially. A very bold, vague, yet intriguing statement, you might say. During the course of the past 2 weeks, Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast of America, followed closely by a nor’easter. So my science picks for this week center on the themes of natural disasters, planning,…
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Sandy’s aftermath
Before hurricane Sandy touched down on the east coast of America, it passed through the Caribbean, causing around 80 fatalities — 60 of them occurred in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Bahamas, two in the Dominican Republic and one in Jamaica. Hurricane Sandy started life out over central America, nonchalantly, as a collection…
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Weekly Science Picks
Bob Dylan and the curse of self-plagiarism. Disclaimer: this weeks theme largely relates to Bob Dylan. Up first — here comes a story of a Hurricane! With frankenstorm Sandy in the news, Empirical Zeal asks the question “What is the true measure of a storm?” “In the western hemisphere, hurricanes are all rated on the…
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Great danger for the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is easily among the world’s great natural wonders. A world heritage site since 1981, it’s known everywhere as a showcase for the beauty which Earth’s oceans are capable of producing. The world’s largest system of coral reefs, it’s actually composed of over 2900 smaller reefs, stretching along Australia’s coastline for 2600…
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Weekly Science Picks
With the exponential growth of scientific research, there were a plethora of articles which could have been reported this week. A few that caught my attention are listed below. A Future of Genetically Superior Humans On Wednesday it was reported that geneticists have moved into an area of research previously believed to be highly unethical.…
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Analysys Mason Study Demonstrates How the Fundamental Sustainability of the Internet Extends to Developing Countries
Analysys Mason’s new study published this week entitled ‘How the Internet continues to sustain growth and innovation’ reveals how the market forces that have always ensured the sustainability of the Internet in developed countries also extend to developing countries. Analysys Mason (www.analysysmason.com) is a global specialist in telecoms, media and technology (TMT). The Internet Society (www.internetsociety.org)…
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The Continuing Saga of the Genetically Modified Plant
GM (Genetically Modified) Foods “Jack! Did you see that potato move?! He’s a GM, that one, he’s sprouted eyes and I bet he’ll grow legs next! He’s gonna round up his buddies and take over the farm!” That opening is ridiculous because farmers are a wise group of people and genetic modification of crops will…
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Breaking plates
What do Australia and India have in common? The answer is that they both share one of Earth’s tectonic plates – the drifting eggshell-like pieces of Earth’s crust, on which all of our planet’s continents sit. However, the Indo-Australian Plate is a slightly unusual one, and the two countries may not share it for much…
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Payload
Science Fiction This may not be the usual topic for a blog post normally displayed on Australian Science, but when our editor Danica mentioned she saw this great Aussie short and asked if one of us writers wanted to do a narrative, I jumped at it. The next 17:55 of my lunch break left me…
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Weekly Science Picks
Doesn’t time fly? I don’t know about anyone else, but my week has absolutely flown past. As I take a moment to relax and consider picking a few favourite topics from this week’s news, I realise that perhaps this is because it’s been an exciting week, full of interesting discoveries and unusual events. In fact,…
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Giant Impact: making the moon
It began… where it always begins — out there — in the vastness of space. What would it look like, that void of empty nothingness? So early on in the sound of creation, indescribable things all around. Not yet planets, not yet moons. Not yet defined. A titanic mass of rock. Different. Ugly and melancholic.…