Tony Abbott has promised a Coalition government would keep the income tax and pension compensation Labor has given even after it scraps the carbon tax. The pledge, made in his budget reply, is a major…
Scientists have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. While researchers have previously been able to make…
Ocean warming has already affected global fisheries in the past four decades, a new international study has found, driving up the proportion of warm-water fish being caught and posing a threat to food…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Pauline Ernesto, The Conversation
Rising sea levels will lead to a drastic decline in seagrass stocks, a new study has found, but reducing water pollution may help offset the effects. Seagrass is crucial to slowing climate change because…
There has been a mixed initial reaction to Treasurer Wayne Swan’s sixth budget from industry and community groups. Big business says it is disappointed with Wayne Swan’s sixth federal budget, laying doubt…
Treasurer Wayne Swan has delivered a budget with a A$19.4 billion deficit this financial year, falling only to $18 billion in 2013-14. The government would aim to bring the budget back to “balance” – less…
Three astronauts from the International Space Station, including the singing Canadian Chris Hadfield, landed in Kazakhstan today after a journey of nearly 100 million kilometres. Commander Hadfield, an…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Catherine Durkin, The Conversation
A new study has found that kava, a plant-based relaxant used in the Pacific, is moderately effective at reducing anxiety symptoms in people with diagnosed Generalised Anxiety Disorder. However, while the…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Bella Counihan, The Conversation
The Australian government’s recent proposed cuts to university funding and student loans will cost universities A$1 billion a year by 2017 and make it harder for people to balance study and work, the chief…
Scientists have uncovered what, for some couples, may be an uncomfortable truth: all people of European descent are related. Go back a few generations and even people from opposite ends of the European…
The Reserve Bank of Australia today cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 2.75%, but some experts have questioned whether the central bank cut too soon. In a statement issued today, central…
A research centre where experts will use the latest findings from neuroscience, education and psychology to better understand how students learn will open this year, after the Australian government announced…
A drug that may one day be used to treat skin cancer has been found to be safe for use on humans and may reduce the size of a tumour, according to the first ever human trials of the drug. The drug, called…
Some groups of migrant women in Australia are at a higher risk of medical interventions in childbirth that may lead to health problems for the mother or child, a new study has found. Medical interventions…
Australian quantum computing researchers have developed a new technique for reading the quantum spin of an atom, paving the way for immensely powerful computers connected by a super-fast quantum internet…
Over a thousand Australian professors have signed an open letter asking the federal government to abandon plans for $2.3 billion worth of cuts to the university sector. The cuts, announced this month as…
The US space agency has released fresh pictures of a hurricane with a 2000km wide eye locked over Saturn’s north pole and spinning at around four times the speed of earthly hurricane winds. The pictures…
Testosterone may trigger a brain chemical process linked to schizophrenia but the same sex hormone can also improve cognitive thinking skills in men with the disorder, two new studies show. Scientists…
Australia’s inflation rate remains under control, potentially adding to the argument for the Reserve Bank to leave interest rates where they are, experts said today. But one economist has warned the Reserve…
A diesel-style fuel has been created from a modified version of the Escherichia coli bacteria, the tummy bug that causes Bali belly. A new study, published in the journal PNAS and conducted by researchers…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Bella Counihan, The Conversation, and Francisca Gallardo, The Conversation
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard today said NSW has become the first state to sign up to the National Education Reform Agreement, which aims to add $A14.5 billion to the public and private school…
While the federal election is still months away, issues of health funding are already dominating the news. A Grattan Institute report released yesterday, for instance, noted the greatest budgetary pressure…
Taking a marijuana pill is more effective at relieving pain than smoking the drug, a new US study of daily marijuana smokers has shown, but the authors warn the findings may not translate to non-regular…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Francisca Gallardo, The Conversation
Child and refugee psychiatry experts have raised concerns over reports the government is considering sending refugee families with children to the Curtin Immigration Detention Centre, a remote ex-army…
A British scientist convicted of scientific fraud last month for falsifying research data has been sentenced to three months jail. Steven Eaton is the first person to serve time under the UK’s Good Laboratory…