Investors are continuing to pour money into fossil fuel reserves that could end up being worthless due to efforts to combat climate change, a new report has found. The Climate Tracker report found that…
Infants develop the ability to consciously process their environment as early as five months of age, according to a study published today in the journal Science. The team of French and Danish researchers…
Australians are increasingly drinking alcohol to get drunk but just one in five believe they drink too much. The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s annual alcohol poll, released today, found…
Liz Minchin, The Conversation and Nancy Youssef, The Conversation
Australia should work harder on its official and unofficial diplomacy to strengthen its ties to India, after a new survey revealed Indians had a mixed perception of the two countries’ relationship. The…
Australia’s key strategy to tackle climate change is looking shaky, after another price drop on the world’s biggest carbon market raised fresh doubts about the future of emissions trading schemes. In Europe…
Made-to-order kidneys have come a step closer to reality, with scientists successfully bioengineering a functioning kidney, which was transplanted into a live rat. In a study published in Nature this week…
Australian researchers have developed a new therapy to treat a common and aggressive form of breast cancer and stop the disease spreading, with a 100% success rate reported in mice. Using a combination…
Liz Minchin, The Conversation and Carley Tonoli, The Conversation
Even the tiniest taste of beer can be enough to drive some men to want to drink more, a new study has found. While it sounds like the kind of study dreamt up at a backyard barbeque, US researchers have…
Doctors should be able to provide subsidised “prescriptions” for healthy food to people in remote Aboriginal communities, says an Indigenous nutrition expert. Professor Kerin O'Dea, Professor of Nutrition…
Losing A$200 a student doesn’t sound like a major cut for a multi-billion-dollar industry - so will the new university funding cuts really affect the quality of Australian higher education? Over the weekend…
Flu vaccines given to children should be more rigorously tested before before being allowed onto the market, researchers say, to prevent a repeat of the 2010 vaccine release, which caused a spate of high…
The states are being asked to pay for one third of the ambitious Gonski school funding program, which would inject a total of $14.5 billion extra across the public and private school sectors over the next…
Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation and Odile Gotts, The Conversation
Scientists have found a way to control the reward centre of the brain, using a miniature wireless device that emits light and causes the brain to release dopamine, the chemical associated with pleasure…
East coast Australian cities could one day be linked by high speed rail, but with a price tag of $114 billion and a 40 year timeframe, according to a study released by the Transport Minister Anthony Albanese…
Health commissions and medical boards should publicly disclose the details of complaints against doctors when multiple allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour are made, experts say. The call…
Mobile phones should be used to express and store our end-of-life medical care preferences, experts say. Advance care directives (ACDs) are legal documents that allow people to detail the quality of life…
A nutrient found red meat may increase the risk of heart disease when it interacts with the bacteria in the human gut, according to a paper published this week in Nature Medicine. The results point to…
The federal Coalition’s new A$30 billion plan for “fast, affordable” broadband is a quick-fix strategy, which is likely to cost more and be less reliable long-term, according to experts. Launching the…
Showing young people computer-generated images illustrating the effects of smoking on their appearance later in life may encourage them to quit, a new study has found. The findings are published in the…
Tiny particles of air pollution can stunt the growth of coral reefs, according to a [new study in Nature Geoscience](http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1780](http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1780). Using coral…
Extreme weather caused by global warming poses a growing risk to Australia’s crop lands, cities and iconic sites like Kakadu National Park, according to a new report that calls for global emissions to…
The average cost to the Australian economy of each quad bike related fatality is $AUD2.3 million, according to fresh research that tallied up the cost of lost earnings, emergency services, accident investigations…
US scientists have trained a seal to bob its head in time to music, in a study that the researchers say presents the first ever evidence that non-human mammals can keep a beat. It was previously thought…
NSW Health authorities should withdraw advertisements urging people to cover their coughs and sneezes with their hands and instead tell people to use their inner elbow, according to a letter to the editor…
A team of international researchers, including a number of Australian scientists, have identified 74 new areas of the genome that can increase a person’s risk of developing breast, prostate and ovarian…