Using nanotechnology, researchers have developed a technique to increase the data storage capacity of a DVD from a measly 4.7GB to 1,000GB.
Nature Communications
By Min Gu, Swinburne University of Technology; Yaoyu Cao, Swinburne University of Technology, and Zongsong Gan, Swinburne University of Technology
We live in a world where digital information is exploding. Some 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years. The obvious question is: how can we store it all?
In Nature Communications…
In the past few days, a great deal of media attention has been paid to Leanne Rowe, a Tasmanian woman who has lived eight years with a French accent she acquired after a car accident. This phenomenon is…
Over the past 20 years, research has revealed large populations of creatures living many miles below the Earth’s surface. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports conducted by…
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Marguerite Evans-Galea, Darren Saunders, and…
By Jee Hyun Kim, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Jee Hyun Kim examines how the culture of academia…
Can superb fairy-wrens learn to respond to brood-parasitic cuckoos by simply watching other fairy-wrens react to a cuckoo? That’s the question posed in a new Biology Letters study by myself and Naomi Langmore…
Researchers have found that dishwashers are particularly conducive to the growth and spread of disease-causing fungi. These fungi have been implicated in causing lung diseases and sometimes fatal infections…
The United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is meeting in Vienna this week, and representatives of 74 countries will discuss, among other things, how to ensure space is maintained…
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Jennifer Donovan, Carole Haeusler and Ian…
Accusations of scientific bias are the new catch-all weapon for anti-science commentators and climate deniers. Why are they effective? New research shows they may exploit part of our psychology.
Climate…
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Chancellor of Monash University Alan Finkel…
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction.
Over the next 10 days, we’ll be running a selection of their…
While the world’s most powerful particle accelerator – the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – is on a two-year hiatus for repairs and upgrade, engineers are getting ready to construct the next generation of…
Fossilised soft tissues, such as skin and muscle, are exceptionally hard to come by. When you think the chances of an animal being fossilised is less than one in a million – and these usually have only…
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Creating ways for PhD graduates and other science researchers to go into teaching could be a way to improve our science education.
Phd student image from www.shutterstock.com
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Marguerite Evans-Galea, Darren Saunders, and…
By Jee Hyun Kim, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: We’ve asked our authors about the state of maths and science education in Australia and its future direction. In this instalment, Jee Hyun Kim examines how the culture of academia…
Confessed doper Matt White (second from right) has been reinstated as sports director of cycling ‘clean team’ Orica-GreenEdge. But is this a conflict of interest?
AAP
The official reinstatement of confessed doper Matt White as sports director of Australian World Tour pro-cycling team Orica-GreenEdge passed with surprisingly little media or public scrutiny last week…
A reconstruction of a ptyctodontid fish, one of the groups of placoderms studied from which well-preserved muscles were found.
John A Long
Fossilised soft tissues, such as skin and muscle, are exceptionally hard to come by. When you think the chances of an animal being fossilised is less than one in a million – and these usually have only…
Going against your intuition could increase your chances of winning a car instead of a goat, according to the Monty Hall problem.
mgbutterfly
The game show host adjusts his bow tie and flashes you an oh-so-wicked smile as he brings your attention to three closed doors.
“Behind one of these doors is the prize of your dreams!” he announces excitedly…
In this week’s The Conversation/ SBS News podcast we:
examine the EU’s decision to drop the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition
look at the growing evidence supporting an upright position for…
The 19-year-old ‘Boston bomber’ has become the focal point for a number of fan clubs on social media.
martins.nunomiguel
Prince Charming and the boy accused of the Boston bombings may not seem to have much in common. But thousands of teenage American girls appear to be falling in love with 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev…
Our ape relatives respond like human toddlers who are denied a treat or feel frightened.
Reflexiste
Do chimpanzees and bonobos throw tantrums when their decision-making fails to pay off? That’s the question posed in a new PLoS ONE study by Brian Hare of Duke University and Alexandra Rosati of Yale…
Albert Einstein was considered to be a ‘lone genius’ – but this was not the case, and it’s certainly not the norm.
tsweden
Developing a Theory of Everything is physics' Holy Grail. So could it have been completed in recent weeks? And by an outsider, working alone?
American mathematical physicist-turned-hedge-fund-consultant…
The Venus Flytrap’s snap trap is one of five ways meat-eating plants catch their dinner.
Natalie McNear
A new species of meat-eating plant was identified in Japan last month – but it is only one of more than 600 species of carnivorous plant around the world.
From busy Japanese prefectures to the lush jungles…
When you’re going for goals, seeing is believing.
Johnson Cameraface
In just a few weeks, soccer-playing robots from around the world will converge on Eindhoven in the Netherlands to compete for the prestigious RoboCup 2013. With around 2,500 particpants, competition is…
Left: environment of the early tetrapod (Acanthostega) and tetrapodomorph fish (Eusthenopteron). Right: the axolotl and Australian lungfish.
Catherine Boisvert
Around 395 million years ago, the first tetrapod (four-legged animal) wandered out of its watery home and stepped onto land. This was made possible by the evolution of weight-bearing hips consisting of…
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