An outbreak of the Ebola virus, which started in a rural region of Guinea in West Africa, has now spread to the nation’s capital Conakry. It now reportedly involves 122 people, of which 78 have died. Additional…
When cells attack - autoimmune disease develop when immune cells mistakenly attack a part of the body.
Ari Moore/Flickr
Autoimmune diseases, which include a range of around 80 different illnesses from rheumatoid arthritis to type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, occur when the immune system attacks the body. These diseases…
Immunotherapy boosts the body’s ability to fight disease.
Rob Schultz/Flickr
Immunotherapy is treatment that boosts the body’s immune system by producing more infection-fighting agents, such as white blood cells and antibodies, to help fight disease. While it may seem a modern…
The saltmarsh mosquito, Aedes vigilax, transmits Ross River virus in many coastal regions of Australia.
Mr Stephen Doggett (Medical Entomology, Pathology West - ICPMR Westmead)
Ross River virus infection is the most commonly reported mosquito-borne disease in Australia, with more than 4,000 cases of illness are reported every year. Activity has been recorded from every state…
A cancer cluster generally features an unusually high number of the same type of cancer occurring in a group of people with a common exposure.
Shutterstock
Most of us are living longer and we are all expected to be working longer. Because the likelihood of cancer increases as we age, we’re more likely to be diagnosed with cancer while still a member of the…
Ice core samples storing mysteries from bygone eras.
Genericprofilename
Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled from glaciers and ice sheets. When snow falls it takes with it a record of many aspects of the atmosphere. As long as no melting takes place, this information is…
Emerging economies: still basket cases?
Wander/Flickr
In past decades, emerging markets were traditionally thought of as “basket case” economies, with the associated stigma. Perceptions have improved in recent years, but there are still concerns these economies…
Quality of life is more important than length and produces a better product.
Ryan Thompson
Animal welfare is a term that frequently pops up in headlines, most recently in the debate over how animals are killed for kosher and halal food. But the concept of animal welfare is often misunderstood…
Australia’s most prolific Oscar winner, Catherine Martin, was awarded her fourth Oscar for production design on The Great Gatsby. What is it that production designers actually do?
AAP
When we watch a movie, how do we know where and when it is taking place? This is just one of the questions a production designer working on a film or TV show helps audiences answer. They do so through…
Astronomers didn’t know, 20 years ago, whether planets existed around any stars other than the Sun. All that changed in 1995 with the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. And by the beginning…
“Eat your five-a-day” is a health slogan that has been kicking around since the 1980s. The UK government made it an official campaign in 2003. But understanding the exact benefits (and harms) that our…
Malignant tumours known as medulloblastoma account for more deaths in children than leukaemia.
The Advocacy Project/Flickr
Malignant brain tumours are the most common cause of cancer death in children. And the most common of these are called medulloblastoma. Although these tumours can occur in both children and adults (they…
Banding is an attempt to mitigate some dangers arising from the way children are allocated to secondary schools. The characteristics of the children attending a school matter a great deal to all concerned…
Amid the constant debate about Religious Instruction in schools, what does the law say?
www.shutterstock.com.au
In recent weeks the issue of the religious content of Australian education has been hotly debated. Last week The Age reported the latest development. Principals in several Victorian state schools had ceased…
Proteins hold keys to making more effective medicine.
Jeff Fillmore, Flickr
The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, mapping out all of the genes of the human genome. When the first draft of results were published many were surprised that we had only 24,000 genes. This…
The content of zines can be as idiosyncratic as individual publishers choose.
scott_bl8ke
Zines are small-circulation, self-published magazines. Their emergence can be traced back to fanzine, a term used by science-fiction fans from the 1940s to set their amateur publications about popular…
The fragile five economies have become surrogates for the developing world in meetings like the G20.
Shutterstock
Financial markets love to come up with snappy acronyms – you have all heard of BRICS, but there are many others, with the “fragile five” being the latest. The BIITS - Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa…
Picture a reclusive man, dripping with sweat all night in a dark lab, illuminated only by crackling sparks that periodically leap from enormous machines and cast a purple glow across his face. This was…
Bariatric surgery is the last-line option for weight loss.
Chris J/FLickr
You don’t need an expert to tell you obesity has become a major health problem worldwide. The World Health Organisation estimates 35% of the world’s adults are overweight and 11% obese, double the rate…
When it comes to sharks, it’s important we know size and species.
Scubaben/Flickr
Dozens of sharks have reportedly been caught since Western Australia’s “catch-and-kill” drum line program began two weeks ago. Firm numbers are not available given the WA government’s unwillingness to…