You are walking through the bush when you see an enormous tree trunk, tens of metres long, lying across the forest floor. Imagine you and several dozen friends lifting it by hand. Now you’ve literally…
The new strain (C4a) of enterovirus EV71 has infected hundreds of thousands mostly pre-school-age children in China, Cambodia and Taiwan.
Image from shutterstock.com
A virus that can cause paralysis in children has been circulating in New South Wales during autumn and has recently spread to Victoria. Around 30 young children, mainly from Sydney’s northern and southeastern…
Genetics can explain a black or white cat in a litter, but what about a stripey cat? Enter epigenetics.
Taylor Bennett
The word epigenetics means things imposed “on top of genetics”. But what sort of things? Imagine a white mouse breeds with a black mouse – say you get three white babies and three black babies. That’s…
The most recent bridge collapse in Washington was due to an oversize truck collision.
EPA/Dan Levine
Bridge collapses are often tragic, but are also fascinating for bridge engineers as they usually provide puzzles to solve and often lead to major changes in design, construction and management. Complete…
Hopefully this will remain a rare sight.
Edgaras Zvirblys
There was chaos on the streets of Halajba in March 1988. In this corner of Iraq, at the time Iraqi Kurdistan, people had suddenly started experiencing cold-like symptoms – tight chest and nasal congestion…
Ocean power can be harnessed for electricity generation using both wave energy and the tide.
Scottish Government
Renewable ocean energy harnesses the power of the oceans to produce electricity. This can be done in several ways, but the resources that have the most immediate potential in terms of energy production…
We have a lot of cells, but where did they arise from?
j.reed
In a paper published in Cell yesterday, scientists from the US and Thailand have, for the first time, successfully produced embryonic stem cells from human skin cells. That sounds interesting, but what…
The novel coronavirus is in the same family as the SARS virus, but has some different biological features and is not as infectious.
Image from shutterstock.com
Ten years ago the world was gripped by the threat of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which was caused by a coronavirus. The outbreak infected more than 8,000 people and around 800 died. Over…
Australians will vote on constitutional recognition for local government in September - but what are the reasons behind the referendum?
AAP/Sophie Marr
The federal government has announced that Australians will be voting in a referendum on September 14 - federal election day - to decide whether local government should be recognised in the Australian Constitution…
Influenza symptoms include high fevers and chills, as well as pains and aches in muscles and joints.
Davide Taviani
When people say they have “the flu”, what they’re experiencing most of the time is the common cold, which is not caused by the influenza virus at all. But the term “flu season”, which Australia is in the…
Whether or not intuition is inherently “good” depends on the situation.
maclauren70
The word intuition is derived from the Latin intueor – to see; intuition is thus often invoked to explain how the mind can “see” answers to problems or decisions in the absence of explicit reasoning…
With improvements in enhanced geothermal systems technology the earth’s heat could become a major electricity generator.
Flickr/xavierbt
Geothermal means, literally, “earth heat”. The temperature of the earth increases as we drill deeper towards its core. We can use that heat for energy by circulating water through hot subterranean reservoirs…
The International Space Station after undocking from the now-retired Endeavour space shuttle.
NASA
As the most visible man-made object in the night sky the International Space Station (ISS) is of significance to humankind. It takes humans from being explorers of space to being residents of space. The…
Australia has one of the highest rates of illicit methamphetamine use in the world.
Image from shutterstock.com
More commonly known by the street names speed, ice or crystal meth, both amphetamine and methamphetamine belong to a group of stimulant drugs called amphetamines. Australia has one of the highest rates…
Schools funding has been a hot topic this week: here’s all you need to know on this important election issue.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
This week you might have heard the word “Gonski” even more than usual. That’s because the Gillard government finally announced how it would pay for its school funding reform in the lead up to its meeting…
Location-restricted services are becoming ever easier to access, wherever you live.
Daniel Dionne
So you sit down in front of your computer to catch the latest episode of Doctor Who directly from BBC’s iPlayer, and you are greeted by an error message informing you that the program will play only in…
Hydropower stations such as the Three Gorges in China are able to produce large amounts of electricity but they can also alter ecosystems and displace communities.
EPA
Hydroelectricity is an established power-generation technology with over 100 years of commercial operation. Hydroelectricity is produced when moving water rotates a turbine shaft; this movement is converted…
Whacking your funny bone really hard will cause a mild nerve injury which may take minutes, hours or even days to come good.
Image from shutterstock.com
Put a finger on the point of your elbow. Feel inwards from there about half and inch or slightly more until you find another bony outcrop. Got it? Good. Tap with your finger in the valley between those…
Anorexia affects about 2% of women in their lifetime, although one in every ten sufferers is male.
Darwin Bell
Most people know that anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness associated with the maintenance of low weight and fear of weight gain. But we know very little about what causes this destructive disease…
Algae synthesisers – a new crop for biofuels, without the need for land.
Kirsten Heimann
The problem we face with fossil fuels being ultimately a finite resource has exposed our need for renewable fuels. But research is underway on new and more environmentally-savvy ways to fuel our growing…