Over the past few years, there has been a growing awareness that many experimentally established “facts” don’t seem to hold up to repeated investigation. This was highlighted in a 2010 article in the New…
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You may have noticed our Prime Minister Tony Abbott riding around in cycling kit with the Amgen logo across his chest, back and legs. Amgen is the principal sponsor of an Australian fundraising cycling…
With only one in five National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant applications successful, and a similar rate for Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grants, it’s little wonder researchers…
Our series, Animals in Research, profiles the top organisms used for science experimentation. In this instalment, we look at the original lab rats: Rattus norvegicus. Rats have a long history in medical…
Think back to high-school science. Do you remember what the value of acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface - denoted as “g” in textbooks - is? For those whose memories may need a bit of prodding…
When it comes to science and research portfolios in his first Cabinet, prime minster-eventual Tony Abbott appears to have taken his lead from Chinese military general Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: Be extremely…
First, a disclaimer: I’m the proud holder of a Bachelor of Science (upper second class) in experimental psychology. So you shouldn’t be too surprised when I tell you psychology is a science. But for many…
Our short series, the Science of Medical Imaging, examines the technology behind non-invasive methods of creating images of the human body. In this article, we discuss the technique of transmission imaging…
Apple’s latest and greatest - the iPhone 5s - met a muted reception last week in San Francisco. Although the device’s admittedly evolutionary-not-revolutionary updates target early adopters and high-end…
Australian social media users and civil society groups are mobilising against Coalition communications spokesperson Malcolm Turnbull’s implication today that democracy has spoken through the election process…
The sudden appearance of a range of modern animals about half a billion years ago, during evolution’s “big bang”, has intrigued and puzzled generations of biologists from Charles Darwin onwards. A new…
Technology to acquire and use biometric data such as fingerprints has been around for several decades and has made its way from forensic investigation to laptop computers – and now, with this week’s introduction…
Insecticide resistance is the quieter, lesser-known relative of antibiotic resistance. Anyone who has been to a hospital recently knows about antibiotic resistant bacteria. But how many people think about…
Even though nearly 80 years have passed since the discovery of Technetium, the first “synthetic” element, the periodic table of elements remains a work in progress. On Tuesday, evidence for the existence…
With the rumour mill working overtime over the past couple of months, Apple CEO Tim Cook launched the latest iPhone models yesterday: the iPhone 5S and a low-cost version, the iPhone 5C. This foray into…
I’ve heard that we should stop talking about “pure” science and “applied” science; that we should only be talking about “good” science and “bad” science. Last year, CSIRO Chief Executive Megan Clark said…
The US National Security Agency (NSA) leaks just keep coming. Only a few days after details of its software anti-cryptography hacks were exposed by The Guardian, New York Times and ProPublica, German news…
Humans respond to cute. Show us just about any little critter with a big round head and a pair of large, blinking-in-the-headlights eyes and cooing will ensue. Add to that a set of chubby cheeks, a button…
Our new series, the Science of Medical Imaging, examines the technology behind non-invasive methods of creating images of the human body. In this first instalment, we look at two types of emission imaging…
“Muscle memory” is a frequently used term to describe the learning of motor skills, be they sport, music, or everyday activity. But interestingly, despite the widespread usage of the term, controversy…
By now you will have seen the Coaliton yesterday proposed an opt-out internet filter in their Policy to Enhance Online Safety for Children - and only a few hours later, retracted that policy. The retraction…
In the wake of the latest New York Times/Guardian UK/ProPublica triple team effort breaking news of America’s National Security Agency’s (NSA) anti-cryptography effort Sigint, a new level of social contract…
As of last night both major Australian political parties can claim to have at one time backed and then rejected internet filters. Is this an epic win for netizens? Yes, for the battle against censorship…
Sex in mammals, including mouse and human, is determined genetically and depends on the paternal sex chromosome - X or Y - received at the time of fertilisation. If nothing goes wrong, an XX individual…
I doubt anyone truly believes governments are infinitely resourced. Even the most rabid, single-issue monomaniac can appreciate that to add public money from bucket X, it must come from bucket Y. So it’s…