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Australia and New Zealand’s science research partnership

News


29 July 2010:
For the first time, scientists have shown that selective breeding of domestic dogs is not only dramatically changing the way animals look but is also driving major changes in the canine brain. Read more

22 July 2010: Australian researchers have begun clinical trials of a new vaccine to protect newborn infants against rotavirus, a life-threatening diarrhoeal disease that kills half a million children worldwide each year. Read more 

22 July 2010:
Researchers have collected venom from octopuses in Antarctica for the first time, significantly advancing our understanding of the properties of venom as a potential resource for drug-development. Read more 

19 July 2010: The discovery of a remarkable 15-million-year-old Australian fossil limestone cave packed with even older animal bones has revealed almost the entire life cycle of a large prehistoric marsupials. Read more

7 July 2010:
Vaccination against the virus that causes cervical cancer has had an additional benefit – a marked decline in cases of genital warts, a new study has found. Read more

6 July 2010: Professional women in their 30s are opting out of full-time work at an alarmingly high rate. Only 38 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified women participating in a long-running University of Melbourne study work full-time, compared to 90 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified men Read more

28 June 2010: The most efficient quantum memory for light is created using a technique that stops and controls light from a laser which manipulates electrons in a cooled crystal. This will allow the delicate quantum nature of the light to be stored, manipulated and recalled. Read more 

24 June 2010: Eminent Australian scientist Professor Frank Fenner, who helped to wipe out smallpox, predicts humans will probably be extinct within 100 years, because of overpopulation, environmental destruction and climate change. Read more

23 June 2010: The brightly coloured cichlid fish turns the colour vision theory inside out as a new study reveals the fish are camouflaged to other cichilds. Read more

4 June 2010: Autism finding could lead to simple urine test for the condition. Read more

3 June 2010: The same mutated gene that makes humans more susceptible to the potentially fatal West Nile virus is also responsible for the virus affecting horses. Read more

2 June 2010: Scientists have discovered a mechanism in the spine which works to counteract the brain waves which produce tremor, meaning they are a step closer to treating these shakes and transforming lives. Read more

1 June 2010: Drinking tea may decrease the risk of ovarian cancer. Read more

31 March 2010: Some lizards escape predators by "dropping" their tail, but the experience appears to leave its mark. After losing their tail, lizards end up with damaging changes to their DNA. Read more

30  March 2010:  Novel discoveries about the human ability to predict what other people are about to say could have significant applications for educators, speech therapists, entrepreneurs, and many others interested in communication and comprehension. Read more

30 March 2010: Open call for the Eurostars programme for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. Read more

11 March 2010:  Discovery of 'Fat' Taste Could Hold the Key to Reducing Obesity - A newly discovered ability for people to taste fat could hold the key to reducing obesity, Deakin University health researchers believe.  Read more

11 March 2010:  Spider and snake enzymes could deliver healthy food - Danisco (Australia) is starting a new four-year research project to investigate potential uses of enzymes produced by spiders, snakes and carnivorous plants as processing aids for food and other industrial uses.  Read more

5 March 2010:  Extinct Australian frog reappears 30 years after last sighting.  The yellow-spotted bell frog (Litoria castanea), last observed in 1970s, has long been thought to be extinct in the wild. Scientists believed it was probably a victim of the deadly chytrid fungus that has devastated amphibian populations around the world.  Read more

19 February 2010: Research at the University of Queensland have uncovered how antidepressants actually work. Read more

29 January 2010: Immune cell levels predict skin cancer risk in kidney transplant patients. Read more

6 January 2010: Superfast quantum computing is closer following recent breakthroughs by an international team led by University of New South Wales researchers. Read more

21 December 2009: Australia plans to introduce an Internet filtering system to block obscene and crime-linked Web sites. Read more

9 December 2009: Australian galaxy survey to lead to 'new physics'. Read more

7 December 2009: Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells.  Read more

30 November 2009: Scientists from Monash University have modified a human embryonic stem cell line to glow red when the stem cells become red blood cells. Read more

25 November 2009: Australian Senior Clinical Research Fellowships, round two applications open. Read more

16 November 2009: Australian agency moves to calm climate row. Read more

13 November 2009: Postdoctoral Fellowship supports excellence in full-time research in one of the child and adolescent health area research. Read more

9 November 2009: Australian agency denies gagging researchers. Read more

29 October 2009: Australians need simpler salt labelling scheme, study at Deakin University, Victoria, Au. Read more

27 October 2009: Enzyme treatment of Brassica proteins may give meat-like flavourings, suggests a new Chinese-Australian study. Read more

21 October 2009: University of Adelaide researchers collect genetic information from bison preserved in permafrost to help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs. Read more

7 October 2009: A Study from Monash University says antioxidants could make us more, not less, prone to diabetes. Read more

5 October 2009:
ABRS National Taxonomy Research Grant Program. Read more

16 September 2009:
U.S. and Australian conservation geneticists say they have discovered a new tool to aid in the tracking of migratory and endangered sea turtles. Read more

14 September 2009: Continued high dietary intakes of salt may make people resistant to blood pressure-lowering drug, according to a study in Brisbane, Australia. Read more

8 September 2009: According to research from the University of New South Wales it may be possible to predict the types of microbes that thrive in specific marine environments by sampling the genomes of just a few dominant species. Read more

3 September 2009: The Australian National Contact Point (NCP) and coordinator of BILAT for Australia, the Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation (FEAST), is currently conducting an evaluation of Australian involvement in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) covering both successful and unsuccessful proposals. Read more

1 September 2009: Chillies could replace aspirin, or be combined with aspirin as a medication for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Read more

18 August 2009Hate cockroaches? Best pour yourself a stiff drink. The widely loathed insects can hold their breath to save water, a new study has found – and the trick could help them to thrive in the face of climate change.  Read more

30 June 2009:  Australian scientists have developed a "trojan horse" therapy to combat cancer by using a bacterially derived nano cell to penetrate and disarm the cancer cell before a second nano cell kills it with chemotherapy drugs. Read more

29 June 2009: 
Researchers from the Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide believe our oldest mammalian relative may help us to better understand ovarian cancer -- Platypus. Read more
 
26 June 2009: 
Data collected over a 20-year period from 1985-2004 shows that coastal and river dwellers in particular are 41% more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma. Read more
 
25 June 2009: 
Australia has one of the worst rates of old-age poverty in the developed world, with more than 1/4 seniors living in financial hardship. Read more
 
25 June 2009: 
Neuroscientists have, for the first time, been able to demonstrate that moderate exercise significantly increases the number of neural stem cells in the ageing brain. Read more
 
24 June 2009:  Looking for the carbon signature in the near infra-red wavelength that is detectable by some telescopes. This process is complicated because detection can only be done through gaps between the lines of intense airglow in the night sky. Read more
 
23 June 2009: 
Researchers in Australia found that drinking fat-free milk in the morning helped increase satiety, a feeling of fullness, and led to decreased calorie intake at the next meal. Read more
 
23 June 2009: 
A fossil study of the extinct giant kangaroo has added weight to the theory that humans were responsible for the demise of "megafauna" 46,000 years ago. Read more
 
22 June 2009: 
Australian molecular scientists have made a breakthrough in the battle against malaria, identifying a weakness in the virulent mosquito-borne parasite that could lead to the development of more potent and targeted drugs. Read more
 
22 June 2009: 
An Australian stroke victim paralysed for more than 20 years has walked again, thanks to anti-wrinkle drug botox. Read moe
 
19 June 2009: 
Australia and New Zealand announced a non-lethal whale research expedition to the Antarctic, a direct challenge to Japan's research program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year. Read more
 
17 June 2009:  Ancient Australian forests are key to fighting climate change. They contain the world's most dense carbon store, eclipsing tropical rainforests as efficient greenhouse gas absorbers. Read more 
 
15 June 2009:  A breakthrough is made on the locations of genes that appear to be linked to susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. Read more
 
12 June 2009: 
Australia's climate: Drought and flooding in annual rings of tropical trees. Read more
 
11 June 2009: 
Internet-based therapy programs are as effective as face-to-face therapies in combating depression. Read more
 
10 June 2009:  A study of oyster genetics is helping scientists better understand the mysterious QX-disease, which has been responsible in the past for killing Sydney rock oysters in the Georges and Hawkesbury Rivers. Read more
 
8 June 2009: 
The University of Queensland has found paying to preserve carbon stored in forests could protect endangered wildlife such as Indonesia's orangutans. Read more
 
5 June 2009:  A way is developed to deliver drugs which can specifically shut down cancer-causing genes in tumour cells while sparing normal healthy tissues. Read more

4 June 2009:  Sleep apnea changes brain bioenergetics. The changes in brain biochemistry of those suffering from “obstructive sleep apnoea" is similar to people who have had a severe stroke. Read more
 
4 June 2009: 
Google on 3 June 2009 expanded "Google Flu Trends," its online tool for tracking influenza outbreaks, to Australia and New Zealand. Read more
 
3 June 2009: 
Australian men risk being lonely and isolated in retirement, according to a survey. Read more 
 
2 June 2009:  After 111 years, a tiny legless lizard, once thought to be extinct, has been rediscovered in the Northern Territory. Read more
 
29 May 2009: 
Scientists have used stem cells grown onto contact lenses to improve the sight of people with cornea damage. Read more 
 
28 May 2009: 
Doctors may soon be prescribing their patients a script to adopt a cat or dog, given a recent study found an estimated $3.86 billion was saved on health spending in Australia, due to the benefits of pet ownership. Read more
 
27 May 2009:  A Monash-led research team has discovered an entirely new mechanism that promotes blood clot formation - a major breakthrough that will impact on treatment and prevention of heart disease and stroke. Read more
 
26 May 2009: 
An Australian team reveals a world-first discovery in Floppy Baby Syndrome -- a congenital myopathy disorder that causes babies to be born without the ability to properly use their muscles. Read more
 
25 May 2009: 
FSANZ says the majority of Australian adults are not exceeding its recommended maximum daily salt intake, following media reports that claim some Australians could be consuming 40g of salt a day – almost seven times the recommended max. Read more
 
25 May 2009: 
Australian and US scientists have successfully tested hypersonic aircraft technology which could revolutionise international flight. Read more
 
25 May 2009: 
The Tasmanian devil, a snarling fox-sized marsupial, was listed in Australia as an endangered species on 22 May 2009 because of a contagious cancer that has wiped out most of the wild population. Read more
 
22 May 2009: 
A dentist has found a way to make decayed tooth enamel re-grow, thus eliminating the necessity of fillings. Read more
 
22 May 2009: 
Scientists in Sydney and Boston believe they may have identified a gene that controls abnormal production of sugar in the liver, a very troublesome problem for people with diabetes. Read more
 
22 May 2009: 
A team of Australian researchers used nanotechnology to boost the storage potential nearly 10,000-fold compared to standard DVDs. Read more
 
20 May 2009: 
The increase in nutrients coming out of the river systems is putting pressure on mangrove forests and making them far more susceptible to environmental variability and climate change. Read more
 
18 May 2009:  Australian and Korean researchers have now developed a novel, highly porous, sponge-like material whose mechanical properties closely resemble those of biological soft tissues. Read more
 
18 May 2009: 
One in four middle-aged men who snore are at risk of suffering brain damage while they sleep, a new study has found. Research has found snoring associated with sleep apnoea may seriously impair brain function. Read more
 
18 May 2009: 
The energy requirements of kangaroos and sheep has concluded roos have far less impact on the environment than once thought. Read more
 
14 May 2009: 
One of the major sources of drinking water for south-east Queensland is now under the watchful eye of Australia's largest integrated intelligent wireless sensor network. Read more
 
8 May 2009:  The lesson from Australia's Great Barrier Reef is that we have to protect its biodiversity - because biodiversity in turn protects us. Read more 
 
6 May 2009: 
Humans, not climate, driving increased dengue risk in Australia. Read more
 
1 May 2009: 
A genetic test on patients before they have surgery can help guide post-surgery treatment. Genetic differences can explain why some patients undergoing heart surgery later experience shock and kidney complications. Read more
 
1 May 2009:  Researchers develop better treatment for social fears. About one in 20 Australians suffer from an extreme form of shyness known as social phobia. Read more
 
30 April 2009:  Australian scientists are a major step closer to developing a vaccine which could stop people at risk of Type 1 diabetes from developing the debilitating condition. Read more
 
28 April 2009: 
Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals ((PFCs) in Pooled Blood Serum from Infants, Children, and Adults in Australia. Limited data exist on human exposure to PFCs in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more
 
28 April 2009: 
Needle-free Nanopatch Could Transform Vaccines.  Such patches, being developed by Australian scientists, will pierce the skin and deliver fewer toxins..Read more
 
24 April 2009: 
The high speed of stars and apparent presence of ‘dark matter’ in the satellite galaxies that orbit our Milky Way Galaxy presents a direct challenge to Newton’s theory of gravitation. Read more
 
24 April 2009: 
A product created by scientists at The University of Queensland could make Chlamydia testing more accessible, particularly to those living in remote areas. Read more
 
22 April 2009: 
Marine scientists say they are astonished at the spectacular recovery of certain coral reefs in Australia's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from a devastating coral bleaching event in 2006. Read more
 
21 April 2009: 
A research collaboration between Australia and Israel has identified a genetic variation that influences the severity of symptoms in Rett syndrome. Read more
 
21 April 2009: 
An international team, including researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ), cracks mammalian gene control code. Read more
 
17 April 2009:  Australia launched what it described as a major initiative to develop clean coal technology on 16 April 2009, saying it could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read more
 
17 April 2009: 
Scientists are celebrating the first successful deployment and retrieval of a remotely controlled, deep ocean-going robotic submarine destined to play a central role in measuring changes in two of Australia's most influential ocean currents. Read more
 
14 April 2009: 
Results of pizza tossing could help researchers in designing optimal standing wave ultrasonic motors (SWUMs), which operate on similar principles as pizza tossing. Read more
 
8 April 2009: 
The $A15 billion national broadband network will be constructed by a joint public-private company. The project has been described as the biggest infrastructure since the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electricity Scheme. Read more
 
8 April 2009: 
Major breakthrough in transplantation immunity. Australian scientists have made a discovery that may one day remove the need for a lifetime of toxic immunosuppressive drugs after organ transplants. Read more
 
6 April 2009: 
A world-first breakthrough to treat high blood pressure has been successfully trialled in Melbourne. Read more
 
3 April 2009: 
Researchers have developed the first diagnostic test for the deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease, a breakthrough they hope will help save the Tasmanian devil from extinction. Read more
 
2 April 2009: 
As sea levels rise in the wake of climate change and semi-arid regions turn to desert, people living in those parts of the world are likely to be displaced. Decision scientist have devised a mathematical algorithm to address the problem of population relocation. Read more
 
1 April 2009: 
Scientists have made a major breakthrough in better understanding how Hendra spreads from infected horses to other horses and humans. Read more
 
31 March 2009:  Ecologists have discovered that cane toads are far more susceptible to being killed and eaten by meat ants than native frogs. Their research reveals a chink in the cane toad's armour that could help control the spread of this alien invasive species in tropical Australia. Read more
 
25 March 2009: 
2 new greenhouse gases are accumulating in the atmosphere: Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2). Read more   
 
19 March 2009: 
Canberra parents lack allergy awareness. Nearly 4 per cent of kindergarten children have a peanut allergy. Read more
 
6 March 2009: 
Australian scientists have made a breakthrough in stem cell research which raises the prospect of regrowing damaged sections of a person's liver, pancreas or even their brain. Read more
 
6 March 2009: 
Ocean's journey towards the center of the Earth. Geoscientist and researchers have discovered the existence of an ocean floor destroyed 50 to 20 million years ago, proving that New Caledonia and New Zealand are geographically connected. Read more
 
5 March 2009:  University of Adelaide research has discovered that there are many more species of Australian lizards than previously thought. Read more
 
3 March 2009: 
A vaccine to protect humans from a bird flu pandemic is within reach after a new discovery by researchers at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Read more
 
2 March 2009:  Teams of scientists from Australia and the United States have used yeast and mammalian cells to discover a connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease. Read more
 
24 February 2009: 
Aerosols may have a greater impact on patterns of Australian rainfall and future climate change than previously thought. Read more
 
16 February 2009:  Climate models predicted Australian bushfires. Read more
 
13 February 2009: 
VICTORIA'S bushfires have released a massive amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - almost equal to Australia's industrial emission for an entire year. Read more
 
11 February 2009: 
Australian bushfires rage. Heatwaves and fires will become more frequent in a warming world. Read more
 
11 February 2009: 
A plant for all seasons? Scientists at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, are investigating whether vanadium dioxide nanoparticles can be used as smart pigments in paint coatings. Read more
 
10 February 2009: 
Scientists at Melbourne's Burnet Institute have developed a potential new treatment for patients with prostate cancer. Read more
 
5 February 2009: 
A team of researchers at Monash University has released a new analysis of precipitation records from the long-term cloud seeding operation in Tasmania that shows a promising increase in rainfall during periods of seeding. Read more
 
5 February 2009: 
Deep-sea researchers uncover several new species and thousands of fossilized coral samples. Read more
 
4 February 2009:  A team of Monash University researchers has made a major breakthrough in the international fight against malaria, which claims the life of a child across the world every 30 seconds. Read more
 
3 February 2009: 
World's oldest crystals get protection. Australian geoheritage reserve will save ancient zircons from abuse. Read more
 
3 February 2009: 
De-multiplexing to the max: 640 Gbits/second (Gbps, or billion bits per second). Read more
 
30 January 2009: 
Australian heatwave sign of climate change. Read more
 
28 January 2009: 
Ecologists have developed a new model to predict the impact of climate change on the dengue fever-carrying mosquito Aedes aegypti in Australia - information that could help limit its spread. Read more
 
27 January 2009: 
Climate-change research to examine human health. Read more
 
26 January 2009: 
EU-funded researchers have analysed the genetic sequence of bacteria found in the stomachs of native people in the Pacific in order to shed new light on how and when humans colonised this vast, diverse region. Their findings, published in the journal Science, confirm previous studies from the fields of archaeology, linguistics and human genetics. Read more
 
23 January 2009: 
Pacific people spread from Taiwan. New research into language evolution suggests most Pacific populations originated in Taiwan around 5,200 years ago. Read more
 
22 January 2009: 
Giant koalas. New fossil study sheds light on extinction, 50,000 years ago, of Australia’s ‘megafauna’ species. Read more
 
21 January 2009: 
New climate maps of the Earth’s surface during the height of the last Ice Age support predictions that northern Australia will become wetter and southern Australia drier due to climate change. Read more
 
20 January 2009: 
Scientists had uncovered new marine animals in their search of previously unexplored Australian waters, along with a bizarre carnivorous sea squirt and ocean-dwelling spiders. Read more
 
15 January 2009: 
Adelaide researchers have made a world breakthrough in treating premature babies at risk of developmental disorders. Read more
 
15 January 2009:  Toxic chemical contamination was the likely cause of fatal fish mutations in northern Australia in which thousands of bass larvae spawned with two heads. Read more
 
13 January 2009: 
Removing an invasive species from sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, a World Heritage Site, has caused environmental devastation that will cost more than A$24 million to remedy. Ecologists warn that conservation agencies worldwide must learn important lessons from what happened on Macquarie Island. Read more
 
13 January 2009: 
Tomorrow, beach-goers will get a glimpse of what our coastlines may look like in 50 years, when New South Wales and South East Queensland experience the highest daytime ‘king tides’ forecast for 2009. Read more
 
13 January 2009: 
University of Queensland research is paving the way for better management of our precious natural environment. Read more
 
5 January 2009: 
A new family tree of proteas (commonly known as sugarbushes) reveals that new species of these plants are appearing three times faster in biodiversity hotspots in Australia and South Africa than in the rest of the world. Read more
 
5 January 2009:  WESTERN Australia is set to go ahead with trials of genetically modified canola resistant to the pesticide Roundup. Read more

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