AuScience this month: Jan 2010

Cast your vote

What is Australia's best science story this month?

• 1. Cause for Tassie devil disease found (100%, 1 Votes)
• 2. Quantum computer prototype tested (0%, 0 Votes)
• 3. Wasp genome mapped (0%, 0 Votes)
• 4. Candidates for malaria vaccine revealed (0%, 0 Votes)
• 5. Dinosaurs grounded ancient birds (0%, 0 Votes)
• 6. Entropy greater than we think (0%, 0 Votes)
• 7. None of the above! (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 1

 Loading ...

January’s stories

1. Cause for Tassie devil disease found [01 Jan]

WEHI, ANU, UTAS: Cells that protect nerves are the likely origin of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). Researchers have found that DFTD originates from Schwann cells, which protect peripheral nerve fibres. DFTD is a transmissible cancer affecting only Tasmanian devils and was first reported in 1996. It has since devastated the Tasmanian devil population in the wild.  The disease is characterised by large tumours, mostly on the face and mouth, which leave the animals unable to feed… [Read more]

2.  Quantum computer prototype tested [12 Jan]

[UQ]: Queensland physicists and Harvard chemists have teamed up to tackle the problem of applying quantum mechanics to fields such as chemistry and biology.  Quantum computers promise highly precise calculations while using a fraction the resources of conventional computing.  This ground breaking approach to molecular simulations could have profound implications for a range of fields from cryptography to materials science… [Read more]

3. Wasp genome mapped [15 Jan]

[ANU, UQ, QBI]: A new genetic map of parasitic wasp species could open up avenues for insect pest control and reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.  Three wasp species from the genus Nasonia have been genetically sequenced.  The wasps paralyse and then lay their young in the bodies of agricultural pests like blowflies. The young wasps eat the paralysed bug, helping to keep a lid on insect population levels.  Researchers have identified some of the factors making Nasonia wasps such good pest controllers … [Read more]

4.  New blood-stage vaccine candidates for malaria [19 Jan]

[WEHI]: A new group of proteins produced by blood-stage malaria parasites have been uncovered which are effective at promoting immune responses that protect people from malaria illness.  Researchers identified these proteins by reviewing and synthesising data from numerous scientific studies that had looked at the relationship between antibodies produced by the human immune system in response to malaria infection and the ability of these antibodies to protect against malaria… [Read more]

5.  Dinosaurs grounded ancient birds [21 Jan]

[ANU]: An abundance of food and lack of predators following the extinction of dinosaurs saw previously flighted birds fatten up and become flightless, according to new research.  The molecular dating study suggests that the ancestors of the African ostrich, Australasian emu plus cassowary, South American rheas and New Zealand moa became flightless independently, in close association with the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.  Previously, ratite birds were thought of as relics of the former Gondwanan supercontinent… [Read more]

6.  Entropy greater than we think [25 Jan]

[ANU]: Researchers have found that the universe is 30 times more run down than previously thought.  Using new data on the number and size of super-massive black holes, the reseachers calculated the entropy of the observable universe is about 30 times larger than previously thought.  The findings have important implications for terrestrial and extraterrestrial life.  The next step in the research is to figure out how close we are to maximum entropy and how much time we have left before the universe and all life in it dies in the inevitable heat death… [Read more]