Australasian Science Magazine Issue May 2010
Inside the Minds of the Trendsetters
Social psychologists and consumer behaviourists have found that a small group of consumers are more “knowledgeable” than the majority of consumers. Known as “market mavens”, this group comprises 10–15% of the general population.
By John Gountas and Joseph Ciorciari
Brain scans have revealed which personality types are the most influential in the widespread adoption of new trends and technologies.
Dr John Gountas researches consumer behaviour at La Trobe University’s Faculty of Law and Management. Dr Joseph Ciorciari is a cognitive neuroscientist at Swinburne University’s Brain Sciences Institute.
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Sea Slugs Turn up Heat on Bleaching
By Ingo Burghardt
Symbiotic sea slugs employ similar zooxanthellae species as corals, offering fresh insights into why heat-stressed corals bleach.
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Neutrino Hint from Radioactivity Puzzle
By Peter Pockley
The discovery that the decay rates of radioactive isotopes may not be immutable "constants of nature" could open fresh ways of detecting neutrinos and protecting astronauts and satellites in space.
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Rise of the Machines
By Trevor Lithgow
The cells in our body work because of the many "molecular machines" within them – but where did these machines comes from?
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NASA's Uncharted Future
By Morris Jones
What does the scrapping of NASA's plans to revisit the Moon mean for space exploration?
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A Mystery of Astronomical Proportions
By Christine Nicholls
At least one-third of all red giant stars have a mysterious variation in brightness that has astronomers stumped.
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Volcanoes Boost Carbon Storage
By Stephen Luntz
Undersea volcanoes release iron, some of which eventually finds its way to the surface of the Southern Ocean where it boosts phytoplankton growth and the absorption of carbon dioxide.
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Quantum Dots Controlled
By Stephen Luntz
Developments in the production of magnetic quantum dots could increase the speed and power of computers.
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Aphid Genome Sequenced
By Stephen Luntz
The pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) is the latest species to have its genome published, thanks to an international collaboration including the University of Otago.
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The Taste of Fat
By Stephen Luntz
Australian and New Zealand researchers have challenged the traditional belief that humans can only detect five tastes. Their claimed sixth taste – fat – could hold the key to why some people have been able to resist the tide of obesity.
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Cosmetic Passes Test
By Stephen Luntz
The belief that smearing oatmeal on your face is good for the skin is more than an urban (or rural) myth, according to Ms Becky Macdonald of The Biopolymer Network, who has found proteins in oats that are likely to work well in moisturising the skin.
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Supercapacitors Increase Battery Life
By Stephen Luntz
A team at Waikato University has demonstrated that supercapacitors can be used to capture electrical energy that would otherwise go to waste in portable electronic devices, significantly increasing the efficiency of high-tech gadgets.
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Hormone Hinders Memory
By Stephen Luntz
Luteinising hormone (LH), which plays a role in regulating testosterone, has a strong correlation with poor memories in older men.
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Gannets Divorce for Real Estate
By Stephen Luntz
Australasian gannets prefer to stay in long-term “marriages” to increase their chance of breeding success. However, a gannet will “divorce” in favour of another mate if it’s the only way to hold onto a prime bit of land.
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Mountain Ash Can Resprout
By Stephen Luntz
Mountain ash shares with other eucalypt species the capacity to resprout after fires, but only if the blaze is relatively cool, according to new research.
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Devil in the Genetic Detail
By Stephen Luntz
Genetic diversity may save the Tasmanian devil in the wild, with increasing evidence that a genetically distinct population in the north-west of the island may have natural immunity to the facial tumour disease that is ravaging its cousins.
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Indigenous Migraine Treatment
By Stephen Luntz
Native lemongrass (Cymbopogon ambiguus) is used in indigenous medicine to relieve headaches. No clinical studies have been done to confirm its effectiveness, but in vitro research at Griffith University suggests that belief in its properties is credible.
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Alien Clusters Infiltrate Galaxy
By Stephen Luntz
The Milky Way is filled with stars that arrived as part of captured formations. Now an Australian/Canadian study has concluded that one-quarter of the globular clusters that ring the galaxy come from dwarf galaxies. Globular clusters are spherical islands of stars, usually a few hundred thousand strong, sitting offshore of galaxies like pilot fish around sharks.
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Gene Implicated in Kidney Stone Formation
By Stephen Luntz
Research on mice with a gene removed has unexpectedly shed light on the cause of kidney stones and liver failure.
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Size Matters for Dung Beetles
By Stephen Luntz
Certain species of female dung beetles have evolved horns that are remarkably similar to those of male mammals, with a few more reminiscent of dinosaurs. The females use these to compete with each other, but when males fight for mates they also stand to gain a resource that is vital to their reproduction – dung.
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Real Conservation Targets
By Hugh Possingham
We have a lot to learn from Swedish conservation efforts.
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Road to Nowhere
By Ian Lowe
Innovation in New Zealand is following Australia's lead.
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Europa: Our Best Bet for Earth-Like Life
By David Reneke
If a 100-km deep ocean existed below the ice shell of Europa, the sixth of Jupiter's many moons, it would be 10 times deeper than any ocean on Earth and would contain twice as much water as Earth's oceans and rivers combined!
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Plastinated People
By Michael Cook
Exhibits of "plastinated" human remains in garish poses raise issues of human dignity.
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A Lover of Animals, Living and Dead
By Peter Pockley
Michael Archer's life-long attachment to animals as research subjects and personal pets matches his passion for the records they have left in the unique fossil beds of the Australian outback.
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Can Mimicking Nature Quench Our Thirst?
photo: Hans Hillewaert
By Stuart Thickett, Chiara Neto and Andrew Harris
Patterned polymer surfaces based on the African Stenocara beetle could be applied to our roofs to collect drinking water from the atmosphere.
Maintaining a stable supply of drinking water in Australia is a continual challenge. In 2006 the drought that gripped most of the Australian mainland was termed “the worst drought in 1000 years”, with the once-ferocious Murray River receiving only 5% of its average inflow.
A Matter Of Time
photo: iStockphoto
By Martin Ashdown and Brendon Coventry
Successful treatment of cancer may depend on the accurate timing of chemotherapy or vaccine therapies to match fluctuations in each patient’s immune system.
Not all cancer patients are cured by chemotherapy, biological therapies, radiotherapy or surgery. Some patients can have complete regression of all cancer, while others do not appear to be responding or show some level of clinical response but not enough to overcome the tumour.
This variability has remained unexplained for many decades, and at the end of this week about 800 Australians with cancer will be dead. In the US the numbers will be close to 12,000 per week.
Deadly Concerns Over Herbal Medicines
Professor Roger Byard, Photo: The University of Adelaide
By Roger W. Byard
Just how safe are herbal medicines, and how well are we evaluating their possible contribution to illness and death?
While there is no doubt that some pharmaceutical drugs carry significant risks of morbidity and sometimes mortality, a recent review of traditional herbal medicines has shown that “natural” does not always equate with “safe”. Published in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Journal ofForensic Sciences, my review dealt withpotentially harmful effects and interactionsof herbal medicines that had been published in the international scientificliterature.
Omega-3 Controls Zinc In Brain
By Stephen Luntz
Light has been shed on one mechanism by which omega-3 fatty acids benefit the brain, but the research also indicates how much we still have to learn about the role of diet on brain health.
Light has been shed on one mechanism by which omega-3 fatty acids benefit the brain, but the research also indicates how much we still have to learn about the role of diet on brain health.
“Previous research has suggested that there is a link between low levels in the brain of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA –docosahexaenoic acid to give it its full name – and Alzheimer’s disease,” says Prof Leigh Ackland of Deakin Biomolecular Sciences. “Also, the incidence of neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s appears to be reduced in populations with a high omega-3 fatty acid diet.”
Early Autism Diagnosis Offers Hope
By Australasian Science Magazine
A new study has concluded that it is possible to diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) much earlier than normally occurs. Early intervention can significantly change the outcomes for children who are diagnosed at a younger age.
A new study has concluded that it is possible to diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) much earlier than normally occurs. Early intervention can significantly change the outcomes for children who are diagnosed at a younger age.
Butterfly Behaviour Link to Warming
The earlier emergence of common brown butterflies around Melbourne has been linked to global warming. Photo: Paul Sunnucks
By Stephen Luntz
For the first time a paper has shown causal links between human changes to global temperatures and species behavioural change, in this case the early emergence of butterflies.
For the first time a paper has shown causal links between human changes to global temperatures and species behavioural change, in this case the early emergence of butterflies.
The common brown butterfly (Heteronmympha merope) is an important part of the Melbourne ecosystem. Its emergence was a defining feature of the local Aboriginal calendar, and detailed records have been kept at the Melbourne Museum for many years.
Budget a win for climate change deniers
By FASTS
FASTS responds to the Federal Budget
Delayed action on climate change flies in the face of peer‐reviewed science that shows human‐induced climate change is threatening our future and urgent action is required, says the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies [FASTS].
“Tonight’s Federal Budget is a victory for those people with their head in the sand on climate change – the Opposition and The Greens who voted against an Emissions Trading Scheme,” said Anna‐Maria Arabia, Executive Director of FASTS.
Early Cannabis Dangers Quantified
Early Cannabis Dangers Quantified: iStockphoto
By Stephen Luntz
A study at the Queensland Brain Institute has confirmed the dangers of early cannabis use, revealing that users who start by the time they are 15 years old are three times as likely as non-users to experience psychosis by the age of 21.
A study at the Queensland Brain Institute has confirmed the dangers of early cannabis use, revealing that users who start by the time they are 15 years old are three times as likely as non-users to experience psychosis by the age of 21.
While the association of schizophrenia and cannabis use is well-known, it has not been easy to prove that the drug consumption is a cause of mental illness rather than a form of self-medication.
The Smelly Side of Forensics
The smelly side of forensics
By Stephen Luntz
The bacteria in decomposing bodies can help to determine when a person died – even if only a skeleton remains.
Studying the decomposition of pigs might sound like it’s a promising topic for a rival column called “Uncool Careers”, but add the word “forensics” and Dr Rachel Parkinson belongs on this page.
“Human decomposition is a littleunderstood process, and even less is known about the microbiology involved,” Parkinson says. “My research aimed to investigate the bacterial species that decompose human bodies and determine whether they can tell us when that person died.”
Courts Immune to Anti-Vaccine Lobby
The anti-vaccination lobby has been dealt some crucial blows in the US courts.
By Peter Bowditch
The anti-vaccination lobby has been dealt some crucial blows in the US courts.
Two days before Christmas last year, Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccination Information Center (NVIC) sued Dr Paul Offit, journalist Amy Wallace and publisher Condé Nast because an article in Wired magazine had hurt her feelings by suggesting that she is sometimes careless about the truth.
Mad Cow Backflip Denies Science
By Simon Grose
Politicians have given in to public fears about the safety of beef imports rather than doing “what the science tells us”.
Doing “what the science tells us” is a powerful slogan in the climate debate. Labor and the Greens invoke the weight of scientific opinion when they argue for action on climate change, scorning opponents as science “deniers”.
