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Hunting for the Higgs Boson
By Stephen Luntz
Geoff Taylor has played a key role in the discovery of the Higgs boson.
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Long-Term Toxicity of GM Maize
By Compiled by AusSMC
French research published in Food and Chemical Toxicology suggests that rats fed a diet containing a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize died more frequently and earlier than control groups. The study also suggests that females developed mammary tumours more often than and before controls.
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The Living World Below Us
The cave amphipod (Norcapensis mandibulis) is an endemic genus known from only four caves at an altitude of about 200 metres in Cape Range, WA. Photo: Bill Humphreys, Western Australian Museum
By Mandy Thoo
Researchers are revealing the astonishing life in Australia’s underworld, leaving many intrigued about its role in the health of our groundwaters.
Mandy Thoo is a freelance science writer.
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Don’t Always Trust What You See
There isn’t just one area in the brain devoted to vision.
By By Isabelle Mareschal & Colin Clifford
Recent behavioural tests reveal that patterns we can’t even discern can deceive us into seeing things differently from how they really are.
Colin Clifford is a Professor and Australian Future Fellow at the School of Psychology, University of Sydney and a Chief Investigator of the Australian Centre of Excellence in Vision Science. Isabelle Mareschal is a Research Fellow at the School of Psychology, University of Sydney and a research member of the Australian Centre of Excellence in Vision Science.
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Sewage in Antarctica: A Drop in a Frozen Ocean?
The Davis Station wastewater outfall. Photo: J. Stark
By Jonathan Stark
Human activities are impacting Anatarctica’s once-pristine environment, with evidence of antibiotic resistance genes and sewage-related contaminants entering its food chain.
Jonathan Stark is a marine ecologist at the Australian Antarctic Division.
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New Blood
Researchers are now discovering unexpected activities of blood stem cells by studying them during infection.
By Christopher Hall & Philip Crosier
Chemotherapy takes a huge toll on the immune system, but new research into blood stem cell proliferation could improve the recovery of patients.
Christopher Hall is a Senior Research Fellow and Philip Crosier is a Professor of Molecular Medicine at The University of Auckland’s Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology.
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Magnetic Medicine
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / teshimine
By Nial Wheate
Magnetic fields could soon be used to direct drugs made with nano-sized balls of iron that take chemotherapy directly to tumours, thereby completely removing the side-effects usually associated with treatment.
Nial Wheate is a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Pharmacy.
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How the Marketers Stole My Brain
"We can give an insight into the mind and emotions of the people a company is trying to communicate with. We can tell not what are people thinking, but how people are thinking."
By Virginia Millen
Emotions play a large part in our purchasing decisions, so marketers are using neurological methods to tailor advertising campaigns that influence our attitudes to brands.
Virginia Millen writes for Swinburne University of Technology’s Venture magazine (www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine).
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The Language of Emotions in Music
The enjoyment of music differs across dementia types and could be something important to consider in the application of music therapies.
By Sharpley Hsieh
Patients who have been diagnosed with dementia are helping scientists determine which areas in the brain are necessary for identifying emotions in music.
Sharpley Hsieh is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Frontier Frontotemporal Dementia Research Group at Neuroscience Research Australia.
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By Stephen Luntz
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