Australasian Science January/February 2012
Feature Articles
As a new specimen of Archaeopteryx is unveiled, scientists argue whether this famous creature is a true bird or just another bird-like dinosaur.
|
Jumping genes have been important in the evolution of higher primates, leading to faster brain function, improved foetal nourishment, useful red-green colour discrimination and greater resistance to disease-causing microbes – and even the loss of fat storage genes in gibbons.
|
After conquering the bionic ear more than 30 years ago, Australian scientists have set their sights on the bionic eye.
|
Desensitisation to the taste of fat may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic.
|
Cosmic filaments are the largest structures in the universe, and are the most likely places where the universe’s missing matter resides.
|
Agave is most popularly known for its use in tequila, but it could also usher in the dawn of a sustainable biofuel industry that does not compete with food crops for arable land.
|
Building and maintaining houses in remote Aboriginal communities is difficult and expensive, but engineering improvements to rammed earth constructions offer a viable alternative.
|
Available online IN FULL
|
Your guide and star chart for the night skies this month. |
The effects on rats of mephedrone, better known as the party drug meow meow, indicate that for once the hype about a drug’s addictive effects might be accurate. |
|
People see themselves as less humane after playing the violent games. |
Eclectus parrots are one of only three species known to engage in sex-selective infanticide. |
|
An alarm pheromone released by cane toads could be the key to their control. |
Research will review how the reef is recovering from recent cyclones and how such extreme physical stress on the reef systems influence coral disease outbreaks. |
|
Researchers are seeking people who have been aware during anaesthesia to investigate whether there could be a genetic link to this uncommon experience. |
Science communication necessarily focuses on outcomes, but what about the process? |
|
A case study documents the use of beer as a rehydration fluid for a burns patient. |
A study published in Injury Prevention suggests a link between high fizzy soft drink consumption and violence among teenagers, but how strong is the evidence? |
|
It's far too early to say whether ATLAS and CMS have discovered the Higgs boson, but updated results are generating a lot of interest in the particle physics community. |
Ian Plimer says kids are being taught activism, not science. |
|
What’s in a name? A whole lot of booty, and some Latin. |
How to interpret CERN’s announcement. |
|
Lord May examines the challenges facing tomorrow’s world: anthropogenic climate change; feeding more people; and designing a financial system that allocates capital in a responsible and effective way. |
New Study on Cholera in Haiti Demonstrates for First Time Tweets, Blogs and News Feeds Can Track a Disease Epidemic in Disaster Setting More Rapidly than Traditional Methods |
|
First global estimation of biodiversity benefits from habitats to humans
finds flows valued at $1 trillion per year to poor communities. |
Tying the arms of our scientists behind their backs will put lives at stake and set a dangerous precedent. |
|
David Reneke brings news from the space and astronomy communities around the world. |
Your guide to new books |
|
To lose one outstanding researcher, Dr Clark, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness, but to lose THREE? |
Available online in full FOR SUBSCRIBERS
|
Hagfish filmed choking predators with noxious slime. |
A new line of evidence has been produced to support the theory that overeating is largely driven by inadequate protein content in the modern diet. |
|
Brief bites of science news for subscribers only. |
Subscribe for complete access to dozens of news articles and features each month. |
|
Robyn Arianrhod studies general relativity and writes books on the history of science, but it is her own history that is most unusual. |
It’s time for urgent action to drive productivity and prosperity. |
|
Comparing how much money is needed to ensure a conservation outcome with how to deliver the biggest outcome for a fixed investment are two sides of the same coin. |
Do Australian uranium exports to India set a precedent for exports to other non-signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? |
|
The engagement of pharmacy and pseudoscience was broken before they could get to the altar, but it would have been a one-sided marriage anyway. |
Weird and wonderful science |
|
An alternative view to a report published in Australasian Science last month. |
Embryonic stem cell research is looking increasingly like a dead end as clinical trials are cancelled in favour of adult stem cells. |
|
Australia’s biggest exporter of value-added products, the pharmaceuticals industry, is struggling to remain competitive. |
