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Scientists are closer to understanding the evolution of a peculiar bird which has three different ways to attract attention from females. The ruff sandpiper is a highly social, medium-sized wading bird that breed in leks. A lek is an aggregation of males gathered to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals, known as lekking, to entice visiting females […]

Murray crayfish once thrived in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. The species was found everywhere from the headwaters of the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers in the Australian Alps all the way down to Wellington in South Australia. For thousands of years, First Nations people managed harvesting sustainably. But crayfish stocks crashed after European settlement. This was […]

A new device combines circuit designs to efficiently measure light. The compact “frequency comb” could lead to new technologies used in telecommunications, environmental monitoring and astrophysics. Frequency combs are like rulers – for measuring light. They can take a light source – like radio waves or microwaves – and measure the frequency of the light. […]

A new study in mice has discovered a molecular “timer” that activates in the first days of pregnancy and ticks along during gestation to control when they give birth. If it is also discovered to be relevant in humans, the findings could lead to new tests to identify people who are at risk of preterm […]

Medical researchers, physicists, and archaeologists are among the more than 700 people celebrated today by the Australia Day 2025 Honours List for their achievements and services to the nation. Six individuals were appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree, in service to Australia or to […]

A new artificial intelligence (AI) model based on “contrastive learning” has shown promise as a tool that can forecast rapid intensification of tropical cyclones. Rapid intensification is when cyclone’s maximum sustained wind speed increases by 13m/s within 24 hours. While rapid intensification periods only account for about 5% of the total life of the tropical […]

Scientists might have been looking in the wrong place to find the original source of potato blight, which could prevent discovery of ways to avoid the problem. Late blight of potato and tomato, was the cause of the Great Hunger, the Irish potato famine, but it remains a problem around the world. Determining where the […]

In new insight into the effects of artificial underwater structures on marine life, research has found that whale sharks can use oil and gas platforms and other, natural features as migratory “stepping stones” in their journeys. The findings have implications for the protection of natural features that promote this ability, and for decommissioning platforms. The […]

For the first time, physicists have been able to trap molecules and get them to perform quantum operations, opening a new line of research for future ultra-powerful quantum computing. Molecules have often been overlooked in quantum computing. Their internal structures have been considered too complicated, delicate and unpredictable to be useful in quantum devices. Instead, […]

Palaeontologists have found the tell-tale signs of an attack by a crocodile-like animal on the fossilised neck bone of a juvenile pterosaur – a flying reptile – dating to the Cretaceous period. The specimen was a species of azhdarchid pterosaur – the largest animals to ever fly – known as Cryodrakon boreas. While the juvenile […]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are going down in price, and up in size. But as EVs get bigger, so does the amount of resource needed to make them. An electric SUV is a less “sustainable” vehicle than a smaller car, because of its gargantuan battery. An opinion paper, published in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, has called […]

A review of the oldest known dinosaurs has revealed that fossil evidence for their origin probably has not yet been discovered. Most of the earliest dinosaur fossils have been found in South America and Africa. During the Triassic period (252–201 million years ago), these continents formed the southern part of the supercontinent Pangaea which would […]

New analysis of marsquakes could explain the evolution of Mars and why it is so lop-sided. Mars’s southern hemisphere has a thicker crust and an elevation 5 to 6km higher than the northern hemisphere of the planet. This unexplained phenomenon is called the “Mars dichotomy”. The southern hemisphere actually makes up close to two-thirds of […]

Researchers have found a simple, environmentally friendly way to make a more effective form of ibuprofen. The technique, which uses a ball mill, could help manufacturers to lower their energy and material use when making painkillers. They’ve published their study in RSC Mechanochemistry. Ibuprofen is listed by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine. […]

Deep inside Earth there are mysterious and fascinating regions the size of continents at the boundary between the core and mantle, and earth scientists have just cracked the mystery of what they’re made of. Known as “Large Low Seismic Velocity Provinces”, or LLSVPs, the regions cause seismic waves to slow down. “The waves slow down […]

Analysis of bones butchered by ancient human ancestors shows they represent the oldest direct evidence of hominins in Europe. The bones are at least 1.95 million years old but could be up to 2.2 million years old. They may help build a picture of when early human ancestors left Africa and reached Europe and Asia, […]

The experimental nuclear fusion device known as  SMART, has successfully generated its first tokamak plasma, bringing the global quest for sustainable, virtually limitless energy a step closer. SMART (SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak) is being put together at the University of Seville in Spain as part of an international research project. Late last year, a series […]

A new discovery adds to the mystery of the source of fast radio bursts. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light which travels across the universe that last just a few seconds or even milliseconds. More than 1,000 FRBs have been reported since the first was discovered in 2007. FRB 20240209A, […]

Advances continue to be made in neurobionics – integrating electronics with the nervous system to repair or replace impaired function – with the latest example helping a tetraplegic person to control a video game with their brain. A surgically implanted brain-computer interface has allowed the person to play a video game, using only their thoughts […]

After noticing that 20 captive chimpanzees at Kumamoto Sanctuary, Japan, appeared to urinate at about the same time, a team of researchers decided to spy on their toilet habits… for science. Just as a sleepy individual can set off a whole round of synchronised yawns in humans, we now know that when one chimpanzee pees, […]

A new superconducting material has been discovered by researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan. The material fits into a class of “unconventional superconductors” which could lead to high-temperature superconductivity that then could be used in transport, quantum technologies, power transmission and other applications. Superconducting devices are also used in advanced technologies such as superconducting […]

Clues into the mysterious lives of southern Scandinavia and northern Germany’s first farmers have been revealed in a new archaeological study. These ancient people were part of the Funnel Beaker Culture which emerged in the region about 6,000 years ago and persisted until new technologies emerged about 4,800 years ago. Grinding stones from a Middle […]

A big global survey has revealed people want scientists to be more involved in the policy-making process of most governments. The survey, of nearly 72,000 people in 68 countries, has found that most people have a high trust in science. The study, which is published today in Nature Human Behaviour, found no evidence for a […]

A large analysis of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has surprised health researchers, who found links to multiple new benefits – and some new side effects. The research has found that weight-loss drugs – known as glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) – may be associated with increased risks for pancreatitis and kidney conditions. […]