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NASA’s Perseverance rover has stumbled upon intriguing rocky outcrops on the rim of Mars’s Jezero crater. The abundance of diverse rocks will help scientists understand the planet’s history, including whether it was habitable in the past and if it is today. Perseverance landed on Jazero crater in 2021 and since January has been analysing and […]

There have been several headlines over the past week about an AI chatbot officially passing the Turing test. These news reports are based on a recent preprint study by two researchers at the University of California San Diego in which four large language models (LLMs) were put through the Turing test. One model – OpenAI’s […]

While modern medicine allows us to manage or cure previously untreatable diseases and conditions, pharmaceuticals and their metabolites have untold consequences when they make their way into the environment. “Pharmaceutical pollutants are an emerging global issue, with over 900 different substances having now been detected in waterways around the world,” says Dr Marcus Michelangeli of […]

A jawbone found in Taiwan has been identified as belonging to a Denisovan. The fossil has altered perceptions about the ancient human species. It is the first time a Denisovan fossil has been confidently identified outside central Asia. Denisovans were first discovered in 2010. So far, only a few fossils have been confirmed using molecular […]

Large galaxies like our own, the Milky Way, are often orbited by smaller satellite galaxies that buzz about like bees around a hive.  The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and its larger companion, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), are some of our closest dwarf galaxies. They can even be seen with the naked eye in the […]

Jumping on a pogo stick isn’t as easy as it looks, and it looks quite difficult to begin with. But robotics engineers seem to have identified the issues to create a hopping robot. Their robot, which is smaller than a human thumb, can bound across ice, wet surfaces, and uneven soil. It can even hop around […]

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope continues to break new scientific ground despite being usurped by the more advanced James Webb Space Telescope. A new study published in Nature reveals images from Hubble which are the first to show ongoing mergers of star clusters near the centres, or nuclei, of dwarf galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are the most […]

A massive increase in solar power generation capacity is already putting Australia on the fast track to a 100 percent renewable energy future. An academic living in cold Canberra retired his gas heaters a few years ago and installed electric heat pumps for space and water heating. His gas bill went to zero. He also […]

Global restoration efforts are failing to protect coral reefs from the effects of climate change, pollution and overfishing, says an international team of researchers The report comes as Australia’s coral reefs have been bleached yet again, for the sixth time in nine years. Coral reef bleaching is a global phenomenon, its effects felt not only […]

Researchers have created a “lab-in-a-tube” tuberculosis test, with all the ingredients necessary to detect the disease in under an hour. Costing just AUD$4.3 (US$2.70) per sample, the lab-in-a-tube tuberculosis (LIT-TB) test may fill the critical need for easy-to-administer tests in low- and middle-income countries. “There’s increasing recognition of the need for affordable, rapid diagnostic tests […]

Palaeontologists have analysed the fossil of a complete 3.5m-long ichthyosaur which was preserved so well that it includes the animal’s last meal as well as its unborn baby. Nicknamed “Fiona”, the marine reptile’s story is detailed in a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Fiona was airlifted in 5 pieces from the glacial […]

Spanish engineers have made the world’s first holograms that you can touch and manipulate, bringing science fiction into reality. The achievement is detailed in a paper posted on the HAL open research archive. “What we see in films and call holograms are typically volumetric displays,” says first author Elodie Bouzbib from the Public University of […]

Australian researchers are taking the final steps towards being the first in the world to take pancreatic islet cells from genetically modified pigs and transplant them into human patients. Their goal: to cure type 1 diabetes (T1D). The culmination of decades of work was supported by multiple National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants […]

About 66 million years ago, the history of Earth changed forever. A 10km-wide asteroid struck Earth, wiping out 75% of all life. This event marked the end of the Cretaceous period and the “Age of Dinosaurs.” With the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, our mammal ancestors were able to come out of the shadows and […]

Korean researchers have developed a new method that might one day restore vision to patients with retinal disease. “Our goal is to provide a solution for patients at risk of blindness who lack proper treatment options,” says Eun Jung Lee, from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Lee and team identified that […]

On April 1, 2025, the Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC introduced the world’s most advanced microchip: the 2 nanometre (2nm) chip. Mass production is expected for the second half of the year, and TSMC promises it will represent a major step forward in performance and efficiency – potentially reshaping the technological landscape. Microchips are the foundation of […]

Swedish researchers may have helped to prevent premature deaths from Sudden Arrhythmic Death syndrome (SADS). Exploration of a decade-long patient database has revealed what was happening in the lead-up to the sudden unexplained deaths of 900 young people from SADS. About 32,000 Australians go into Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) each year, Professor Jamie Vandenberg, Head […]

Researchers have revealed the Arabian Peninsula’s green past. Though a desert today, ancient Arabia had lakes and rivers due to high rainfall. Geological evidence even points to a mass flooding event which carved out a 150km-long valley. The research comes out of fieldwork done in the Rub’ al Khali, or “Empty Quarter” – one of […]

Scientists have recently taken unorthodox approaches to tackling the global challenge of infectious human disease, looking to artificial sweetener to address antibiotic resistance, and chewing gum to stop the oral spread of viruses. The clinical grade chewing gum was tested on a “mastication simulator,” with promising results. But it is the surprise of saccharine likely […]

Rising seas are already affecting coastal communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. On a global average, the sea level is now 18 centimetres higher than it was in 1900, and the annual rate of increase has been accelerating to currently 4.4 millimetres per year. This may not seem much, but it is already amplifying the impact […]

While most of the planet has warmed over the past 40 years, scientists have observed an unusual cooling trend in the surface waters of the Southern Ocean, contrary to predictions and modelling. A recent study published in Geophysical Research Letter has found that underestimated movement of fresh water into the Southern Ocean – called freshwater […]

In some regions of the world, including parts of Africa, Asia, Americas and Australia, the conditions are right for megastorms to form. These weather systems, known as “Mesoscale Convective Systems” (MSCs), span thousands of square kilometres and are accompanied by extreme weather conditions, such as destructive winds, lightning, flash flooding and hail. According to Dr […]

A new archaeological discovery at Kach Kouch in Morocco challenges the long-held belief that the Maghreb (north-west Africa) was an empty land before the arrival of the Phoenicians from the Middle East in around 800 BCE. It reveals a much richer and more complex history than previously thought. Everything found at the site indicates that […]

As the material left the curing oven, the Alt. Leather team knew it had worked – what they held in their hands looked and felt just like leather. That moment marked a breakthrough for the Melbourne-based start-up, which has developed a revolutionary, 100 per cent bio-based alternative to traditional leather. Made from agricultural waste and natural fibres, […]