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A baby hummingbird that looks like a dangerous caterpillar has been found in the rainforests of Panama. The newly hatched bird had long, fluffy feathers all down its back – which had never been seen before on baby hummingbirds. These feathers visually mimic the hairs of some caterpillar species, which can cause painful skin reactions, […]

New research has shown how carbon-neutral aviation fuel can be made more efficiently. The development has been welcomed as attempts are being made to reduce the carbon emissions of the aviation sector. But experts say it could be a while before these “eco-fuels” or “e-fuels” – synthetic aviation fuels produced from fossil-free electricity and recycled […]

The beaches of Aotearoa New Zealand were once jam-packed with southern elephant seals, according to new research that reveals how the species has moved over thousands of years. “At the time of human arrival in New Zealand, you would be hard-pressed to find room on the beaches, with fur seals on the rocky headlands, prehistoric sealions […]

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used because they are efficient and long lasting. But they can be disastrous when something goes wrong, and the battery catches fire or explodes. A new sensor that could solve the problem of overheating lithium-ion batteries is described in a paper published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Damaged […]

The oceans, the nearest things to perpetual motion, are being increasingly explored for energy potential as we shed fossil fuel dependency. Now a team in Florida has released a comprehensive global map of potential ocean energy locations around the world and show how ocean current turbines could tap that power. Out in the Bass Strait […]

Globally, a climate or extreme weather-related disaster has been recorded every day for the past 50 years, resulting in an average of 115 deaths and US$202 million in losses. Aside from increasing concerns about how to pay for recovery, there are also issues about rebuilding to avoid future losses. In advanced economies there is an assumption that insurance […]

JADES-GS-z14-0 is the most distant confirmed galaxy ever found. New observations from 2 different teams of astronomers shows that the galaxy has oxygen, making scientists rethink (again!) how galaxies formed in the early universe. The ancient galaxy was first discovered last year by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Its light took more than 13.4 billion […]

If quantum computers are to fulfill the promise of solving problems faster or which are too complex for classical supercomputers, then quantum information needs to be communicated between multiple processors. Modern computers have different interconnected components such as a memory chip, a Central Processing Unit and a General Processing Unit. These need to communicate for […]

A new study from Arizona State University in the US has uncovered another hidden health hazard in illicit cannabis.   When investigating cannabis seized in Arizona and California the researchers found that 16% of cannabis samples were contaminated with the soil fungi Fusarium — fungal toxins that exceed safety limits for agricultural products. After further […]

Research has found that many terrorism groups with differing ideological motivations share common ground in targeting LGBTQ+ communities. A study led by extremism expert Dr Jared Dmello, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Social Sciences, found that groups with contrasting ideologies — from Islamic extremist organisations to far-right terrorist groups — overlap in their […]

If scientists could create a sustained nuclear fusion reaction it would revolutionise the way we produce energy – day or night, rain or shine, sans carbon emissions. Among the myriad challenges facing physicists trying to make it a reality is the process of isolating lithium-6, an isotope essential to producing the fuel which is used […]

Scientists in Saudi Arabia have developed a new coating for streetlights which they believe will reduce energy lost as heat, making the lamps more efficient. The research is published in the Springer journal Light: Science & Applications. Streetlights are a particularly big burden on the city councils and municipalities. Streetlighting accounts for about 1–3% of […]

New analysis linking dinosaurs and Sonic the Hedgehog might explain how “proto-feathers” became the complex appendages, bird feathers. It’s widely accepted that birds are dinosaurs. Modern feathered friends are the evolutionary descendants of the family of dinosaurs known as theropods – bipedal dinosaurs which includes Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus rex. But when, how and why feathers […]

A mother-child intervention program aimed at healing psychological trauma in war-affected Ukrainian children has shown promising results, with three-quarters of participants experiencing improved mental health, according to a new study published in Global Health.  The organisation behind the camps hopes the experience will inform trauma recovery efforts in other war-torn regions. The war in Ukraine […]

A fascinating piece of research might have revealed that our brains are memorising the earliest times of our lives, but the memories have been packed away and just can’t be accessed. The inability to remember our first few years of life, a phenomenon termed “infantile amnesia” by psychologist Sigmund Freud, has fascinated neuroscientists for more […]

More than 11 years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the Malaysian government has approved a new search for the missing debris of the aircraft. Malaysia announced the push for a renewed search last year, ten years after the tragedy that claimed the lives of 239 people. Seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which […]

Earlier this week, reports emerged that a scientist at South Africa’s SANAE IV Antarctic research base had accused a colleague of physical assault. We research Antarctic governance and crime in isolated, confined and extreme environments such as Antarctic and space stations. Rebecca specifically investigates how station cultures evolve in isolation and what factors significantly influence […]

Xenotransplantation, taking the organs, tissues or cells from one species and transplanting them into another, is rapidly approaching reality as an alternative treatment for many end-stage diseases. Dramatic advances have been seen over the last few years, with several patients successfully receiving transgenic pig heart transplants and the success of several kidney transplant patients in […]

This week both the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration have released massive datasets which are immediately challenging cosmologists’ best theories of the universe. The new studies are available in preprint papers and are being presented at American Physical Society’s Global Physics Summit in California. “What we are seeing is […]

The earliest moments of embryo development have a measurable impact on a person’s future health and ageing, according to a new study from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. From the moment of conception, our cells begin to write the blueprint of our future. One key element in this script is the telomere — […]

Dutch researchers have worked out how much and how often sea level rose after the last ice age ended around 11,700 years ago. Their research reveals more about what to expect as earth’s glaciers and icecaps melt in the face of climate change. Oceans have risen by about 22cm since 1880, as a result of […]

In the modern world, we know good nutrition is essential for our health. Doctors in ancient Greece and Rome knew this too – in fact diet advice was a mainstay of medical practice and health routines. There were extensive and intricate discussions of how to regulate food and drink to stay healthy. Some of their […]

An extraordinary new 3D map of the universe has been made available to the public. A team using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and a supercomputer to try to better understand the mysterious phenomenon known as dark energy, created the largest 3D map of the universe as part of this endeavour. And it has […]

Relatively good rainfall in Australia last year enabled the nation’s beleaguered fauna and flora to experience a short-term recovery, according to the latest state of the environment report. “Australia’s Environment 2024” (AER) scored a healthy-looking 7.7 out of 10, a fourth good year in a row. But environmental scientists describe this period as a “blip” […]