Worried Kingsford residents have turned to Randwick City Council for help after telecommunications company TPG began installing small cell base stations near homes and schools. They object to a lack of community consultation from the telco as well as the possible adverse health impacts – especially on children – of long term exposure to radio-frequency […]

Nobel Prize winning scientist Barry Marshall is calling for volunteers to help test a vaccine that could help allergy sufferers. Professor Barry Marshall and Dr Robin Warren won the Nobel Prize in 2005 for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in causing inflammation in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Professor Marshall […]

A scientist makes a discovery challenging the medical establishment, his research isn’t taken seriously by his peers and in desperation to prove he’s right he experiments on himself. Sounds like the plot from a campy sci fi movie, doesn’t it? Proving real life is stranger than fiction, Professor Barry Marshall got his Nobel Prize doing […]

Prominent sceptic and science writer Ben Goldacre will visit Australia in September for a debut speaking tour. Author of bestsellers Bad Science and Bad Pharma, Dr Goldacre will speak in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Suzi Jamil and Desh Amila of Think Inc said he had always been on their list of people to bring to […]

Making intelligence cool again is the aim of a company that brings internationally renowned intellectuals to Australia. Run by glamour couple Desh Amila, 34, and partner Suzi Jamil, 24, Think Inc is seeking to bring ideas to a younger audience. Mr Amila was inspired to create Think Inc in 2013 after going to an intellectual […]

In a tribute to Captain Cook’s famous 18th century voyage to observe the Transit of Venus, the Endeavour replica sailed to Lord Howe Island in rough seas for the 2012 transit. The expedition by the national maritime museum and Sydney Observatory commemorated transit observations by the NSW government at Lord Howe in 1882 as well […]

It’s a date! On Wednesday 6 June 2012, the silhouette of Venus will transit across the sun for the last time this century. School children around Australia will be citizen scientists for a day as they repeat the same scientific experiment conducted by Captain Cook and astronomer Charles Green that led to the discovery of […]

Leading a parade of sails across Sydney Harbour, HMB Endeavour returned home on Monday after her first circumnavigation of Australia. Under fair skies, the Australian-built replica of Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour received an enthusiastic escort led by the tug Endeavour and sister tall-ships James Craig and Southern Swan. Startling sea-gulls, she fired her cannon in […]

In what could be a major medical breakthrough, an Australian native fruit has been found to offer possible protection against cancer and a host of other diseases. The Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) has impressive potential for protection against cancer, arthritis, neuro-degenerative diseases and diabetes, according to Dr Ian Cock of the School of Biomolecular and […]

Two out of three remaining Aboriginal languages are likely to disappear in the next 30 years. About 100 Aboriginal languages face extinction according to a senior linguist. There are now 150 languages, a drop from 250 in the pre-colonial era, Australian Human Rights Commission figures show. But only a dozen widely-spoken languages survive. University of […]

Brisbane should brace itself for a wetter and colder winter than last year in the wake of April’s record-breaking rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau’s Pradeep Singh said long-term seasonal forecasts indicated Brisbane would likely shiver through below average maximum temperatures and higher rainfall this winter. “There is a 75 percent chance […]

An Australian documentary about bees won the prize for best science reporting at the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association conference in Brisbane this week. The UNESCO Award for Science Reporting and Programming was awarded to SBS’s Eniko Toth for the documentary, “Honeybee Blues”. “Honeybee Blues was the epitome of all that was good about public service broadcasting […]

Forensic and legal experts have labelled the Brisbane City Council’s bus DNA testing trial “useless” and “bizarre”. Queensland University of Technology senior lecturer in forensic DNA Dr Bill Lott said the kits were a waste of money. “I am somewhat astounded that the BCC would waste money this way, and even more astounded that the […]

The Queensland Museum is putting together a collection of flood damaged items for an exhibition next year. Museum senior curator of social history Jo Besley said part of the museum’s role in the community was to anticipate what’s important now and preserve it for the future. She said nothing like this had been done after […]

The long-running debate over whether Australia should follow other countries in introducing nuclear power has been given a new dimension with the impact of Japan’s tragic earthquake on its nuclear plants. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said this week Australia had “abundant solar, wind, geothermal, tidal” sources of power and “we don’t think nuclear energy is […]