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 […]

A Newsbytes street poll has found people are not concerned about the idea of high-tech surveillance drones as long as they are used only for crime control. Queensland Police could trial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the near future. Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said he didn’t want to ban UAVs but […]

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 […]

Australia’s first commercial flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel will take to the skies this week. Biofuel made half of used cooking oil and half conventional jet fuel will power the Qantas Airbus A330 Sydney-Adelaide return flight. Qantas environment head John Valastro said the goal of Friday’s flight was to examine the potential for sustainable […]

With Australian Mark Webber (pictured) among the leaders in the 2011 Formula One series, it gives us spur to ponder the impact this global sport has had on our ordinary road cars over the years. Webber recorded the fastest lap at Abu Dhabi this month and is fourth overall. Ever wondered why brakes work better […]

Satellite tracking of almost 70 sex offenders will start in Queensland next week. Police and Corrective Services Minister Neil Roberts hopes all offenders will be fitted with the new technology by the beginning of 2012. Each device, using GPS technology, will cost more than $200,000 per offender. Abakus Elmotech Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of 3M […]

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 […]

Closed circuit television cameras with speakers installed in Fortitude Valley and the CBD will have no real effect on crime, according to a leading criminologist, while civil libertarians are concerned about invasions of privacy. Bond University criminology professor Paul Wilson said research showed CCTV cameras did not prevent crime. “It may be good at detecting […]

A foreign crime organisation is targeting cashed-up people in Queensland, armed with knowledge of their annual salaries and personal details. A senior fraud police officer said this week the criminal cell was using information they bought over the internet from marketing companies. The information is used to identify individuals who are then conned into sending […]

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 […]

A load of “boat people” sailed up the Brisbane River on Sunday. It was a hi-tech solar ship with a crew of Europeans on a mission to prove that an entirely solar-powered ship can sail around the world. As the futuristic, flat topped, bat-winged marine wonder silently and efficiently sliced up the Brisbane river against […]

Brisbane City Council has announced the delivery of its 400th bus in a scheme to bring 500 new buses to the Brisbane public transport system. “The ‘can do’ team reached a very important milestone with regards to our commitment of 500 buses this council term by taking delivery of our 400th bus,” public transport chairman […]

The National Broadband Network is the largest single infrastructure investment in Australian history, with an estimated cost of $35.7 billion. The federal government hopes the network, which may perform up to one thousand times faster than current average wireless, will mean immediate advantages in education, health, and even civic spirit. But reception to the plan […]

With the continual rise of online news and the closures of many newspapers around the world, it’s important to ask: do newspapers have a future? To save costs many newspapers have cut jobs, outsourced subediting or gone completely online in response to the growing popularity of online news. Several high-profile journalists and academics have had […]

The Queensland Government is asking the public to provide feedback on the best way to use its controversial national broadband network. A discussion paper released last week by the Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Simon Finn, invites feedback from Queenslanders about the best way to use the NBN. Mr Finn called the infrastructure project […]