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Science In Public

Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations

Laura Boland

Queensland Premier welcomes mining leaders from 70 countries

Plus many industry heads – BHP, Anglo, Fortescue, Orica

Media welcome.

Day 2, Tuesday 27 June at the 26th World Mining Congress, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

Opening speeches, 8 am to 9.05

  • Hua Guo, Congress Chair
  • Marek Cala, WMC international organising committee, AGH University
  • Larry Marshall, Chief Executive, CSIRO
  • Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland
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Monday at the 26th World Mining Congress, Brisbane

On the first day of the Congress we explore:

  • Minerals policy requirements for the next 30 years.
  • Sand – the most mined mineral on Earth, and perhaps a critical mineral.
  • Sustainable concrete in an urbanising world.
  • The art of closure: Mines turning into physics labs, parks, pumped hydro.
  • First Nations perspective on mining closures and transitions – voices from Australia, Canada and Mongolia.
  • Plus state and federal ministers speaking.

Details below.

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Can mining walk and talk at the same time?

The future for our planet depends on it

Media welcome at 26th World Mining Congress in Brisbane starting Monday 26 June.

Humanity needs vast quantities of lithium, cobalt, copper, sand and many other minerals for a sustainable net-zero world.

Mining companies need to decarbonise their operations at the same time.

More intense climate events will disrupt mines and vital transport routes.

And civil society is cautious about the mining industry.

We’ll find out how mining is transforming to meet these challenges at the World Mining Congress starting on Monday in Brisbane, with over 3,000 of the world’s mining leaders, technologists, and researchers from 70 countries.

[Read more…] about Can mining walk and talk at the same time?

A rare glimpse of our first ancestors in mainland Southeast Asia

  • Tam Pà Ling, a cave in northern Laos, reveals new secrets about our earliest human journeys from Africa through to Australia
  • Between 86,000 and 68,000 years ago, modern humans passed by a cave in mainland Southeast Asia on their way through Asia to become Australia’s First People
  • Evidence for a human presence in this region lasting at least 56,000 years was found in approximately seven metres of cave sediment
  • This evidence demonstrates our abilities to move through forested areas and along inland river systems, and could represent a previously used migration path among our ancestors

Photos, video and visualisations available in Dropbox at https://bit.ly/3oSUd4L.  

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Tracing 13 billion years of history by the light of ancient quasars

New evidence for rapid heating in the early universe

Astrophysicists in Australia have shed new light on the state of the universe 13 billion years ago by measuring the density of carbon in the gases surrounding ancient galaxies.

The study adds another piece to the puzzle of the history of the universe.

“We found that the fraction of carbon in warm gas increased rapidly about 13 billion years ago, which may be linked to large-scale heating of gas associated with the phenomenon known as the ‘Epoch of Reionisation’,” says Dr Rebecca Davies, ASTRO 3D Postdoctoral Research Associate at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia and lead author of the paper describing the discovery.

[Read more…] about Tracing 13 billion years of history by the light of ancient quasars

Skin samples reveal where southern right whales feed

And how their shifting use of Antarctic waters shows effects of climate change.

Scientists have analysed chemicals in the skin of southern right whales to give new insights into the animals’ distribution, as well as long-term environmental changes in the Southern Ocean.

The research was published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

[Read more…] about Skin samples reveal where southern right whales feed

Real AI will need biology: computers powered by human brain cells

The future of computing includes biology, says an international team of scientists.

Brain organoid.

The time has come to create a new kind of computer, say researchers from John Hopkins University together with Dr Brett Kagan, chief scientist at Cortical Labs in Melbourne, who recently led development of the DishBrain project, in which human cells in a petri dish learnt to play Pong.

In an article published today in Frontiers in Science, the team outlines how biological computers could surpass today’s electronic computers for certain applications while using a small fraction of the electricity required by today’s computers and server farms.

[Read more…] about Real AI will need biology: computers powered by human brain cells

Solved: the secret to long lived leaves

How long will a leaf live? It’s an economic decision made by every tree.

Monkey puzzle tree leaves can live for over two decades. And Picea growing in the Gongga Mountains in China can thrive for thousands of years, growing slowly in severe environments with leaves that last twenty years on average. 

On the other hand, maple leaves last a season, while blueberry leaves may last just three months.

So, what determines the lifespan of a tree leaf?

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Stories from the Australian Institute of Physics Congress 2022

Over 1,000 physicists gathered in Adelaide for the 24th Congress of the Australian Institute of Physics from 11-16 December 2022.

Media releases from the Congress:

Giant machines for giant questions

Square Kilometre Array sites in South Africa and Australia. Credit: SKA Observatory. 
  • The biggest radio telescope
  • The dark side of the universe – could Australia host a gravitational wave detector?
  • Too wet for next generation telescopes

Australian researchers are in pole position to solve some of the Universe’s greatest mysteries by participating in three massive global projects.

[Read more…] about Giant machines for giant questions