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Media release: Geelong, Friday 23 April 2010
Modern drugs can stabilise adult onset diabetes but with some serious side effects. A Geelong-based company, Verva Pharmaceuticals, has a new approach – a drug used for many years to treat eye disease. In animal testing, the drug restored sensitivity to insulin. But will it be effective and safe in people? [Read more…] about Eye drug finds new life in Geelong diabetes trial
You can catch up on the Universities Australia Climate forum held at Parliament House, Canberra on 18 March 2010 through the following links:
Australia’s peanut farmers are on the move—some are relocating nearly 2400 kilometres from Kingaroy to Katherine for better access to water; last year 88 people in Victoria died in the way to hospital directly as a result of the heatwave that preceded the disastrous bushfires of early February; the average temperature across the Australian continent has risen by more than 0.8 °C in the past 60 years; the Great Barrier Reef is degrading; and more than 40 per cent of the nation’s farmers are seriously worried about the viability of their businesses in the face of climate change, according to a recent nationwide survey for the Bureau of Rural Sciences.
Universities Australia
Peter Coaldrake, the Chair of Universities Australia, is Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a position he took up in April 2003. He had previously been Deputy Vice-Chancellor in the same institution, and prior to that served for four years as Chair (CEO) of Queensland’s Public Sector Management Commission, the body established by the Goss Government to overhaul Queensland’s public sector.
Universities Australia today welcomed the release of the State of the Climate Snapshot co-authored by the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
“This important statement from the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology confirms the clear view of top Australian scientists, expert in the field, that Australia’s climate is changing,” said Professor Peter Coaldrake, Chair of Universities Australia and Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology.
[Read more…] about Universities Australia Chair welcomes climate snapshot
Scientists have been able to kill an infectious parasite using non-toxic gold nanoparticles and laser beams.
“Our first target is Toxoplamosis gondii, a parasite that infects one in three people and causes problems especially in the young and old, and people with a compromised immune system says Michael Cortie from the University of Technology Sydney, speaking on behalf of his team at ICONN 2010 the international nanotechnology conference in Sydney.
Most Australians (84%) feel positive that science and technology are improving society. These positive perceptions have been strongly held over the last five years.
Bionic eyes, quantum computers and more efficient solar cells are among the many research projects set to benefit from a new facility due to be officially opened in Sydney on Friday.
[Read more…] about Making nano-chips: Sydney centre opens today
Sarah is Charles Darwin’s great, great granddaughter and a biologist. She is retracing her ancestor’s steps on the Dutch clipper Stad Amsterdam for TV station VPRO.
Sarah and her project colleagues Redmond O’Hanlon and Hans Fels will discuss the expedition, the science and what it means for them to recreate the voyage of the Beagle.
[Read more…] about A conversation with Sarah Darwin and Tall Ship experience
CSIRO media release 24 December 2009
Reference: 09/231
A major conference to be held in Melbourne in 2011 will focus the world’s attention on the broad issues of a sustainable planet.
“Thousands of scientists will meet in Melbourne in mid-2011 to discuss the state of the Earth,” according to CSIRO’s Dr Tom Beer, the first Australian to be elected President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG).
“Scientists from around the world working on issues of sustainability will exchange information at the IUGG General Assembly,” Dr Beer said. “They will discuss issues affecting our climate and atmosphere, water resources and oceans, volcanoes and polar regions, and earthquakes and tsunamis.”
This will be only the second time that the IUGG General Assembly has been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
“The conference – Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet – will bring together the eight earth science associations of the IUGG. These foster collaborative research and information exchange between scientists in 66 countries and the application of this research to societal needs such as mineral resources, mitigation of natural hazards, and environmental preservation,” Dr Beer said. [Read more…] about 'Earth on the edge' – Melbourne 2011