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Apocalypse survival; ‘bad’ fungi; counting koalas; space litter; the future of the Otways; and steel from old tyres

Thought-provoking National Science Week Environment stories up for grabs now around Australia

A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: from surviving to thriving amid turmoil – Sydney
When ‘bad’ fungi attacks: is there a doctor in the forest? – Julatten, QLD
Making steel from old tyres – Canberra
How do you count notoriously shy koalas at risk of extinction? – Online with QLD & NSW scientists
A space environmentalist’s POV on cleaning up the Universe – Parramatta, NSW
The secret life of orangutans – Newcastle
What should be the future of the Otway Ranges? – Colac, VIC
Where the krill are going, and the whales are following – online; Tasmanian talent
Tassie wildlife caught on camera: get hooked on Nature’s soap operas Launceston & Hobart, TAS

More on these below and visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.

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Martians, dinosaurs headline National Science Week 2024

Media release from The Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science

12 May 2024

Martians and dinosaurs headline National Science Week 2024, Australia’s biggest annual national celebration of science.

The celebration is now a step closer, with the Australian Government awarding $500,000 in grants to support 32 public science projects right across the country.

The National Science Week Grants provide funding of between $2,000 and $20,000 to support individuals and organisations to deliver community science events.

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Talk to your family on Sunday, World Hearing Day, about their hearing issues. Help is available.

Sunday is World Hearing Day. Many people wait too long to act with hearing issues that could be improved. MindEar’s audiologists and tinnitus researchers are available for media interviews Saturday and Sunday morning to encourage people to do something about their hearing issues. Details below

Changing mindsets: Let’s make ear and hearing care a reality for all!

World Hearing Day Changing Mindsets. Changing mindsets is crucial for improving access and reducing the cost of unaddressed hearing loss. Let's make ear and hearing care a reality for all! 03 March 2024 #WorldHearingDay

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Help is available for 1.5 million Australians with serious tinnitus

Let them know during International Tinnitus Awareness Week, from 5 to 11 February.

Millions of people have been told there is nothing they can do about their tinnitus.
That’s bad advice and for many it leads to more stress anxiety and depression.
Our researchers in Auckland, Sydney, France, Belgium, the UK and the USA are available for interview throughout Tinnitus Week.

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Train your brain to overcome tinnitus

An app can change the lives of those affected by tinnitus

Millions of people have been told to there is nothing they can do about their tinnitus.
That’s bad advice and for many it leads to more stress anxiety and depression.
With specialist psychological support you can train your brain to ignore tinnitus. But that’s expensive and not widely available.
Now, a research team led by the University of Auckland have developed an app that, in a trial published today in Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, reduced the impact of tinnitus in two-thirds of users in weeks.

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Finding the exact location of a power fault in minutes

New technology that could help restore power quickly even on high bushfire risk days

Some of Victoria’s worst bushfires have been started by power lines. So, power distribution companies have installed devices that limit the energy flowing to the fault to cut the fire risk. However, in networks equipped with these devices, communities might experience power outages for hours while network operators attempt to track down a fault along tens of kilometres of power line.

“In trials in China and Switzerland we demonstrated that our technology can find the fault location to within hundreds of metres in a few minutes, instead of hours or days,” says Monash University engineering researcher, Dr Reza Razzaghi.

“In Australia, that would allow power to be restored to the community quickly, which can be vitally important for air conditioning during extreme heat, for people who rely on life-supporting electric medical devices, and for the many other home and business users.”

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Patrolling honey bees expose spread of antimicrobial resistance

Insects prove their strength as environmental biomonitors

Bees could become biomonitors, checking their neighbourhoods to determine how far antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has spread, according to research by Macquarie University scientists.

At least 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that 10 million people will die due to AMR by 2050. But we have few tools to keep track of its spread in the environment.

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