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Environmental Science

Listrik untuk Masyarakat

Indonesia dan Australia meneliti penyediaan listrik untuk masyarakat terpencil dan untuk mengembangkan kota-kota

Para peneliti bersedia untuk diwawancarai dalam Bahasa Indonesia dan Bahasa Inggris.

Mengumumkan portofolio proyek penelitian:

  • Penyediaan energi berkelanjutan bagi masyarakat terpencil.
  • Peningkatan keterandalan listrik perkotaan di Indonesia.
  • Membimbing Indonesia yang sedang meningkatkan kapasitas pembangkit listrik sebesar 70 persen.
  • Membantu Australia melaksanakan dekarbonisasi/beralih dari batu bara.
  • Uji coba di Kalimantan dan Kei Besar (di luar Papua Barat).
Local and national projects assessing clean energy options are underway by Indonesian and Australian scientists. Credit: Max Richter
Local and national projects assessing clean energy options are underway by Indonesian and Australian scientists. Credit: Max Richter

[Read more…] about Listrik untuk Masyarakat

Putting a window and lasers in a ship’s hull

Melbourne and Indonesian scientists work to improve shipping efficiency

Scientists available for interview in Bahasa Indonesia and English. Video overlay and photos of ferry available below.

Read the release in Bahasa Indonesia.

Every shipping manager wages an endless battle against fouling – the bacteria, seaweed, barnacles and other marine life that take residence on the hull of ships. This biofouling is thought to add more than 20 per cent to the fuel costs of commercial shipping. That’s a big cost for the maritime trading nations of Australia and Indonesia.

Using lasers and a window in a ship’s hull, researchers will assess how quickly the efficiency of the ship declines, and then how to balance fuel efficiency and the cost of putting a ship in dry dock to clean it.

A ship travelling between Java and South Samatra has had 30 centimetre windows installed in its hull for the research. Credit: Nadia Astari
A ship travelling between Java and South Samatra has had 30 centimetre windows installed in its hull for the research. Credit: Nadia Astari

[Read more…] about Putting a window and lasers in a ship’s hull

Interpretative dance coaxes bees into quick decisions on nest sites

14171849136_6a20a4805e_oWednesday 9 July 2014

Video and photos of bees available
Scientist available for interview

Dr James Makinson evicts bees from their homes for a good reason—to figure out how they collectively decide on the next place to live. His research on bee communication and consensus-building has been published in this month’s issue of Animal Behaviour.

James and his colleagues at the University of Sydney in partnership with two universities in Thailand have found that not all honeybee species think like the common Western hive bee when it comes to deciding on a place to nest.

Two little-known species—the giant Asian honeybee and the tiny red dwarf honeybee—use a more  rapid collective decision-making process that enables them to choose a new home quickly. But they aren’t as fussy when it comes to the quality of their new home.

It’s work that could help with understanding and managing honeybees for pollination services, ecological health, and pest control. [Read more…] about Interpretative dance coaxes bees into quick decisions on nest sites