Science and Technology

Page 8

Environment

New video shows sharks making an easy meal of spiky sea urchins, shedding light on an undersea mystery

by Jeremy Day, PhD researcher

Long-spined sea urchins have emerged as an environmental issue off Australia’s far south coast.

Science and Technology

I heard there's an aurora coming. How do I check?

by Dr Hannah Schunker, ARC Future Fellow in the School of Information and Physical Sciences (Physics)

Few sights in the night sky are as awe-inspiring as aurora. The vibrant dancing lights – usually seen close to the planet’s poles – are produced by a wind of charged particles streaming from the Sun into Earth’s atmosphere. The resulting disturbances are called geomagnetic storms.

Science and Technology

Is bioenergy ever truly green? It depends on 5 key questions

by Dr Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering

Plans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station have previously not gone ahead.

Science and Technology

Why are auroras so hard to predict? And when can we expect more?

by Hannah Schunker, ARC Future Fellow in Physics at The University of Newcastle, and Brett Carter, Associate Professor in STEM at RMIT University

On Saturday evening before Mother’s Day, Australians witnessed a rare celestial spectacle: a breathtaking display of aurora australis, also known as the southern lights.

Arts, Culture and Society

Big dreams built through remote community partnership

by Shahni Wellington

The unlikely pairing of outback Menindee and seaside Newcastle have successfully bridged the distance

Environment

Partnering to solve the Pacific plastics plight

by Penny Harnett

Microplastics are notoriously hard to detect but their impact is significant. How deep is the problem in the Pacific Ocean? Scientists from Australia and Samoa teamed up to find out.

Environment

What has the Nobel Prize in Physics ever done for me?

by Karen Livesey

Each October, physics is in the news with the awarding of the Nobel Prize. The work acknowledged through this most prestigious award often seems far removed from our everyday lives, with prizes given for things like “optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms” and “elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions”.

Our Communities

The ripple effect of drought

by Penny Harnett

Drought is like a creeping cancer. It insidiously infects communities. It spreads profound and multifaceted challenges that demand multidisciplinary treatment.

Environment

Why El Niño doesn’t mean certain drought

by Abraham Gibson, Danielle Verdon-Kidd

The Bureau of Meteorology released its latest climate driver update on Tuesday, saying the current La Niña has weakened and is “likely near its end”. Most climate models now point to neutral conditions – neither El Niño nor La Niña – through autumn and a trend towards El Niño in early spring

Our Communities

What Australia learned from recent devastating floods – and how New Zealand can apply those lessons now

by Iftekhar Ahmed

Australia and New Zealand have both faced a series of devastating floods triggered by climate change and the return of the La Niña weather pattern. So it makes sense that Australia has now sent disaster crews to help with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Environment

‘Forever chemicals’ have made their way to farms. For now, levels in your food are low – but there’s no time to waste

by Ravi Naidu

They stop your food from sticking to the pan. They prevent stains in clothes and carpets. They help firefighting foam to extinguish fires. But the very thing that makes “forever chemicals” so useful also makes them dangerous.

Environment

Photos from the field: our voyage investigating Australia’s submarine landslides and deep-marine canyons

by Hannah Power, Kendall Mollison, Michael Kinsela, Tom Hubble

Environmental scientists see flora, fauna and phenomena the rest of us rarely do. In this series, we’ve invited them to share their unique photos from the field.

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