ScienceNetwork WA

AN Australian Antarctic researcher visited Geraldton, this May, as a part of the WA Museum's series of public lectures.

IN HIS new role as Minister for Science, Premier Colin Barnett took time to brief ScienceNetwork on his vision for science in WA.

A NATIONAL surveillance study of hospitalised cases with chicken pox before and after the introduction of the freely available varicella vaccine in Australia has reported a drop of almost 70 per cent in cases with complications needing medical attention.

CORAL responses to ocean temperatures and currents during the 2010-11 marine heatwave have been recorded in research that has found WA’s coral reefs may be more vulnerable to irregular warming events than previously thought.

RESEARCHERS say an increasing amount of land in Western Australia is being managed for environmental conservation, however mining companies are the single largest lease holder of what was previously pastoral land.

THE conservation and ecological restoration of Acacia species in the Mid West of Western Australia has had a breakthrough with new DNA barcoding research.

AN article by Western Australian and American environmental scientists is putting forward a new way of looking at the native versus non-native species debate and proposes species origin is no longer the best judgement tool in the ever-changing environment.

AN INTERNATIONAL research project involving a local scientist has presented the results of a study which used the first non-destructive, three dimensional method of documenting binding attachments in fossil vertebrates.

SCIENTISTS researching light stress indicators in seagrass have gathered and analysed international research in the field to narrow-down 119 variables to 19 robust bioindicators of light stress that can be incorporated into monitoring programs. 

UNIVERSITIES have welcomed Premier Colin Barnett’s move to raise the profile of science within government by taking ministerial responsibility for science policy.

AN INVESTIGATION by UWA scientists into factors which affect eye size in certain deep-sea fish has found that eye size varies based on the individual fish’s evolutionary status, rather than ecological pressures.

A recent UWA study has investigated the nutrition-related issues affecting disadvantaged families with overweight or obese children.

THE Western Australian Department of Fisheries have embarked on an intensive research and monitoring program into the declining numbers of blue swimmer crabs (Portunus armatus) in Shark Bay.

ASTRONOMERS around the world are keeping their eyes on the recently discovered comets PanStarrs, Lemmon and ISON that are currently making their way through our solar system.

A NEW study has shown reducing rates of herbicide use on annual ryegrass may lead to increases in herbicide resistance affecting Australian crops.

TWO WA scientists have published a study based on analyses of impact-molten rock samples from the 76-million-year-old Lappajärvi crater in Finland, and now they are shifting their focus to craters much closer to home.

AUSTRALIA is leading the world in regulating shark based tourism according to new research.

EDITH Cowan University is playing a crucial role in a massive new project, unveiled last month, which will help CSIRO to understand and estimate the potential of marine environments to capture and store blue carbon in Australia.

FOLLOWING the recent Mid West connection to the National Broadband Network (NBN), Geraldton business Market Creations has capitalised on convergent technologies to provide limitless information storage capacity with a data storage centre.

SEED broadcasting and soil ripping could hold the key to restoring damaged or degraded soil areas, based on latest research tests.