freelance science journalist and author
From the Guardian, 4 January 2026: Of all the lower body joints, the knee is probably the one most likely to send you to the physiotherapist. “It carries most of the weight of the body, and being a hinge joint, it means that it doesn’t have a nice socket structure,” says physiotherapist Dr Jillian Eyles, … Continue reading ‘They don’t have a nice socket structure’: how to really look after your knees
From the BMJ, 2 February 2026: An analysis of 15 commercially available tattoo inks in Australia has found levels of metals and carcinogens, including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and toluidine, far above European limits. The study concluded that not one of the tattoo inks met EU safety standards, yet Australia currently lacks binding limits on … Continue reading Toxic metals and carcinogens found in Australian tattoo inks
I was recently invited to give a talk for an Environment Week assembly at Katoomba High School in the Blue Mountains. I’m kind of proud of this speech, so here it is: “Thank you Luke and Ainsley for inviting me to speak today, and I hope you don’t regret it at the end. I acknowledge … Continue reading Environment Week speech to Katoomba High School
From The Guardian, 20 October 2025: The first thing Annie and her partner do when they wake up in the morning is ask each other how well they slept. “And I literally say, ‘I’m not sure yet, let me check,’” – and Annie, a chief people and safety officer, reaches for her smartwatch. Annie started … Continue reading The rise of the sleep data nerds: ‘The harder you try, the harder it is to sleep’
From Medscape Medical News, 31 October 2025: People with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who took part in a 12-week online, unsupervised tai chi program showed significant improvements in both knee pain and function compared to controls. Clinical guidelines for knee OA strongly endorse tai chi as a recommended exercise option, and systematic reviews have shown improvements … Continue reading Online, Unsupervised Tai Chi Program Achieves Significant Improvements in Pain and Function in Knee Osteoarthritis
From BMJ, 7 October 2025: Australia’s drug regulator has issued a safety warning about imported unregistered melatonin gummies, many of which contain far more of the hormone than labelled.1 Testing by the Australian drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), identified eight unregistered brands of melatonin gummies that were advertised as containing 1-10 mg of … Continue reading Melatonin gummies: Australia’s drug regulator issues safety warning over popular sleep “supplements”
From Medscape Medical News, 29 August 2025: Gay and bisexual men, including those taking preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection, can now donate plasma in Australia without any waiting period after recent sexual activity, according to new donation criteria from the government-funded blood supply organization Lifeblood. Lifeblood is also moving toward gender-neutral sexual activity … Continue reading Australian blood service removes sexual activity wait times for most plasma donors
From the BMJ, 15 September 2025: After decades in the making, legislation to create Australia’s first Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been put before federal parliament. Australia’s incumbent Labour government first promised to create a CDC while in opposition in 2020,2 at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. It has now delivered the legislation, … Continue reading Australia to establish its own CDC
From Nature, 20 August 2025: From the smiles, bouquets and cheers among the crowd gathered outside the Higher Regional Court of Hamm in Germany on 28 May, it might have looked like those present were celebrating a win. In fact, they had just lost a ten-year legal battle. In 2015, Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a mountain … Continue reading Securing climate justice in the courtroom
From Medscape Medical News, 9 July 2025: Australia has launched a government-funded lung cancer screening program that provides biennial low-dose CT scans to patients who are either current heavy smokers or who have quit in the past decade. The screening program is a “game-changer” for Australia, Lucy Morgan, MD, PhD, respiratory physician at Concord and … Continue reading Australia launches lung cancer screening program for smokers
Bianca Nogrady 