freelance science journalist and author
From The Saturday Paper, 19 April 2026: When it comes to space, Australia has long been seen – and seen itself – as a support act who, with telescopes and technology, makes the bigger nations and space agencies look good as they undertake headline-grabbing missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. Australia has done very … Continue reading Australia’s space program stuck in low orbit
From Medscape, 8 April 2026: Australia has passed a law banning life insurance companies from denying or restricting coverage based on the results of genetic tests or even based on whether an applicant or their genetic relatives have undergone or been recommended for genetic testing. The legislation received support from both major parties and many … Continue reading Australia bans use of genetic testing information by life insurers to deny or restrict coverage
From The Saturday Paper, 4 April 2026: Vinny O’Loughlin goes out rabbit shooting at night, but he could just as easily do it during the day from his front door in the small South Australian town of Willalooka. “We’ve got half-a-dozen rabbits in our front yard in the morning when we get out of bed,” … Continue reading Australia once again losing the rabbit war
From the British Medical Journal, 8 April 2026: Life insurance companies in Australia will no longer be able to use genetic testing to discriminate against potential insurees, with a new law banning the practice. The Genetic Testing Protections in Life Insurance and Other Measures Bill was passed by both houses of Australia’s federal parliament on 1 … Continue reading Genetic testing: Australia bans life insurers from discriminating against applicants
From Nature, 12 February 2026: What do tennis star Serena Williams, television personality Oprah Winfrey and actors Kathy Bates and Whoopi Goldberg have in common? They are some of the many celebrities who have spoken publicly about using GLP-1 receptor agonists to lose weight. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists — which bind to GLP-1 receptors … Continue reading The ‘astounding’ rise of semaglutide — and what’s next for weight-loss drugs
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
Bianca Nogrady 