freelance science journalist and author
From Undark magazine, 25 July 2018: The peatlands that drape the high, treeless slopes surrounding Australia’s tallest peak form a natural archive. “They are unusual bits of landscape in that they actually record their own history,” says Geoffrey Hope, an environmental historian at the Australian National University, who has been studying these unique bogs for … Continue reading In Australia’s Snowy Mountains, a battle over brumbies
While the amazing Dr Karl tramps around the wilds of Mongolia, astrophysicist Dr Jessica Bloom and I joined Triple J presenter Linda Marigliano to answer Australia’s science questions. Listen to it here.
From The Medical Republic, 5 July 2018: The most effective way to get GPs to reduce antibiotic prescriptions is to show them how much more they prescribe compared with their peers, according to a government-led behavioural economics intervention. Inspired by similar initiatives from the UK government’s Behavioural Insights Team – colloquially known as the “Nudge … Continue reading Nudge tactics spark drop in antibiotic scripts
From Nature News, 29 June 2018: A group of Australian politicians has released a road map for the country to move towards legalizing mitochondrial donation. The group’s recommendations, published on 27 June, include that the government consult the public and scientific experts about permitting clinical use of the reproductive technology, which could help women avoid … Continue reading Australia moves a step closer to ‘three-person IVF’
From The Guardian, 26 June 2018: “Did you put the recycling out?” It’s a phrase regularly recited in millions of households across Australia, followed by a hollow rumble as the yellow-lidded wheelie bin is hauled to the kerb. It’s a ritual that, in one form or another, takes place in more than 90% of Australian … Continue reading Waste crisis: where’s your recycling going now?
From National Geographic Travel, 26 June 2018: Want to explore the wonders of the universe without the light-years of travel and gravity sickness? Welcome to the exciting world of astro-tourism, where terrestrial astronomers and their telescopes take you on a journey to the stars. Australia’s clear skies and vast tracts of uninhabited land make it … Continue reading The six best places to stargaze in Australia
From Nature, 10 May 2018: In 1999, an Australian federal government briefing paper on biotechnology in the country concluded that the sector “hardly rates as an economic force” because of its small size and the financial challenges that it faced in getting products to market. Now, barely two decades later, Australia has ranked in the … Continue reading Australia makes its mark in biotechnology
From the BMJ.com, 20 March 2018: Australia has recorded its sixth infant death from congenital syphilis, in a seven year long epidemic that has disproportionately impacted remote Aboriginal communities. The outbreak began in January 2011 in northwest Queensland, and over the following two years spread across to the Northern Territory, then to Western Australia, and … Continue reading Sixth child dies from congenital syphilis in northern Australia
From Nature Outlook, 22 November 2017: When a condition commonly associated with a lifetime of alcohol abuse — severe scarring of the liver, or cirrhosis — starts to show up in children as young as eight, something is very wrong. “I had a teenage patient, who wasn’t even being evaluated for liver disease but was … Continue reading Childhood obesity: A growing concern
From Fish magazine, December 2017: If the coastal marine environment was a cocktail party, Brownlip Abalone would be the guest dressed in a nondescript outfit trying desperately to blend in with the curtains. They are the archetypal shy, retiring creature, and there has been little research on the species since the 1980s. But a new … Continue reading Shy shellfish under scrutiny
Bianca Nogrady 