freelance science journalist and author
From ABC Environment, 10 March 2015: THERE IS SOMETHING about extreme age that fills us with awe. It’s hard not to feel it, when standing in the presence of a huge eucalypt that has raised its branches to the sun since long before European settlement. Or when watching the silent majestic form of an immense … Continue reading Eight things in nature so old you’ll feel young
From ABC News in Science, 12 March 2015: A deadly strain of bird flu known to infect humans is spreading rapidly and silently through chicken populations across China. The findings, published today in Nature, raise fears of a bird flu pandemic, as the sheer size of this disease reservoir increases the likelihood of a mutation … Continue reading Silent spread of bird flu raises pandemic fears
From ABC News in Science, 5 March 2015: The discovery of a 2.8-million-year-old partial jawbone in Africa could rewrite the history of human evolution. An international team of researchers found the lower jawbone, complete with teeth, at the Ledi-Geraru site in the Ethiopian Rift Valley, and published the finding in a report today in the … Continue reading Fossil jaw found in Ethiopia a missing link in the human evolution puzzle
From ABC News in Science, 10 March 2015: Overvaluing and overpraising children can contribute to the development of narcissism, researchers have found. A study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science , answers a long-standing question of whether narcissistic traits develop as a result of too much or too little parental … Continue reading Too much praise helps create narcissistic kids
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 26 February 2015: Mention the word ‘Pap smear’, and most women will reflexly cross their legs and shudder. It’s become something of a modern rite of passage for young women; receiving your invitation to join the cervical cancer screening program, and submitting yourself to the dubious pleasure of being prised … Continue reading Why there are plans to part ways with Pap smears
From ABC Science, 25 February 2015: Long lashes may make your eyes stand out, but researchers have discovered the ideal lash length that protects your eyes from dust and damage. The study, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface , found that eyelashes of a length around one-third the width of the … Continue reading Ideal lash length follows one-third rule
From Monash Magazine, February 2015: One question being asked over and again by governments and agencies about the Ebola epidemic is: how many more cases to expect? Between the asking and the answering lie hugely complex calculations. These must take into account all that has happened with the spread of the virus so far, and … Continue reading The human numbers of Ebola
From Monash Magazine, February 2015: Cancer chemotherapy is far from subtle. It effectively means carpet-bombing the body with a toxic regimen that kills cancer cells, but also obliterates a lot of healthy cells in the process. The ultimate hope with this approach is that the cancer surrenders before the patient does. But what if cancer … Continue reading Medicine enters the nano world
From ABC News in Science, 11 February 2015: Australian scientists say they have unravelled a key mechanism in mice that may explain how obesity can be passed from a mother to her children. The mechanism may also provide insight into why obese women find it difficult to fall pregnant. According to their study, obese mothers … Continue reading Obesity damage to mum’s eggs passes to offspring
From ABC News in Science, 10 February 2015: A study of the most frequently used words across 10 different languages proves that we do always look on the bright side of life. Researchers from the Hedonometer Project, which aims to measure the real-time happiness of populations, used native speakers to rate their emotional response to … Continue reading Language proves we’re all optimists at heart
Bianca Nogrady 