freelance science journalist and author
From ABC News in Science, 25 June 2014: The unique damselfish practice of cultivating their favourite type of algae on coral reefs contributes to an increase in coral disease, Australian researchers have found. The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, also suggests that overfishing of other fish species may contribute to … Continue reading Damselfish ‘algal gardens’ harbour coral disease
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 24 June 2014: A little experience goes a long way towards making a man more desirable to the opposite sex, Australian researchers have found. Women are more likely to rate a man desirable if he has had one or two partners than if he has had no relationship experience, according … Continue reading Women go for ‘road-tested’ mates
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 19 June 2014 Do you know your Body Mass Index, also known as BMI? It’s easy to calculate – simply take your weight in kilograms and divide it by the square of your height in metres. If the number you reach is between 20 and 25, congratulations. You are one … Continue reading Does BMI measure up?
From Cardiology News, 9 June 2014: Children with heart disease are cumulatively exposed to relatively low levels of ionizing radiation from imaging procedures – less than the average annual background exposure in the United States – although those who have undergone more complex procedures such as heart transplants or cardiac catheterization experience significantly greater exposure, … Continue reading Radiation exposure in children with heart disease highest for transplants
I record almost all of my interviews. I’m sure old-timer journos will be all … … at this breach of journalistic hard-assness, but I would recommend it for a number of reasons. Firstly, it means I get my facts and my quotes correct. There are few things worse than having a story run, then getting … Continue reading To record or not to record
From ABC Science Online, 30 May 2014: Large coral reefs have acted as survival centres for fish biodiversity during periods of climatic upheaval, explaining the extraordinary biodiversity present in the Indo-Pacific region. The findings appear in an international study published today in the journal Science. Researchers used sediment core data to map the changing distribution … Continue reading Ancient reefs helped shape fish diversity
Is it possible to be totally objective as a journalist? This is a major can of worms to open, but as I’ve recently written an article on homeopathy – a practice that flies in the face of everything I believe – it seems a timely question to ask. I’ve been involved in a few heated … Continue reading The Truth is in here?
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 23 May 2014: The debate about the effectiveness of homeopathy is nothing new. Most recently it made headlines after Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council released a draft information paper on homeopathy which found there were “no health conditions for which there was reliable evidence that homeopathy was effective”. … Continue reading Can homeopathy ‘work’ even when there’s no evidence?
This is a blog tour. A what? It’s a kind of blog chain letter, in this case, for authors. But it’s a lot more fun than a chain letter because you get to talk about yourself and then you get to plug your friends, which is a great thing to do. This particular blog tour … Continue reading Blog tour: How I Write
From Cardiology News, 6 May 2014: MELBOURNE – Reducing salt intake to less than 5 g/day could reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease by 11% and significantly decrease out-of-pocket health expenditures, particularly among economically vulnerable middle-income households, according to a modeling study of South Africa’s salt reduction policy. The study used surveys and epidemiological data to … Continue reading Salt targets could reduce cardiovascular disease burden and health expenditures
Bianca Nogrady 