freelance science journalist and author
From The Guardian, 22 July 2023: A couple with a brand-new electric Lexus stand blankly at the EV charging station, walking from one charger to the other with cables in hand. Within minutes, a crowd of EV drivers gathers. The strangers offer to help the couple with charging their car, showing what plugs and apps … Continue reading A post-servo highway? How electric vehicles are changing the Australian roadscape
From WIRED, 15 August 2023: One hundred miles west of Johannesburg in South Africa, the Komati Power Station is hard to miss, looming above the flat grassland and farming landscapes like an enormous eruption of concrete, brick, and metal. When the coal-fired power station first spun up its turbines in 1961, it had twice the … Continue reading This Bold Plan to Kick the World’s Coal Habit Might Actually Work
I’ve been at this science journalism thing for nearly a couple of decades now, but I’m still – perhaps even more than ever – fascinated by how writers write; where the ideas come from, how they decide who to interview, how they research, how they structure, how it all comes together, and what they take … Continue reading How I write
From Medscape Medical News, 24 July 2023 Statins should be considered for primary prevention in people living with HIV who are at low-to-moderate risk of cardiovascular disease, according to final data from the REPRIEVE trial that show pitavastatin therapy is associated with a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events than placebo. “There was a significant 35% lower … Continue reading Daily statin cuts cardiovascular risk in HIV
From Rheumatology News, 25 May 2023: Regular testing of hydroxychloroquine levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus – especially those who are experiencing a disease flare – could help to identify patients who are not taking their treatment and are at risk of worse outcomes. Data presented at an international congress on systemic lupus erythematosus … Continue reading Severe hydroxychloroquine non-adherence linked to worse SLE outcomes
From Rheumatology News, 13 June 2023: A major challenge for clinical trials in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is how to get the placebo response rate down low enough that the effectiveness of a drug can actually be seen. Better patient selection may be the key. Speaking at an international congress on SLE, Joan Merrill, MD, … Continue reading Patient selection key to lowering placebo response rates in lupus clinical trials
From Rheumatology News, 13 June 2023: B cell–depleting therapies in patients with lupus nephritis have a higher likelihood of complete response if B cells are almost completely depleted, and strategies for achieving more complete B-cell depletion continue to be tested, according to evidence presented by Richard A. Furie, MD, at an international congress on systemic … Continue reading Strategies for complete B-cell depletion evolve for patients with lupus nephritis
From the Guardian, 24 June 2023: Martu desert country, north-east of Wiluna in Western Australia, is green right now. “We had a big rain in this area,” says Yvonne Ashwin, Martu woman and coordinator of the Martu rangers, who care for this country. Normally the desert is dry, the red soil tufted with spinifex and … Continue reading Beyond the fence: what does it mean to rewild the Australian desert?
From BMJ, 4 May 2023: The importation and sale of all e-cigarettes, regardless of whether they are labelled as containing nicotine or not, will soon be banned in Australia, unless they are supplied by prescription through a licensed pharmacist. The crackdown by the Australian government was announced amid concerns that a growing black market in … Continue reading Australia bans all vapes except on prescription to stem use in children
From Nature, 11 May 2023: Because it makes them better hunters, scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) have evolved a unique method to avoid losing body heat when they dive for prey in deep, cold waters: they close their gills. Numerous fish and marine-mammal species are known to dive from the warm surface to deeper waters … Continue reading Hammerhead sharks are first fish found to ‘hold their breath’
Bianca Nogrady 