freelance science journalist and author
From the Guardian, 8 January 2024: A good espresso coffee is sexy as hell. It flows out of the machine at a languid pace, initially dark and brooding, before shifting into a golden foam that would bat its eyelashes at you if it had them. Once settled in the glass, it breathes out and releases … Continue reading ‘Give the espresso a little swirl’: the very particular science of a good cup of coffee
From Nature, 12 March 2024: Indigenous Australians have been using fire to shape the country’s northern ecosystems for at least 11,000 years, according to charcoal preserved in the sediment of a sinkhole. The study was published on 11 March in Nature Geoscience1. The practice of cultural burning, also known as ‘fire-stick farming’, is integral to … Continue reading Indigenous Australian fire-stick farming began at least 11,000 years ago
From The Brilliant, 31 January 2024: In 2023, Australia’s pre-eminent journalism awards – the Walkleys – included two new categories that had science journalists cheering: ‘specialist and beat reporting’ and ‘explanatory reporting’. It wasn’t the slam-dunk that science journalists – and particularly those who report on climate change –were hoping for. We’d hoped for a … Continue reading Why does science journalism matter?
From The Guardian, 26 January 2024: Last year was the hottest year in recorded history. Global average temperatures over 2023 nudged towards 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, and for two days in November, they reached 2C above those levels. With a hotter planet come more intense – and therefore more deadly – heatwaves. Extreme heat is already … Continue reading What happens to your body during extreme heat?
From The Guardian, 4 February 2024: The comedian and actor Hannah Gadsby quipped in her hit show Nanette that she identified as [pause for dramatic effect] “tired”. In a monologue that resonated with many hard truths, that one particularly struck home for me. The common refrain is so many of us are exhausted, have trouble … Continue reading Big brain boost? What science says about the power of nootropics to enhance our minds
From The Guardian, 18 February 2024: On a rainy night in London, a young woman walks towards the entrance of a sidestreet, smiling to herself as she recalls the evening spent with the friend she just farewelled at the train station. She’s about to walk down the poorly-lit shortcut that will take her back to … Continue reading Go with your gut: the science and psychology behind our sense of intuition
From Cosmos, 21 December 2023: “Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from, neutrino?” This 1880’s folk tune – Cotton-Eyed Joe – now popular with line dancers, could well have been adapted to be the theme of last week’s gathering of scientists from around the world who gathered in Sydney to … Continue reading Scientists agree on new group to search for dark matter
From Nature, 13 December 2023: Australian Indigenous communities from different regions in the north and centre of the country are some of the most genetically distinct people on the planet, according to a pair of studies published in Nature today. Indigenous Australian communities have the highest rate of genetic variation outside people in Africa. Hundreds … Continue reading Australian Indigenous genomes are highly diverse and unlike those anywhere else
From Nature, 13 December 2023: When it comes to renewable energy, India is lucky to have an abundance of natural resources. It is the seventh-largest nation on Earth, occupying around 2% of the planet’s land mass, and has a mainland coastline that stretches for 7,500 kilometres. Most regions experience between 250 and 300 sunny days … Continue reading Renewable energy for the subcontinent
From Nature, 13 December 2023: Faced with a skyrocketing rate of antimicrobial resistance, which is estimated to cause or contribute to millions of deaths around the world each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017 created a classification system for antimicrobial drugs. The WHO’s system, AWaRe, places all available antimicrobials into three categories: access, … Continue reading The fight against antimicrobial resistance
