freelance science journalist and author
Medical reporting
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 19 August 2016: There’s an uncomfortable truth to modern medicine. That drug you take for your high blood pressure, the vaccine to prevent infectious disease, the pill to avoid pregnancy, the medical ointment for your skin condition, or even the pacemaker keeping your arrhythmia in check — all of those … Continue reading Could animal testing ever be phased out?
From ABC News in Science, 5 May 2016: For the first time, scientists have kept human embryos alive in the laboratory for six days beyond the point at which it would normally implant into the uterus. Two separate groups of scientists today report in Nature and Nature Cell Biology their successful development of human embryos … Continue reading Human embryos cultured in lab for record time a ‘major step forward’ that opens ethical debate
From Australian Geographic, May/June edition: IT’S BARELY 8AM ON A spring morning in Sydney’s inner south-west. Already the indoor ice rink is alive with lithe figures swooping and twirling in the cool internal air. These world-class figure skating hopefuls have been here for hours, practising their gravity-defying leaps, forcing themselves to their feet after each … Continue reading Forever young
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 21 March 2016: We can talk about good deaths and bad deaths, cheating death or embracing it, but the one thing that we all seem to reach for is this: when we die, we want to do it our way. Tony Smith (not his real name) says his mother and … Continue reading The tough question we all need to think about: what type of death do you want?
From Nature News, 22 February 2016: An Australian bill, proposed by Greens senator Lee Rhiannon, to ban the importation of non-human primates for medical research provokes rush of protests from the Australian and international scientific establishment. Read more.
From BBC Future, 1 February 2016: Walking through Sydney’s northern beaches in the height of summer, the dense, humid bush is alive with the buzz of cicadas, the screech of rosellas, and the mouth-watering smell of barbecue. But hiding in the undergrowth is a tiny creature that is forcing some unrepentant carnivores to turn their … Continue reading A tick bite that makes you allergic to red meat
From BBC Future, 10 November 2015: It used to be called ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’: a collection of symptoms such as headache, nausea and a strange numbness that certain people seem to suffer after a meal of Chinese food, which went beyond the usual queasiness and self-loathing at having eaten one too many barbecued pork buns. … Continue reading Is MSG as bad as it’s made out to be?
From ABC Science, 20 November 2015: Even if we all ate the same meal, everyone would metabolise it differently, according to a new study that suggests that there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all dietary advice. Rather diets should be tailored to an individual’s gut microbiome, or combination of gut bacteria, Israeli scientists said. The … Continue reading Diets should be personally tailored to your gut microbiome, study says
From ABC Science, 4 November 2015: Moods, both positive and negative, may actually serve an evolutionary purpose in helping us to have more realistic expectations. Researchers have used mathematical modelling to show that our mood may be a subconscious way for us to keep track of the availability of rewards in our environment, and to … Continue reading Moods may have an evolutionary purpose
From ABC News in Science, 13 October 2015: The trick to multi-tasking may be training our brain to ‘divide and conquer’ each task separately, Australian researchers have found. In one of the largest studies of its kind, Professor Paul Dux and Dr Kelly Garner from the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology used real-time brain … Continue reading Training the brain to ‘divide and conquer’ may be the secret to multi-tasking
Bianca Nogrady 