Blogs

Last week the world’s atmosphere took a giant leap backward. For the first time in more than 3 million years, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 400 parts per million. This was recorded at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory located on Mauna ... Continue Reading »

You've probably heard about peer-review and the peer-review process. This is a cornerstone of the scientific process and an extremely important concept to both understand and adhere to. But it’s coming under threat and needs the protection of vigilance and understanding. If you don’t know what your peers think of ... Continue Reading »

      The May ECR Network event is our first campus visit for 2013, coming to Adelaide University. With a packed program we’re opening at 5:00pm for a 5:30pm start, with nibbles and networking prior to the beginning of the event. The Honourable Grace Portolesi, Minister for Science and Information Economy will attend to ... Continue Reading »

Could changing the timing of a baby's first bath save its life?  Is it better for your health to have a private or shared hospital room?  Research is constantly discovering better health care solutions, but is often not adopted into best practice and policy. Somewhere these answers are lost in translation. In ... Continue Reading »

This year we have the extraordinary occurrence of having a Federal election date set eight months in advance and, despite promises to the contrary, it appears that the campaigning has already begun. This gives us an unusually long period to reflect on the policies and performance of all the political ... Continue Reading »

I’m writing this article feeling slightly apprehensive. The ethics of positive discrimination (AKA affirmative action) are so complex that I’m finding it hard to decide where to pitch my tent- the ‘for’ camp or ‘against’ camp? Prof Fiona Stanley and Baroness Prof Susan Greenfield had an interesting discussion about positive discrimination ... Continue Reading »

http://vimeo.com/52600014 Colour test for detecting diseases Article from MedGadget Anticipation of doing maths activates brain activity in region which processes pain Article from CNN Health Two super-bright supernovae detected allowing insight into the death of some of the oldest stars Article from Cosmos Genetic links for uterine ... Continue Reading »

Associate Professor Justin Oakley BA, PhD (Philosophy) is Director of the Monash University Centre for Human Bioethics. He is the author of Morality and the Emotions (Routledge, 1993), and Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles (with Dean Cocking) (Cambridge University Press, 2001), and is editor of Informed Consent and Clinician Accountability: ... Continue Reading »

Who has the right to own a piece of heritage? Should the common heritage of all of us be held in some form of public trust or do we as individuals have the right to privately own heritage items? And if we do have rights of ownership, should there be ... Continue Reading »

Governments, educationalists and business leaders around the world are keen to encourage young people to embrace science in school, at university and in their future careers. In Australia, a lack of interest in studying science in schools has been of real and growing concern. Many of the best careers of the ... Continue Reading »

How did science and science education fare in last week’s Federal Budget and what do the Fed’s funding decisions say about their respect for science and innovation? Well it’s a mixed picture with possibly encouraging signs of better things to come and a change of heart. Only time will tell ... Continue Reading »

Confused about organ donation? You are not alone. But organ donation could one day save the life of someone you love. As part of DonateLife Week 2012 RiAus, in association with DonateLife SA and the support of the Organ and Tissue Authority, will present Organ Donation: your questions answered at City ... Continue Reading »

Recently I was honoured to attend the first-ever AdaCamp, an ‘unconference’ for women in open technology, hosted by The Ada Initiative at the CERES Community Environment Park in Melbourne.  I was attending this during my holidays with no particular affiliation; however it became evident throughout the ... Continue Reading »

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I hope I don’t sound too smug but I count myself as one ... Continue Reading »

Che was a professional footballer with the Essendon Football Club and the Port Adelaide Football Club. His passion in political science led him to take up an advisory role to the Premier of South Australia in 2005. Moving on as Director of the Indigenous Sports Academy at Rostrevor College in 2006, ... Continue Reading »

Australia has a long history of collaborating in science globally. Frank Fenner headed up the international team that eradicated small pox from the planet and Brian Schmidt, our most recent Nobel Laureate shared his award with international collaborators who together discovered the mysterious dark energy and the acceleration of the expansion ... Continue Reading »

Last week the biggest set of Federal Government grants for scientific research was announced. This ought to have been a moment of celebration in laboratories and lecture halls across the nation and, in a few lucky cases, it was. But a closer analysis of the amount of cash dished out, ... Continue Reading »

RiAus is excited to feature the work of Emma Lawrance, a science communication student and blogger. Emma interviews young and inspiring scientists, and shares their stories, passions and challenges. Emma has kindly given RiAus permission to republish content from her 'Scientist in the Spotlight' series. Emma's blog is ... Continue Reading »

I’ve long thought that, if the label ‘Science’ were trademarked, we would have a much clearer path to follow with respect to who gets to refer to their product or ideas as ‘scientific’. Of course that is an impossibility. The problem remains that anyone can claim that they are backed ... Continue Reading »

RiAus is excited to feature the work of Emma Lawrance, a science communication student and blogger. Emma interviews young and inspiring scientists, and shares their stories, passions and challenges. Emma has kindly given RiAus permission to republish content from her 'Scientist in the Spotlight' series. Emma's blog is ... Continue Reading »

Dr Megan Munsie is a stem cell scientist who has combined her extensive technical expertise with an interest and understanding of the complex ethical, social and regulatory issues associated with stem cells in research and in the clinic. Megan regularly provides advice and information to Australian researchers, academics, politicians, government ... Continue Reading »

From flash protests in Egypt organised via social networks, to the online vigilantism of groups like Anonymous, technology is allowing small groups to promote or attack ideologies and manipulate online public opinion. Corporations and governments may hire professional social media experts to spread propaganda and stifle dissent using ... Continue Reading »

New York City’s population is changing rapidly, and so is the Earth’s climate.  In 2007, New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched PlaNYC, a 135 point plan that aims by 2030 to accommodate 1 million more New Yorkers and reduce the city’s carbon footprint by thirty percent. The highly ... Continue Reading »

This Thursday two teams of Australian experts will debate for and against the argument that increasing agricultural production is the only sure way to feed nine billion people by 2050. The debate will be held by the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) an institution that Director Paul Willis said ... Continue Reading »

Brad Jessup is a social scientist and lawyer at the Australian Centre for Environmental Law and the Centre for Climate Law and Policy at the Australian National University. He has expertise in social and political geography and environmental law and policy. He teaches environmental and planning law and foundation law ... Continue Reading »

Our July selection, chosen by our very own book club members, was Aldous Huxley’s 1931 dystopian classic Brave New World.  Set in a futuristic society where science is used to control and art, history and religion are banned, we explored whether we can ever truly engineer happiness. We were joined ... Continue Reading »

Based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper tackles the emotive subject of saviour siblings. Conceived by means of in vitro fertilisation, Anna was brought into the world to be a genetic match for her older sister Kate, who suffers from acute promyelocytic leukaemia. When ... Continue Reading »

When are you dead? You might think that everyone knows the answer to this question but it’s not quite as simple as it seems. Brain death is a concept that most people find difficult to grasp and yet it is central to the donation of organs. What is brain death? ... Continue Reading »

This event provided a forum for those keen to learn about synthetic biology and share their views. ABC Radio National’s Alan Saunders hosted this special interactive event as participants discussed their thoughts on this emerging science policy issue, as part of a genuine university research project. Local and international researchers ... Continue Reading »

As Santos Principal Sustainability Adviser, Susie Smith stewards sustainability management and climate change policy and strategy. Smith published Santos' inaugural Sustainability Report in December 2004 and has developed Santos sophisticated approach to integrating and assessing sustainability performance across Santos businesses. Smith also stewards Santos' climate change strategy, ... Continue Reading »

Professor Susan Dodds is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania.  Prior to her role at UTAS, Susan was at the University of Wollongong. Dodds was awarded her PhD in Philosophy at La Trobe University (Melbourne) in 1993, ... Continue Reading »

Professor Byard graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of medicine in 1978 and became a licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada in 1982. He was a Foundation Member of the Australian College of Legal Medicine and a Foundation Fellow of the Faculty of ... Continue Reading »

Born: 1946, London, UK Paul Davies obtained a doctorate from University College London in 1970. He held academic appointments at Cambridge and London Universities until he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. From 1990 until 1996 he was Professor of ... Continue Reading »

Mike Young is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Environment Institute and one of the country's leading water policy experts. He has played a key role in the development of water policy in Australia and has been identified by The Canberra Times ... Continue Reading »

Jon Kellett is the Head of Urban and Regional Planning for the University of South Australia (UniSA). He has taught urban planning and environmental management for more than 25 years at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK and the UniSA. His research interests include planning policy responses ... Continue Reading »

John Spoehr is an Associated Professor at the University of Adelaide and Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Social Research and the Centre for Labour Research at the University of Adelaide. Professor Spoehr completed his PhD in Political Economy at the University of South Australia. His ... Continue Reading »

John Coveney is Associate Dean in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Flinders University in Adelaide. Among his research interests are the politics of food, food security and health promotion, including efforts to change eating habits. He is also interested in food regulation and legislation, new ... Continue Reading »

Craig Venter is the founder of Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit, research and support organisation with more than 400 scientist and staff dedicated to human, microbial, plant and environmental genomic research, the exploration of social ... Continue Reading »

Dr. Illes is Director of the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC, and faculty in the Brain Research Centre at UBC and at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. She also holds affiliate appointments in the School of Population and Public Health and the School of ... Continue Reading »

Diana Bowman is a Senior Research Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population Health at The University of Melbourne and a visiting international scholar in the Faculty of Law, KU Leuven (Belgium).  Bowman achieved a PhD in Law in 2008, and her research has focused primarily ... Continue Reading »

Next week RiAus will host the last event in the series Thinking critically about sustainable energy: Our energy future 2050. Coincidentally, the UN climate change summit is taking place in Cancun, following on from the conference that took place in Copenhagen last year ... Continue Reading »