STORIES of AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE Supercharged Rice to Feed 2016 the World
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STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE Supercharged rice to feed 2016 the world Distilling Unboiling value from an egg industrial waste Micro plastic is unfantastic Flying whale sharks Seeing through bushfire smoke Welcome to Stories of Australian Science 2016 Saving oiled penguins, halving brain scarring after stroke, building foldable batteries, and ‘flying’ sharks—these are some of the highlights of the past year featured in Stories of Australian Science 2016. We encourage fair reporting of these stories. Australians are collaborating with international colleagues to pinpoint the causes Contacts for stories, links, of Motor Neurone Disease, and to see through the smoke of bushfires. They’re in photos and more information underground observatories to make sure we’re using groundwater sustainably; building at www.scienceinpublic.com.au Sarah Brooker a wave pool in a wind tunnel to investigate the role of turbulence in climate models; Managing Director We welcome your feedback on and are among the front-runners in the global race to build the first quantum computer. the stories by email and online. We also have a special feature on Australia–Indonesia collaboration: combatting the big-killers tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia; improving efficiency of ports and tropical houses; fishing for food security, and more. @ausscistories Australian science is helping to shape new ideas and questioning others, at home @scienceinpublic and around the world. We believe the heroes of Australian science deserve to be celebrated, and this collection of stories helps. ausscistories They’re all online at stories.scienceinpublic.com.au. Please feel free to share the stories with your own audiences. Everything is cleared for reproduction and you Niall Byrne can search through hundreds of yarns from our past collections. Stories of Australian Science Creative Director Enjoy this dose of science! [email protected] Cool paint More reliable for Aussie digital warships 07 10 networks Expanding treatments for ‘Australian’ cancer 16 Renewable fuels turn over a new 04 artificial leaf Concept Writing Design Niall Byrne Ellie Michaelides, Toni Stevens, www.saltcreative.com.au [email protected] Errol Hunt, Tim Thwaites, Print Editor Tanya Ha, Sarah Keenihan, immij Lydia Hales Tom Eddershaw, Jane Lyons, [email protected] Niall Byrne, Lydia Hales Flying sharks; and talking stars 2 Indonesia and Australia collaborate: fighting TB and pneumonia, designing efficient ports Preventing and undoing damage: and tropical houses, and more 18-19 stoke, oiled penguins, unboiled eggs 3 Taking autoimmune disease personally; Printing surgical tools; and materials of the future 4-5 and putting people with dementia on treadmills 20 Making blood on demand; and how to grow a backbone 6 Going small for big problems: deadly animals, fuel from algae, and Zika testing 21 Defence Science: seeing through bushfire smoke, tracking planes, and ‘cooler’ ships 7 Towards the first quantum computer—in silicon: Australia’s researchers leading the pack 22-23 Storing radioactive waste; and when earth, wind, and sea meet 8-9 Widening the net on Motor Neurone Disease; and hospital: what happens next? 24 Maths: tracking fish, saving seagrass, solving a dusty mystery, smart credit limits, and digital networks 10-11 A big deal for small science: Sydney’s new Nanoscience Hub 25 Magnets for falls; our oldest gem; and readings of the heart 12 Building an emotionally healthy community 26-27 Sharing mistakes to save lives; Aussie data gets sporty; waste-not, want-not 13 Plastic un-fantastic; add colour for more gas; and what does water do underground? 28 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science: bringing space to schoolkids, making polymers with light, Australia’s science prizes: and more 14-15 ATSE Clunies Ross Awards, Eureka Prizes, State awards, Australian Academy of Science medals 29-30 How we imagine the future; and treating the ‘Australian’ cancer 16 Brain training to give tendon pain the boot, filtering cancer from the blood, and other stories from Eye, repair yourself; and supercharged rice to feed the world 17 Fresh Science 31-32 eliable Towards the Eureka first quantum winners computer— 22 in silicon 29 Bringing students to science 14 Fighting stroke damage 03 Geoffrey Rush talks stars The search for the first stars and the hunt for dark energy both feature in a new planetarium show narrated by Geoffrey Rush. The show premiered in March 2016 at the Melbourne Planetarium and will be seen in planetariums around the world. “I hope this show conveys some of the wonder of the Universe we live in,” says Professor Elaine Sadler, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO). ‘Capturing the Cosmos’ was created by Melbourne Planetarium and CAASTRO, and features the work of two of Australia’s new telescopes, the Murchison Widefield Array and Skymapper. Flying whale sharks “The Universe was once just a big fog of hydrogen,” explains Melbourne Planetarium’s Short periods of flapping wings alternating with long, gliding descent helps Dr Tanya Hill, writer and director of the show. birds preserve energy in flight. Now researchers have discovered that sharks “You couldn’t have seen much until the first and seals can use the same technique to glide through the ocean. stars and galaxies formed, but we don’t know when or how this moment occurred—it’s Murdoch University’s Dr Adrian Gleiss led The similarity is surprising considering the a crucial gap in our understanding of the a team that attached accelerometers to different evolutionary paths of sharks, seals, evolution of the Universe which the Murchison whale sharks, white sharks, fur seals, and birds and bats—not to mention the different Widefield Array is working to solve.” elephant seals. forms of propulsion by tail fin, pectoral fin They found that all four species performed and wing. We’re still working out what the characteristic undulating flight of birds exactly dark energy is and bats, with periods of active, upwards Just like birds, propulsion alternating with slow, passive, they’re saving energy The radio telescope, based at a remote gliding descents. Western Australian desert site, is a testbed Adrian analysed the amount of effort it took Adrian’s work at Murdoch University’s of the technology to be used for the Square for the seals and sharks to move this way, Freshwater Fish Group and Fish Health Unit Kilometre Array. and showed that, just like birds, they’re revolves around understanding how ecology Meanwhile, optical telescope SkyMapper saving energy. and physiology drive the evolution of animals. is looking for dark energy from its location To this end, his team has recently developed in central New South Wales. a method to attach rigid bio-logging tags to “Dark energy is like the wind: you can’t see marine animals via a long, specially-designed it but you can see its effects, particularly on tagging pole and self-releasing clamps. distant supernovae,” says Tanya. Removing the need to capture and release “We think the Universe is expanding at a faster the animal for tagging, this is of benefit to the rate because of dark energy, but we’re still animal’s health. And in the case of monitoring working out what exactly dark energy is.” dangerous predators such as white sharks, being able to keep a significant distance is of benefit to the researcher’s health too! Read about connections in the ageing brain on page 12 @ausscistories Photos: Adrian chasing down tags released from Whale Sharks at the Ningaloo Reef, credit: Steve Lindfield; A type 1a supernova from ‘Capturing the Cosmos’, credit: Museum Victoria For more information: Murdoch University, Adrian Gleiss, +61 419 553 746, [email protected]; Melbourne Planetarium, Tanya Hill, +61 408 629 131, [email protected] 2 Fighting stroke Saving penguins with Unboiling an egg damage a wave of the wand Scientists in Australia and California have worked out how to unboil A drug based on a molecule naturally Life-saving first aid can now be an egg. It may sound like an odd present in infants—but which declines offered to oiled penguins and other discovery, but it’s changed the way in adulthood—can halve the scarring wildlife thanks to tiny oil-absorbing scientists think about manipulating in brains of those who have suffered iron particles and a magnetic wand. proteins, an industry worth stroke. And it can be delivered up to Developed by Professor John Orbell and his AU$160 billion per year. a week afterward. team at Victoria University, the technology Flinders University Professor Colin Raston delivers emergency stabilisation that acts “We hope our work will improve the recovery and his team have developed Vortex Fluid within minutes. of the elderly, as well as people in rural and Technology—using mechanical energy, or remote communities, who haven’t had access “Oiling of our wildlife is happening on spinning, to reverse the effects of thermal to speedy treatment following a stroke,” says a continual basis worldwide,” John says. energy, or boiling. Associate Professor James Bourne at the “Compared to the traditional approach of When egg whites are heated, protein bonds Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute detergent-based treatment at rescue centres, separate and reform as a tightly-bound mass, (ARMI), and Chief Investigator of the research. our highly portable dry-cleaning method limiting their potential applications. enables us to quickly remove the most toxic The current treatment, a drug called tPA, is While the structure of proteins in boiled eggs and corrosive oil components.” limited to ischemic strokes (caused by a blood isn’t a big concern, the story is very different clot). Only 10 per cent of all stroke patients This technology can be extended for other important proteins, such as those qualify for treatment using the clot-busting to other species including seals, used in drugs.