Curtin University researchers have discovered the world’s oldest known meteorite impact crater, which could significantly redefine our understanding of the origins of life and how our planet was shaped.   The team from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences investigated rock layers in the North Pole Dome — an area of the Pilbara region of Western Australia — and found evidence of a major meteorite impact 3.5 billion years ago.   Study co-lead Professor Tim Johnson, from Curtin University, said the discovery significantly ...

A voluntary pledge made by UK shooting organisations in 2020 to replace lead shot with non-toxic alternatives by 2025 has failed, analysis by Cambridge researchers finds. The pledge, made in February 2020 by the UK’s nine leading game shooting and rural organisations, aimed to benefit wildlife and the environment and ensure a market for the healthiest game meat food products.  But a Cambridge team, working with the University of the Highlands and Islands, has consistently shown that lead shot was not being phased out quickly enough to achieve ...

A study led by Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, group leader of the Neural Mechanisms of Perception and Memory Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has allowed scientists to observe for the first time how neurons in the human brain store memories independent of context in which they are acquired. Published in Cell Reports, the study confirms that neurons can distinguish objects or people regardless of their context, enabling the formation of higher and more abstract relationships, ...

A new paper in the Journal of Breast Imaging, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that breast cancer mortality rates have stopped declining in women older than age 74, and reconfirms that breast cancer mortality rates have stopped falling in women younger than age 40. This finding for older women is new. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women, with over 42,000 women dying of the disease in 2024. Before 1990, female breast cancer rates had been rising, and breast cancer mortality rates had been flat or increasing. Since 1990 there has been a steady decline ...

Plastics, which are polymeric materials composed of long chains of small molecules called monomers, are widely used in everyday life and industry due to their lightweight, good strength and flexibility. However, with approximately 52 million tons of plastic waste generated annually, plastic pollution has become a major environmental concern. To address this issue, research efforts have focused on developing sustainable polymeric materials. Unfortunately, most materials developed so far suffer from complex synthesis processes or difficulties in separating them from other polymers during waste disposal. To overcome these limitations, a research team led by Dr. Tae Ann Kim of the Convergence ...

A type of Artificial Intelligence that mimics the functioning of the human brain could represent a powerful solution in automatically detecting wildfires, plummeting the time needed to mitigate their devastating effects, a new study finds. The new technology uses an ‘Artificial Neural Networks’ model that combines satellite imaging technology with deep learning (a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning). Findings, published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Remote Sensing, report a 93% success rate when training the model via a dataset ...

Recently, a collaborative research team led by Professor WANG Hui and Professor ZHANG Xin from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully developed a novel carbon-coated nickel ferrite (NFN@C) nanocatalyst with significant potential in cancer therapy.  The results have been published in Advanced Functional Materials. Cancer therapy has always struggled with targeting tumor cells effectively while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Traditional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation often have limited precision and serious side effects. This has led to increased ...

New research by Curtin University has achieved a breakthrough in eco-friendly display technology, creating highly efficient and stable blue quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs) that could power the next generation of televisions, smartphones, VR headsets and energy-efficient lighting - without using toxic heavy metals.   Study author Associate Professor Guohua Jia from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences said QLEDs are a futuristic display technology known for their superior brightness, colour accuracy, lifetime and energy efficiency compared to traditional LEDs. However, creating stable and efficient blue QLEDs without toxic materials ...

Using first-principles calculations, a research group led by Prof. WANG Xianlong from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that phosphorus doping is an effective way to achieve high-energy polymeric nitrogen with black-phosphorus structure (BP-N) stable at ambient pressure. The research results were published in Matter and Radiation at Extremes. Cubic gauche nitrogen with diamond-like structure and BP-N with black phosphorus structure, represented by polymeric all-nitrogen materials, are a class of high-energy density materials composed entirely of N-N single bonds, but their samples ...

Children exposed to their mother’s cannabis use during pregnancy and after birth are three times more likely to develop behavioural problems, new Curtin University research has found. Published in Psychiatry Research, the study analysed data from more than 222,600 Australian mothers and children, revealing maternal cannabis use disorder (CUD) during pregnancy and the postnatal period significantly increased the risk of childhood disruptive behavioural disorders. Lead researcher Abay Tadesse, from Curtin’s School of Population ...

Children ages two to eight years across 11 Pacific jurisdictions (Alaska, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawai‘i, Marshall Islands, and Palau) are not meeting daily recommended intakes for key micronutrients, either consuming too much or too little. That discovery was published recently in a study led by scientists at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa. The research team also found associations between children’s micronutrient intake, obesity, and presence of acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition that is ...

An international team of scientists developed augmented reality glasses with technology to receive images beamed from a projector, to resolve some of the existing limitations of such glasses, such as their weight and bulk. The team’s research is being presented at the IEEE VR conference in Saint-Malo, France, in March 2025. Augmented reality (AR) technology, which overlays digital information and virtual objects on an image of the real world viewed through a device’s viewfinder or electronic display, has gained traction in recent years with popular gaming apps like Pokémon Go, and real-world applications in areas including education, manufacturing, ...

For over a century, physicists have grappled with one of the most profound questions in science: How do the rules of quantum mechanics, which govern the smallest particles, fit with the laws of general relativity, which describe the universe on the largest scales?  The optical lattice clock, one of the most precise timekeeping devices, is becoming a powerful tool used to tackle this great challenge. Within an optical lattice clock, atoms are trapped in a “lattice” potential formed by laser beams and are manipulated with precise control of quantum coherence and interactions governed by quantum mechanics. Simultaneously, ...

Within the next decade, space agencies plan to bring samples of rock from Mars to Earth for study. Of concern is the possibility these samples contain life, which could have unforeseen consequences. Therefore, researchers in this field strive to create methods to detect life. For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo and NASA, successfully demonstrated a method to detect life in ancient rocks analogous to those found on Mars. We’ve all seen the movies, in which “Scientists bring back something from space, ...

A new discovery about how tiny protein clusters form in cells could pave the way for treatments for Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD), a rare genetic disorder that causes muscle weakness and heart problems. Researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences combined advanced imaging techniques and theoretical physics to observe and explain how nanoclusters of the protein emerin form inside living cells. These clusters — about 100,000 times smaller than a human hair’s width — play a crucial role in how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces like stretching or pressure, ...

Kidney transplant recipients with type 2 diabetes treated with a new class of anti-obesity drugs were less likely to experience organ failure and survived longer, a new study shows. Not only is obesity a known risk factor for diabetes, but it also increases risk of postsurgical complications, such as inflammation, organ rejection, and early death. Previous research had suggested some benefit for kidney transplant recipients with a history of type 2 diabetes who took the medications, originally designed to treat diabetes, at some point after their transplant ...

By 2050, there will be 25.2 million people living with Parkinson’s disease worldwide (a 112% increase from 2021), largely due to population ageing, suggests a modelling study published by The BMJ today. Overall, the number of people living with Parkinson’s disease (all age prevalence) per 100,000 population is predicted to increase by 76%, and by 55% when corrected for age differences (age standardised prevalence), with rates projected to be highest in East Asia. The researchers say these projections “could serve as an aid in promoting health research, ...

New research by Flinders University has uncovered a potential marker that could provide valuable insights into the overall health of older adults living in long-term aged care facilities. Led by PhD candidate Sophie Miller in the College of Medicine and Public Health, the study found that a simple swab from the back of the throat, known as the oropharynx, may offer clues about health challenges faced by aged care residents. “Our findings suggest that certain bacteria detected in the back of the throat could indicate greater health vulnerability in older adults,” says Miller. Identifying vulnerable individuals ...

A common type of diabetes medication could help cancer patients make a better long-term recovery, according to new research from the University of East Anglia.  Many cancer patients go on to develop heart failure - because of the cancer itself and also due to chemotherapy.  This can lead to a reduced quality of life, multiple admissions to hospital or even death.  But a new study published today shows that a type of diabetes medication, called an SGLT2 inhibitor, may help protect the ...

A new seismic study of Singapore could guide urban growth and renewable energy development in the coastal city nation, where 5.6 million residents live within an area of 734 square kilometers. The study, published in Seismological Research Letters, identifies areas with increased risk of ground shaking and a possible reservoir for geothermal energy production, as well as a glimpse at Singapore’s tectonic history. Jiayuan Yao of China University for Geosciences and colleagues analyzed teleseismic data captured by a few permanent seismic stations and a nodal seismic array deployed in 2019 around the city. Their results provide the first detailed look at the top-kilometer ...

When mechanical and structural engineers design machines, bridges, and buildings, they calculate loads, stresses, and deformation of metal, steel, concrete, glass, wood, and plastic to find the optimal geometry that bears loads with the minimum cost of material. Designing for relatively hard materials that do not deform too much is commonly handled by software that calculates and optimizes structures using mathematical models that are well understood and easily applied. But there is an expanding class of design challenges for things that incorporate soft materials—biological materials, engineered tissues, membranes, and even shape-shifting ...

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging technique used to diagnose conditions such as cancer. An innovative advance from scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is enhancing the technique’s ability to check for signs of neurological disease. The researchers repurposed the drug edaravone, an antioxidant used to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as a probe to be used with central nervous system PET imaging. With this technique, the researchers can ...

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals frequently ran short of beds in intensive care units. But even earlier, ICUs faced challenges in keeping beds available. With an aging American population, 11% of hospital stays included ICU stays. Artificial intelligence offers a possible solution, says Indranil Bardhan, professor of information, risk, and operations management and Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Chair in Health Care Management at Texas McCombs. AI models can predict the lengths of time patients will spend in the ICU, helping hospitals better manage their beds and, ideally, cut costs. But although AI is good at predicting length of stay, ...

For an abdominal wall hernia repair, also known as a ventral hernia repair, the most common surgical approaches have been laparoscopic and open techniques. But a new approach for repairing hernias has been steadily growing in popularity: the surgical robot. Supporters of using the robot method state multiple advantages over traditional laparoscopic and open approaches, including improved surgeon ergonomics. But there may be downsides to the technology that are going undiscussed. In a research article published in JAMA Surgery, Brian Fry, M.D., M.S., a ...

A landmark study reveals that bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition affecting nearly a third of women worldwide and causing infertility, premature births and newborn deaths, is in fact a sexually transmitted infection (STI), paving the way for a revolution in how it is treated. Monash University and Alfred Health researchers at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre say their findings, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, hold the key to driving down stubborn and distressing recurrence ...