Health & Science
About faces for babies opening eyes
Unborn babies develop their fascination for faces from the darkness of the womb, scientists have found.
Low-fat milk link to Parkinson’s
People who eat three servings of low-fat dairy a day are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, study finds.
Stunning find ‘rewrites history’
Human evolution pushed back 100,000 years after Morocco skeleton find suggests reconsidering
east Africa as cradle of humankind.
Discovery winds back our birth date
Scientists have extended the age of our species by at least 100,000 years after dating fossils from Morocco.
Postcodes in C-section lottery
The rate of caesareans being performed in Australia varies by up to three times depending on where women give birth.
Fudged trials to hit journals
An analysis of 5000 supposedly randomised trials has uncovered dozens where the baseline data is not random.
Sizzling planet ‘hotter than stars’
A team of astronomers including three Australian amateurs has found the hottest giant planet ever discovered.
Test to transform cancer care
Relapses will be detected within days and tumours spotted up to a decade before first symptoms appear, scientists say.
‘Cancer means talking to kids’
Denise Breen embarked on treatment for breast cancer with the wellbeing of her two sons at the front of her mind.
Out of darkness, a black monster
The black holes that triggered the latest space-time ripples may have formed when the universe was dark.
NASA probe to ‘brush by’ sun
A NASA mission aims to brush by the sun, coming closer than any spacecraft to its scorching heat and radiation.
Secret koala cull fails
Three years on from a secret cull near Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, koalas are suffering again.
Charge over surgeon bashing
A man has been charged after a Melbourne surgeon was bashed outside a hospital and left fighting for his life.
Will you need winter woolies?
It is the first day of winter and drying systems on both sides of the continent could keep the thermometer buoyed and rain at bay.
Monash pain treatment a ‘game changer’
Monash researchers have discovered why so many attempts to develop new pain drugs have floundered.
Light bulb moment for vole love
Researchers have induced female voles to choose mates by bombarding their brains with light pulses.
SA slashes pathology workforce
Medical unions say timely patient treatments and diagnoses could be at risk as 25 per cent of jobs in sector go.
Uni research lifts funding culture
A new report appears set to reopen debate around the relative merits of basic and applied research.
Peer networks can hold sway
A study of one of science’s worst brawls has teased out the forces at play when scientists just can’t agree.
Potent drug to kill superbugs
A new failsafe switch inserted into a last-resort antibiotic offers breathing space against drug resistance.
