Kathryn Perrott
Kathryn Perrott is a journalist and producer with ABC News Digital. Follow her on Twitter: @KathrynPerrott
Why Pap smear tests are changing
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Pap smears are being phased out in favour of HPV tests, in a move experts say will improve early detection and save lives. Here's what you need to know.
Topics: health, federal-government, medical-procedures, cervical-and-vulval-cancers, womens-health, australia
Chester Bennington's wife shares family video showing 'what depression looked like to us'
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A video showing the late Linkin Park frontman laughing with his family hours before he took his own life serves as a reminder that depression is not always obvious.
Topics: depression, diseases-and-disorders, health, community-and-society, music, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
Apple wants to make Siri a better therapist
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People are "having serious conversations with Siri", so Apple is hiring a software engineer with a counselling or psychology background to make its virtual assistant a better therapist.
Topics: robots-and-artificial-intelligence, depression, mental-health, mobile-phones, information-and-communication, computers-and-technology, science-and-technology, united-states, australia
Almost 400 new species discovered in Amazon in two years (photos)
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A fire-tailed titi monkey, a pink river dolphin and a stingray with a honeycomb pattern on its surface are among 381 new species discovered in the Amazon in a two-year period.
Topics: animals, endangered-and-protected-species, offbeat, brazil
Fire ants join together to make living raft in Harvey floodwaters — and it could happen here
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Fire ants inundated by Tropical Storm Harvey's floodwaters latch together to forming a living, floating life raft to survive — as if you needed another reason not to enter floodwaters.
Topics: pests, environment, floods, disasters-and-accidents, weather, united-states, australia
Why you should ignore Facebook messages warning about 'hacker' Jayden K Smith
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You may be receiving Facebook messages from your friends, warning you not to accept a friend request from "hacker" Jayden K Smith — but experts are warning it is a hoax.
Topics: internet-culture, information-and-communication, internet-technology, social-media, australia
Warning over lead contamination from Aldi water taps
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Taps sold at supermarket chain Aldi may be contaminating drinking water with lead at up 15 times the maximum allowable level, tests by Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services show.
Topics: consumer-protection, health, diseases-and-disorders, food-poisoning, health-administration, australia
Deliveries 'in limbo' with FedEx's TNT 'significantly affected' by cyber attack
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Australians and businesses waiting on deliveries by FedEx's TNT Express say they have been left in limbo after the company is "significantly affected" worldwide by a cyber attack.
Topics: hacking, computers-and-technology, australia
Harry Potter: The boy whose fandom lives on
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The first Harry Potter book may have been released 20 years ago, but the fandom is still going strong — with conventions, theme parks, an international sporting competition and even a music genre — wizard rock or "wrock".
Topics: books-literature, fantasy-books, arts-and-entertainment, human-interest, offbeat, australia, united-states
3D-printed ovaries successfully restore fertility in mouse
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Scientists use 3D-printed ovaries to successfully restore fertility in a mouse for the first time in what they call "the holy grail of bioengineering for regenerative medicine".
Topics: medical-research, health, fertility-and-infertility, science-and-technology, research, united-states
Planet found that may be just right for life
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A newly-discovered alien planet orbiting a nearby small star could be one of the best places to look for life beyond our solar system.
Topics: astronomy-space, space-exploration, science-and-technology, european-union
Ice-addicted python among animals in prison rehab
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A python with a methamphetamine addiction is just one of hundreds of animals being rehabilitated at a prison in New South Wales, and it is also helping to rehabilitate some minimum-security prisoners.
Topics: drug-offences, law-crime-and-justice, animals, prisons-and-punishment, offbeat, nsw, australia
Health system 'oblivious to suffering' of women with endometriosis
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With one in 10 women affected by endometriosis, chances are you know a woman who has it. But, given it takes an average of seven to 10 years to diagnose the disease experts call the "silent epidemic", she may not even know she does.
Topics: womens-health, health, diseases-and-disorders, endometriosis, australia
Delivering babies in a war zone
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For women in Afghanistan, having a baby can be deadly — with about one in 50 women dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. Australian doctor Claire Fotheringham witnessed it firsthand.
Topics: babies---newborns, health, unrest-conflict-and-war, womens-health, women, afghanistan
Student accidentally finds Earth's interior temperature hotter than thought
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Earth's interior temperature is about 60 degrees Celsius hotter than previously thought and could explain how tectonic plates move on Earth's surface, a 28-year-old United States PhD student accidentally finds in her research.
Topics: earth-sciences, offbeat, research, science-and-technology, united-states
Meet the artist who unknowingly painted the future Australian of the Year
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When artist Sven Roehrs asked his mother's neighbour, Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, to sit for a portrait, he did not know he would be painting the next Australian of the Year.
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, visual-art, painting, offbeat, australia-day, qld, australia
'Fake news' influenced how people voted in US election: experts
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Experts dispute Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's claim that less than 1 per cent of the social media network's content is fake, amid accusations hoaxes influenced the United States election outcome.
Topics: us-elections, social-media, united-states
Gun sales and background checks surge ahead of US election
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Gun background checks surge by 18 per cent and manufacturers report strong sales growth in the United States in the year leading up to the November 8 presidential election, amid Republican candidate Donald Trump's warnings Democratic rival Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the country's Second Amendment.
Topics: us-elections, government-and-politics, elections, world-politics, united-states
'It's cancer': Actor Ben Stiller reveals prostate diagnosis
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Actor Ben Stiller reveals he was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago, saying a controversial test saved his life.
Topics: health, arts-and-entertainment, actor, cancer, diseases-and-disorders, united-states
Fans asked to 'keep the secrets' as Harry Potter play previews
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child previews in London, with few spoilers revealed on social media after author JK Rowling asks fans to "keep the secrets".
Topics: theatre, books-literature, arts-and-entertainment, social-media, fantasy-books, england, united-kingdom
Endometriosis: Pain so bad I wanted to die
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Debilitating endometriosis affects one in 10 women, but few know what it is and many go undiagnosed for up to 10 years. For Endometriosis Awareness Month, Kathryn Perrott shares her story.
Topics: womens-health, health, diseases-and-disorders, endometriosis, australia
'Airport Guard Dog' keeps US airport runway clear of wildlife
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K-9 Piper may appear cute in his goggles and boots, but the "Airport Guard Dog" plays an important role in keeping people safe in the air.
Topics: animals, offbeat, united-states
'Refugee cat' reunites with family after four-month, 4,000km adventure
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A "refugee cat" that travelled on a crowded rubber boat with its family fleeing Iraq, only to run away scared on the Greek island of Lesbos, is reunited with them four months later in Norway.
Topics: refugees, animals, offbeat, greece, iraq, germany, norway
Faeces-laden water could be behind salmonella outbreak: expert
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Salmonella found in bags of lettuce may have been transferred in water used to wash the leafy greens, an industry expert says.
Topics: health-administration, health, health-policy, food-processing, food-safety, food-poisoning, bacchus-marsh-3340, vic
Farmer wants an MP? Reality TV contestant wins Liberal preselection
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Liberal candidate for Bendigo Megan Purcell wins the seat's preselection ballot, but also the affections of farmer Julz on reality television series The Farmer Wants a Wife.
Topics: television, relationships, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, federal-elections, offbeat, bendigo-3550, maldon-3463, australia
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