Warming ocean temperatures caused by climate change could have a direct effect on octopus’ sight according to new research from South Australia and California. Marine biologist Dr Qiaz Hua and a team at The University of Adelaide Environment Institute and University of California Davis, tested embryos of the Southern Keeled Octopus (Octopus berrima) in water of different temperatures and discovered the potential threat that increasing ocean temperatures pose. The researchers exposed the embryos to water at 19°C (the control), 22°C (The current summer average temperatures) and 25°C (the future ..read more

Researchers have linked 4 genes to birds’ innate rhythmic ability in song, according to a new study in Nature Communications. Rhythm, which involves song elements being regularly distributed in time, is an essential component of communication that mediates key social behaviours, such as recognition of different individuals and mate selection. Of the genes identified, 2 – NRXN1 and COQ8A – are also known to affect human speech and have been widely associated with speech impairment. “Most genetic studies on bird song have so far focused on the genes implicated in song learning, thus leaving th ..read more

Researchers have recovered a 3.7-billion-year-old record of Earth’s magnetic field from Greenland, providing the oldest estimate of its strength derived from whole rock samples. “This is a really important step forward as we try and determine the role of the ancient magnetic field when life on Earth was first emerging,” says lead researcher Claire Nichols. Analysis estimates the planet’s magnetic field at the time appears to have been remarkably similar to the one surrounding Earth today, with a magnetic field strength of 15 microtesla, compared to the modern 30 microtesla. The whole rock sam ..read more

Scientists have pushed the earliest appearance of bioluminescence among animals back by nearly 300 million years. Bioluminescence is when an organism produces its own light, through chemical reactions in the creature’s body. It occurs in some fungi, bacteria and insects such as fireflies. But it is particularly common among marine vertebrates and invertebrates. Evidence suggests that bioluminescence evolved independently at least 94 times, but when did it first appear? The oldest dated evidence of bioluminescence comes from fossils of ostracods – small marine crustaceans. The animals were ali ..read more

One of Australia’s leading science academies is calling for an overhaul of the Murray Darling Basin’s governance system as part of a 50-year vision for Australia’s largest water region. The basin, which extends over a million square kilometres and crosses five sub-national borders, is governed by a series of water laws and 11 government bodies. Insert here the management context The current Australian government recently introduced amendments to how the system is managed and in February undertook the first buybacks of water entitlements at an estimated cost of $205m. The recent changes were m ..read more

New statistical analysis in the journal Geophysical Research Letters predicts the combined influences of rising global temperatures and El Niño could lead to extreme humid heat stress throughout tropical latitudes this summer.  The researchers concluded that the “strong‐to‐very‐strong El Niño” at the end of 2023 suggests an annual average maximum wet bulb temperature of 26.2°C, and a 68% chance of breaking existing records, in the tropics in 2024.  Their prediction is pitched at people living in the tropics, including the Pacific, Asia and Australia, as an “advanced warning.”   ..read more

“I nearly fell out of my chair,” says Danish archaeologist Freerk Oldenburger referring to the moment he realised he was looking at a small bronze portrait of Alexander the Great found in Denmark. Oldenburger added in his comments to Live Science that the piece “has the typical attributes of Alexander the Great, such as his distinct wavy hair and ram horns.” It was unearthed by metal detectors Finn Ibsen and Lars Danielsen who were conducting survey work in a field outside Ringsted, a city on the island of Zealand, 50km southwest of Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. The bronze fitting, known as a ..read more

A leading Australian oceanographer says Australia’s coastal cities, including Sydney, are “not viable” under high-end projections of future sea level rise from global warming. Professor Matthew England from the Centre for Marine Science & Innovation at the University of NSW, (UNSW) and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, says nobody “built up a city around the world’s coastlines expecting it to be gone in a couple of hundred years.” England says sea level rise could breach through five meters in a “couple of hundred years.” “That’s at the high end of th ..read more

An attempt to optimise optical fibre capabilities has led a team including a Silicon Valley start-up and scientists from Adelaide University to undertake some space manufacturing – with immediate success. Fibre optic communication converts an electrical signal into a pulse of light sent through a cable – usually a thin silica or glass tube.  Converting the pulse back to an electrical signal provides usable data. This optical cable reflects the light within the cable, maximising the signal transferred over long distances compared to copper wires. It is the backbone of global internet, tel ..read more

3D printed prototype “finger” with rigid bones and flexible flesh Engineers designing soft robotics or wearable devices often turn to elastomers – synthetic polymers that can be manufactured with a range of mechanical properties. But making elastomers that can be shaped into complex 3D structures that go from rigid to rubbery has been unfeasible until now. “Elastomers are usually cast so that their composition cannot be changed in all 3 dimensions over short length scales,” says Esther Amstad, head of the Soft Materials Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausann ..read more