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State-of-the-art optical fibre technology and a 27 year old mathematical theory have been used to demonstrate how extreme events occur - from financial disasters to rogue waves and stampedes - according to researchers from The Australian National University. An international team of researchers, including Professor Nail Akhmediev from the ANU Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, have observed the well-known mathematical prediction, 'Peregrine's Soliton', for the first time.

When it comes to Saturday's federal election, Twitter users are clear: politicians who spend time in conversation get most out of the platform, and the Greens are exploiting this better than the major parties, according to a new  ANU study. The study, led by Dr Will Grant of the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU, analysed the Twitter feeds of 152 Australian politicians to measure their influence on the social networking site and how they are using it to connect with voters.

Remains of giant horned turtles found at an even older human cemetery in Vanuatu have revealed that the first settlers shared a Pacific island with the turtles for at least two centuries. Researchers have also discovered that subsequent settlers killed, butchered and ate the turtles and dumped their bones on top of their predecessors' graves, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

Historical barriers to breastfeeding in Australia may have contributed to the country's chronic disease burden, according to research from ANU. The research, by Dr Julie Smith and Dr Peta Harvey of the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health at ANU, looked at the public health impact of infants being prematurely weaned during the past five decades in Australia.

A team of researchers from The Australian National University and Griffith University have discovered evidence of Southeast Asian sailing vessels visiting Australia in the mid-1600s - the oldest contact rock art in Australia. The discovery was made by the team taking part in the Picturing Change fieldwork project in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land.

ANU Researchers have breathed new life into an old protein drug target in a discovery that could open the door to a new range of drugs to combat influenza. The researchers, Dr Marco Casarotto and Mr Matthew Rosenberg of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU, looked at how older influenza drugs, known as the adamantanes, interacted with a key protein M2, found in the influenza virus.

Australian researchers have uncovered a new mutation in stem cells that may be linked to the development of leukaemia, breast and colon cancer. A team led by Dr Peter Papathanasiou from The John Curtin School of Medical Research at The Australian National University and Associate Professor Andrew Perkins from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland have completed a three-year screening project to find the genes that control the development and turnover of stem cells.

The Earthquake machine at Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, has been used in groundbreaking research by vision scientists to confirm that instead of working in isolation, our visual and middle-ear systems work together, to give us an improved sense of balance.

An ANU-led team has developed the most efficient quantum memory for light in the world, taking us closer to a future of super-fast computers and communication secured by the laws of physics. The team at the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering used a technique they pioneered to stop and control light from a laser, manipulating electrons in a crystal cooled to a chilly -270 degrees Celcius.