science wire

Treasurer Joe Hockey has delivered the Abbott Government's first budget, announcing higher taxes for the wealthy and on petrol, new fees to visit the doctor, tighter welfare rules and cuts to health and education spending.

The Reserve Bank of Australia should leave interest rates unchanged ahead of the federal budget despite some promising signs for the domestic economy, the Australian National University's RBA Shadow Board found has found.

A team of researchers from ANU, the University of Aarhus in Denmark and Canberra Hospital want to know whether new technology can help identify whiplash injuries in the neck that could lead to better treatment of chronic neck pain and disability.

A new Centre for Personalised Immunology, which aims to unlock the potential of personalised medicine, has been launched at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. The new centre brings together some of Australia's top genetics and clinical researchers, to help work out the best way to use genetic information to improve diagnosis and tailor individual treatments for patients with immunological diseases such as lupus and immune deficiency.

The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 was flawed from the start, destined for failure and should not be a story solely about the ANZACs, according to war historian Dr Rhys Crawley.

Reconstructing the history of our Galaxy has just become a whole lot easier, thanks to a team of international astronomers led by Dr Luca Casagrande from the ANU. By examining both the light and soundwaves from stars, the team has developed a more precise way to deduce the ages of stars and to pinpoint when our Galaxy's big events happened.

Professor Michael Kyrios has been appointed Director of the Research School of Psychology in the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young AO has announced.

Physicists from the Australian National University and the University of Queensland have demonstrated a software-based quantum amplifier, which has the potential to expand the use of ultra-secure quantum cryptographic. The development could lead to new ways to guarantee security of everyday , including financial transactions and email.

The ACT's greenest building has been unveiled at The Australian National University (ANU).

A new national centre for research into Indigenous health will help close the gap on Indigenous health and life expectancy.

A major new international study has backed pioneering work by The Australian National University (ANU) into restorative justice, finding criminals are less likely to re-offend after meeting their victims face to face.

The way indigenous cultures around the globe use traditional medicines and pass on knowledge developed over centuries is directly linked to the natural environment, new research has found. This makes indigenous cultures susceptible to environmental change, a threat that comes on top of the challenges posed by globalisation.

With the Ashes safely back in Australian hands and the first test due to start in South Africa this week, ANU has launched a new program to encourage more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to play cricket. ANU Professor Mick Dodson and Dr William Fogarty from the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, with support from Cricket Australia, will travel around the country to examine how Indigenous communities engage with cricket.

Australia needs to set tougher regulations on the marketing of infant formula in order to take a global leadership role to support and promote breastfeeding, according to ANU health economist Dr Julie Smith.

A high-technology company set up by The Australian National University and UNSW Australia has been sold for $76 million (US$68 million).

Big waves are energetically costly for fish, and there are more big waves than ever. The good news is that fish might be able to adapt.

The long-term temperature consequences of the Earth warming by 2°C by the year 2100 have been severely underestimated and urgent strategies of emission reduction are needed to reach a more sustainable target.

Ten years after delivering the inaugural Australian National University Reconciliation Lecture, Professor Patrick Dodson returned to celebrate the anniversary of his address on 25 November 2013.

Independent and active, or a danger to the public? Older drivers are often seen as being one or the other. But do current tests for older drivers accurately assess their ability to drive safely? Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing are calling for Canberra drivers aged 75 and older to help answer this important question.

While gambling is an accepted past-time in our community, having a problem with your gambling is not. There is also significant public stigma connected to seeking help for gambling problems - so much so, that it may stop people from seeking the help they need. Research released today from the ANU Centre for Gambling Research indicates that problem gambling is not well understood by the community in the way that alcohol and drug addictions are understood, and that this contributes to stigma associated with having a gambling problem.

ANU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Young AO, has just published research that will help you every morning with the surf report.

Physicists from The Australian National University have shown that three lasers are better than one when it comes to levitating small but visible objects on light, designing an extremely precise sensor by floating a mirror on a tripod of lasers.

A report released today by ANU reveals that policies aimed at deterring and deflecting refugees cannot be the basis of regional arrangements for refugee protection.

As Australia moves to scrap its pioneering carbon-pricing scheme, China is expected to have seven pilot pricing systems in place no later than 2015, followed by a national scheme, according to a new survey from The Australian National University.

The ANU College of Arts and Social Science today announced that it will establish a new School through a merger of the School of Language Studies and the School of Cultural Inquiry, it will expand th

Shy birds stick together and gain courage through numbers, whereas bold birds go it alone according to new research. Within species of birds, such as the British great tit ( Parus major ), there is a variety of personalities and scientists have been studying how the range of traits persists through generations and structures societies.

Separated families in Australia are living with less parental conflict, an outcome likely to have been brought about by increased relationship services, not parenting time arrangements.

Research into localised cancer treatment will be the focus of a new industry sponsored Chair announced today at The Australian National University (ANU).

Mothers who exclusively breastfeed their child spend 6.6 hours a week longer milk feeding than mothers who partially breastfeed or formula feed, which has important implications for health policies and programs, including paid parental leave.

Nemo may have found his way home, but when it comes to evolution, he and his friends encounter a whole different set of challenges.

Public concern about the economy and job security has doubled since 2010, while concern about global warming has halved. More than half of the people surveyed in the latest ANUpoll listed the economy and jobs among the most important issues Australia is facing right now. The second most important issue was immigration and asylum seekers, which was nominated by 28 per cent of the 1,200 randomly surveyed people.

Safer ways for informal miners in South and Southeast Asia to prospect for gold will be investigated under an Australian Government grant won by The Australian National University (ANU) and Minelab.

Chinese and Australian researchers are set to confront the challenges of climate change policy together under a new research program announced today.

Climate change could cause local extinctions of chocolate dipped damselfish that are highly specialised to the conditions on their home reef.