science wire

A former high-profile lawyer who rose rapidly in politics but was dumped as leader by his own party? Yes, Robert Menzies did bounce back, writes Norman Abjorensen.

Oceanic wind speeds and wave heights have increased significantly over the last quarter of a century according to a major new study undertaken by ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young. Published in Science , the study is the most comprehensive of its kind ever undertaken. Other authors include Swinburne University oceanographers Professor Alex Babanin and Dr Stefan Zieger.

China's rise means the long-held geopolitical rules of East Asia are set to be radically shifted, writes Ron Huisken.

Japan needs to urgently announce an overall strategy if it is to successfully respond to the nation's unfolding natural disaster, according to an expert from The Australian National University.

Japan can emerge from this disaster strengthened and more vigorous, writes Tessa Morris-Suzuki. The word 'crisis' is one of the most overused terms in the media lexicon.

The economic aftershocks of the earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan on Friday are only slightly less difficult to fathom than the scale of the human tragedy and physical devastation.

A carbon pricing proposal can find consensus and would allow income tax cuts, as long as industry handouts can be kept in check, according to a new report from The Australian National University.

Professor Christopher Goodnow of The John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU is to lead a new five-year project worth more than $15 million looking at inflammatory and immunodeficiency diseases.

The fight against cancer has received a significant boost with a medical breakthrough by researchers at The Australian National University.

Dementia and obesity are two of Australia's biggest public health problems and the relationship between them is now one step closer to being understood, thanks to new research from The Australian National University. The review study, conducted by Professor Kaarin Anstey from the Centre for Mental Health Research in the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, found that people who are very underweight, overweight or obese in mid-life (40-60 years) have an increased risk of developing dementia in late-life (60 upwards).

As much as anything, it's the complexity of the Middle East that's become more obvious over the past few weeks, writes Matthew Gray .

Researchers from The Australian National University have used a long-forgotten mathematical rule to reveal that in nature the number one dominates, as well as detect natural events like earthquakes for the first time ever. The research, led by Professor Malcolm Sambridge in the Research School of Earth Sciences, shows that events as diverse as the rotation rates of dying stars and the surface areas of rivers all share one thing in common - in nature larger numbers are less likely to occur than smaller ones.

Research into deep-water volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean will lay the groundwork for scientists to map the Earth as it appeared millions of years ago. An international team of scientists, including Dr David Buchs from the Research School of Earth Sciences at The Australian National University, returned on Friday from a two-month expedition to the Louisville Seamount Trail, a chain of extinct, underwater volcanoes 1500 kilometres to the northeast of New Zealand.

The findings of Ross Garnaut's update reports increase the pressure for Australia to adopt a carbon price, writes Frank Jotzo.

The barriers facing Australian dementia sufferers from non-English speaking backgrounds will be the subject of a new study from The Australian National University, which seeks to speak directly to people in the early stages of dementia.

Plenty of people are waiting for a chance to replace Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak - whether now or in September - and while each has their weaknesses, most are probably a better bet than the now illegitimate and atrophied leader, writes Matthew Gray.

In an interplanetary meeting of the minds, astrobiologists and oncologists have worked together to provide new insights into the origins of cancer, which remains a major killer despite the best efforts of medical science to treat and eradicate it. These two groups of scientists approach science from quite different perspectives.

The Australian love affair with the great outdoors may have contributed to lower rates of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to research from The Australian National University.

An international team of astronomers has discovered a new stream of stars in our Milky Way, thanks to data collected at the ANU Siding Spring Observatory. The research, led by Dr Mary Williams from the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP), is part of the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) and used data from Siding Spring to measure the velocities of 250,000 stars.

New research designed to stop the spread of the most common sexually-transmitted disease among young Australians is underway thanks to collaboration between the University of Canberra, The Australian National University and ACT Health.

From the mystery around the death of Princess Diana to a British and American plot to bomb news network Al-Jazeera's Qatar headquarters, conspiracy theories are nothing new in Middle Eastern politics. In his new book, ANU researcher Dr Matthew Gray unpicks some of the theories and finds mixed motivations for their cultivation.

Australian cuckoo birds have taken a new evolutionary step - mimicking the colour of their host young to avoid certain death, according to a study by researchers from The Australian National University.

Migrants and refugees battling the byzantine world of Australian migration law are getting a helping hand from Marianne Dickie.

Alexander Lukashenka's brutal crackdown looks like another win for Moscow. John Besemeres traces the latest shift in orientation by the dictatorial president of Belarus.

Gaining an insight into the implications of vision loss may now be as simple as donning a pair of 'vision goggles', thanks to a creative new teaching aid.

Relations are unlikely to be warm, but dealings with the North can be handled calmly, writes Danielle Chubb.

A genome-level study of two closely-related infectious fungi, that can affect maize crops, is offering scientists new ways of understanding how to breed more disease-resistant crop plants.

The ACT Government should amend its Human Rights Act to include economic, social and cultural rights, according to the authors of a new report which was tabled today in the ACT Legislative Assembly.