Blog

Written by Beth Askham Emotions can run high in the twitterverse. Tweets about feelings can now be mapped to find the mood of a city, nation or area. An online tool called We Feel, developed by CSIRO researchers, scans up to 32 000 tweets per minute. It recognises a range of words to judge how […]

Written by Sarah Kellett Wheat is Australia’s main winter crop. Sown in autumn and harvested in spring or summer, it provides us with flour to make our daily bread. We eat wheat as toast with vegemite, or sandwiches for lunch. But wheat is not for everyone

Written by Sarah Kellett 3D printers can create toys, bicycle parts and models of dinosaur bones. Bioprinters are 3D printers with a difference. They can actually print structures containing living cells, the same kind of cells that make up the human body!

Written by Sarah Kellett Researchers have made a cheap and rapid new test to diagnose type 1 diabetes using a gold-studded glass chip.

Written by Sarah Kellett In the warm tropical ocean around the Great Barrier Reef, the lionfish hunts. Venomous fins fan out to trap a school of smaller fish. The little fish look for an escape. But this lionfish is not hunting alone.

Written by Celia Berrell A one-kilometre single thread each silkworm spins as a cocoon bed. That protein-filled strand, untangled and long, makes fine-woven fabrics so light, yet strong. Surgery too has discovered silk’s riches. Incredibly thin for dissolvable stitches.

Written by Sarah Kellett Cross-species communication between citrus plants, bacteria, jumping plant lice and wasps begins with a fresh, minty smell.

Written by Sarah Kellett The eyes have it. Bright, colourful butterflies and birds easily catch our attention. But to visualise bacteria, we need to get creative, and combine art and science.

This Sunday, 18 May 2014, is International Museum Day. To celebrate, we’re taking a look at the Australian National Biological Collections managed by CSIRO, which are being unlocked for digital access by community.

Written by Michele Weber Coral reefs have much in common with rainforests: both are full of life, but are low in nutrients. How is that possible? As far as a coral reef goes, it’s because marine sponges produce waste that contains food that other reef animals can eat.