Monash researcher Dr Nirajan Shiwakoti says ethical and safety concerns prevent researchers from testing evacuation procedures on people, so ants provide a welcome solution. “In this research, the collective movement of panicking ants is measured and then results are scaled up to human situations,” says Nirajan.
Termites and ants are stockpiling gold in their mounds, new CSIRO research has found. Australia’s smallest and most numerous mining prospectors can show us where new gold deposits are.
Cooking minerals in huge mixing tanks can turn them to jelly, and an Adelaide researcher has found out why. The work could save the industry millions of dollars a year in lost production and cleaning costs. Sticky gel-like materials form during the liquid processing of mineral ores, when clays present in the deposits release elements…
A psychology researcher from Canberra has collected some of the first scientific evidence that video gaming can be addictive in a way similar to gambling and alcohol. “People who spend an excessive amount of time playing video games are powerless to stop themselves from thinking about gaming,” says Olivia Metcalf, who did the research for…
Fresh Science is on hold for 2022. We will be back in 2023.
Let us know if you want to receive updates about the program.
Fresh Science is a national competition and training program helping early-career researchers find and share their stories of discovery.
We take young researchers with no media experience and help them become media spokespeople for their science, and reach stakeholders in government and industry.
Fresh Science gives finalists a taste of life in the limelight, with a day of media training, a day of training in stakeholder engagement, and a public event in their home state.
Alumni of the program include Professor Allan Duffy and Dr Niraj Lal.
Read some of the fresh science we discovered in 2021 here.
