Goannas return to mine sites Animals play critical roles in ecosystems, but they are broadly overlooked in assessments of mine site restoration success says Sophie Cross, an ecologist at Curtin University. She tracked Australia’s largest lizard species, the perentie, using VHF radio and GPS tracking, and walked hundreds of kilometres through unmined and restoration bushland…
A compound produced by a pregnant lizard may provide important information on the origins and treatment of cancer in humans, according to zoologist Bridget Murphy from the University of Sydney, who discovered the protein, which is pivotal to the development of the lizard placenta.
Sporting technology used on lizards to watch them run. The same camera that analysed the bowling action of Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan is being used to study how dragon lizards can escape a bigger, faster predator, the goanna. “It’s all in the running action,” says zoologist, Chris Clemente from the University of Western Australia.…
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.
