Fresh Science

For the first time in Australia, archaeobotany has been used by researchers from UWA to examine charcoal from ancient campfires in the Western Desert. They found wattle and other Acacias which proves it was (and still is) used by Indigenous people for tools, food and medicine. The iconic wattle isn’t just about sports uniforms and…

New clues for allergy prevention by breast milk Written by Akila Rekima and the University of Western Australia. For the full UWA press release, click here. A research team at UWA is investigating the complex interactions of breast milk with allergens and baby’s gut immune system. They’ve found that food-derived but also airborne allergens are…

Faecal pellets and food remains reveal what ghost bats eat in the Pilbara UWA, Curtin university and Perth zoo researchers have discovered that Australian endangered ghost bats in the Pilbara (WA) eat over 46 different species. Its diet is very diverse ranging from small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Researchers used a new approach by…

Shortfin mako shark. Credit: Mark Conlin Redrawing the lines of our marine parks for sharks Small changes to marine parks could make a big difference to mako sharks and many other ocean shark species, says UWA researcher Charlotte Birkmanis, lead author of a paper published in Global Ecology and Conservation today.  Sharks are the peak…