Guest Work

Our healthcare records outlive us. It’s time to decide what happens to the data once we’re gone.

Guest Work • Aug 07, 2017

• Big Data,
• death,
• health data,
• health records,
• healthcare records,
• social licence

By Jon Cornwall, Victoria University of Wellington Death is inevitable. The creation of healthcare records about every complaint and ailment we seek treatment for is also a near-certainty. Data about patients is a vital cog in the provision of efficient health services. Our study explores what happens to those healthcare records after you die. We focus on … Read More

Solar is now the most popular form of new electricity generation worldwide

Guest Work • Aug 03, 2017

• coal,
• Electricity,
• energy,
• hydro,
• photovoltaic,
• polar power,
• power,
• renewable energy,
• Solar,
• Wind

By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University Solar has become the world’s favourite new type of electricity generation, according to global data showing that more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is being installed than any other generation technology. Worldwide, some 73 gigawatts of net new solar PV capacity was installed in 2016. Wind energy came in second place (55GW), … Read More

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Climate change set to increase air pollution deaths by hundreds of thousands by 2100

Guest Work • Aug 02, 2017

• air pollution,
• atmosphere,
• climate change,
• Mortality,
• Ozone,
• particulate matter,
• smog

By Guang Zeng, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and Jason West, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Climate change is set to increase the amount of ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution we breathe, which leads to lung disease, heart conditions, and stroke. Less rain and more heat means this pollution will stay … Read More

Huge drop in men’s sperm levels confirmed by new study – here are the facts

Guest Work • Jul 31, 2017

• bisphenol,
• fertility,
• mens health,
• pesticides,
• reproduction,
• reproductive health,
• sperm,
• sperm count

By Chris Barratt, University of Dundee Sperm count in men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand declined by 50-60% between 1973 and 2011, according to a new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Surprisingly, the study, which analysed data on the sperm counts of 42,935 men, found no decline in sperm counts … Read More

Why are only some viruses transmissible by blood and how are they actually spread?

Guest Work • Jul 28, 2017

• Blood,
• Hepatitis B,
• hepatitis C,
• HIV/AIDS,
• immune system,
• Influenza,
• T Cells,
• Viruses

David Griffin, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and Thomas Schulz, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Since the 1980s, most of us have been aware we need to be careful when coming into contact with the blood of others, because some viruses can be transmitted in this way. But why is … Read More

Supreme Court ruling on NZ’s largest irrigation dam proposal respects conservation law and protected land

Guest Work • Jul 28, 2017

• 100% Pure New Zealand,
• anticipatory governance,
• conservation,
• dam proposal,
• Irrigation,
• Makaroro river,
• native birds,
• New Zealand,
• Ruahine Forest Park,
• Ruataniwha irrigation scheme,
• supreme court,
• tourism

Christine Cheyne, Massey University Earlier this month, New Zealand’s Supreme Court rejected a proposed land swap that would have flooded conservation land for the construction of the country’s largest irrigation dam. The court was considering whether the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s investment arm could build a dam on 22 hectares of the protected Ruahine Forest Park in … Read More

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How does the hypothalamus control ageing?

Guest Work • Jul 28, 2017

• ageing,
• Aggression,
• brain,
• fear,
• hunger,
• hypothalamic stem cells,
• hypothalamus,
• inflammation,
• lifespan,
• mice

Richard Faragher, University of Brighton If you are reading this and you don’t smoke, then your major risk factor for dying is probably your age. That’s because we have nearly eliminated mortality in early life, thanks to advances in science and engineering. But despite this progress, we still haven’t worked out how to eliminate the damaging effects … Read More

What can go wrong in the blood?

Guest Work • Jul 27, 2017

• Blood,
• blood cancer,
• Chemotherapy,
• haemophilia,
• Hodgkin lymphona,
• leukemia,
• lymphona,
• medication,
• radiotherapy,
• white blood cells

Maher Gandhi, The University of Queensland and Huyen Tran, Monash University While blood is essential for human life, there are many things that can go wrong. And as it travels around the body and flows through every organ, problems in the blood can have wide-ranging implications for our health. There are countless problems that can occur … Read More

Why looking for aliens is good for society (even if there aren’t any)

Guest Work • Jul 27, 2017

• aliens,
• astrobiology,
• education,
• geopolitics,
• HG Wells,
• History,
• Mars,
• Moon,
• politics,
• space

Ian Crawford, UCL The search for life elsewhere in the universe is one of the most compelling aspects of modern science. Given its scientific importance, significant resources are devoted to this young science of astrobiology, ranging from rovers on Mars to telescopic observations of planets orbiting other stars. The holy grail of all this activity would be … Read More

The next pharmaceutical revolution could be 3D bioprinted

Guest Work • Jul 26, 2017

• animal testing,
• bioprinting,
• pharmaceutical,
• stem cells,
• tissue

Aurelien Forget, Queensland University of Technology and Tim Dargaville, Queensland University of Technology Body organs such as kidneys, livers and hearts are incredibly complex tissues. Each is made up of many different cell types, plus other components that give the organs their structure and allow them to function as we need them to. For 3D printed … Read More