CSIRO Media Releases

2004

22/12/2004 - Science, sailing and a great ocean current - Science and sailing are converging for the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race with oceanographers refining their satellite view of Australia's eastern seaboard to track the ocean currents between Sydney and Hobart.
21/12/2004 - New multi-gene DNA test for beef marbling - Australian cattle farmers are now better equipped to produce the perfect steak every time with the identification and commercialisation of a new gene marker test for beef marbling.
21/12/2004 - CSIRO points the way to seafloor riches - The historic announcement of a new seafloor minerals initiative by Mining Company Placer Dome after it reached an agreement with Nautilus Minerals on its PNG tenements, is the next logical step in a chain of events that began with a mammoth research effort over almost 20 years by CSIRO Exploration & Mining.
16/12/2004 - New frontiers in annual ryegrass toxicity research - CSIRO Livestock Industries and Department of Agriculture (WA) researchers are using new technologies to help control and improve monitoring of the plant-associated disease, annual ryegrass toxicity (ARGT).
16/12/2004 - Aida: The fat lady sings on 3G networks - In an Australia-first trial, the CSIRO ICT Centre has proved that searchable, high quality video streaming to a 3G mobile phone is an affordable reality.
14/12/2004 - The year 2050 in the Avon River basin - The people and communities in the Avon River Basin, Western Australia, are defining the type of future they want for themselves and their environment 50 years into the future.
17/12/2004 - Moth joins battle to cut mimosa down to size - A small moth from Mexico and South America will soon join the battle to control the spread of the aggressive weed mimosa (Mimosa pigra) in Australia's north.
13/12/2004 - Genetic shortcut to breeding super-healthy salmon - A new project led by CSIRO is exploring the genes of farmed Atlantic salmon with a view to breeding fish resistant to an amoeba that attacks their gills.
15/12/2004 - Satellite tags show how white sharks travel - Scientists are using satellites to follow the movements of four white sharks that were fitted with tracking tags at North Neptune Island near Port Lincoln, South Australia, in mid-November.
13/12/2004 - Saltbush study prompts more questions - Research by CSIRO Livestock Industries is moving closer to identifying plants which can be more successfully grown as feed for livestock in salt-affected areas.
09/12/2004 - Students launch into Summer of science - Twenty four tertiary students from across Australia will meet in Canberra today to launch CSIRO Plant Industry's Summer Studentship Program aimed at encouraging young people in science.
08/12/2004 - The Aquadam: A self-powered ocean reservoir to supply cities - Could a radical Australian idea for floating self-powered desalination reservoirs be a timely solution for water supplies, changing the way we handle water on land?
08/12/2004 - CSIRO releases new book on moths - CSIRO Publishing has released the first study of Zygaenid moths of Australia. The Zygaenidae are a family of day-flying moths with an unusual biology – they are capable of releasing prussic (hydrocyanic) acid.
06/12/2004 - Come together: US researcher calls for integration on climate - Policies to address climate change could reduce the odds of extreme warming, but researchers urgently need to bring together predictions from diverse areas of the economy, society and environment to inform such policies.
30/11/2004 - GM pasture plant no greater weed risk - New research has shown that genetically modified (GM) subterranean clover is unlikely to be more of a weed threat than conventional subterranean clover.
25/11/2004 - CSIRO rock imaging business plan wins national award - A team from CSIRO Exploration & Mining has won the national finals of the Enterprise Development Institute of Australia Enterprise Workshop Program.
19/11/2004 - Futuristic 'smart' yarns on the horizon - In a collaborative effort, scientists at CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology (CTFT) have achieved a major technological breakthrough that should soon lead to the production of futuristic strong, light and flexible 'smart' clothing materials.
18/11/2004 - A look over the fence helps farmers fight salinity - Farmers can now look across a virtual fenceline to see what is happening on their neighbours' properties thanks to new web-linked technology which provides real-time information on drainage under different land management practices
17/11/2004 - Statement on drums found at Downer - CSIRO owned 650 acres of land at Downer from 1940-1965. It was called the Dickson Research Station and was a research site for the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry.
17/11/2004 - Australia's potential to fuel Asia's growing steel market - Australia's significant magnetite resources could hold the key to further expansion of Australian iron ore production and potentially help supply Asia's current and emerging steel markets.
18/11/2004 - Holden and CSIRO - Developing the next generation of hybrid powered cars - CSIRO will work with Holden developing energy management control systems which integrate supercapacitors and advanced batteries for the next generation of hybrid powered vehicles.
15/11/2004 - CSIRO joins effort to fight global poverty - As part of a commitment to help fight global poverty, CSIRO is a partner in a newly launched Australian Development Gateway - an innovative website that delivers practical development expertise to people in the Asia-Pacific region.
09/11/2004 - Top CSIRO award for new approach to environmental monitoring - Research that is making it possible to use satellite remote sensing as a key technology for addressing national environmental issues has won this year's CSIRO Chairman's Medal.
08/11/2004 - Plugging the brain drain - turning on the research taps - CSIRO and the Queensland Government are attracting leading overseas-based Australian scientists to return to work on major health challenges at the e-health Research Centre in Brisbane.
10/11/2004 - You think it's drier but Australia is wetter - Rainfall, averaged over the entire Australian continent, has increased over the past 50 years, according to new research. While many areas over Australia recently have experienced drought, the trend in other areas has been towards wetter conditions.
09/11/2004 - Climate change to increase extreme rainfall - The climate of 2040 is likely to bring more intense and more frequent extreme rainfall events to coastal eastern Australia, according to a CSIRO climate expert.
01/11/2004 - Tiny wasp to control fly pest which devastates vegetable crops - Control of the devastating silverleaf whitefly from Australian vegetable and cotton crops is a step closer with CSIRO being granted permission to release a wasp as a biological control agent.
28/10/2004 - Fire and grazing to address town common para grass invasion - Burdekin Dry Tropics Executive Officer Ms Arwen Rickert said there were benefits of this research for management of all wetlands.
27/10/2004 - 3-D rock imaging team to represent Queensland - The Achaeus Group Enterprise Workshop Business Award in Queensland has been won by a CSIRO team from Brisbane's Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies.
26/10/2004 - CSIRO ICT Centre launched with network research funding boost - Today's launch of the CSIRO ICT Centre represents a huge opportunity for the Australian information and communication technologies (ICT) sector as it seeks to raise Australia's profile in the fiercely competitive global market, according to Chief Scientist, Dr Robin Batterham.
03/11/2004 - Breakthrough takes root in acid soils - In a world's first, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry and Japan's Okayama University have isolated an aluminium tolerance gene from wheat which will accelerate the development of crops that can help battle Australia's $1 billion soil acidity problem.
20/10/2004 - Golden opportunity for mungbean farmers - Farmers in NSW and Queensland are set to increase their mungbean yields 16 to 32 per cent and improve access to higher quality markets with the release of the new mungbean variety – White Gold.
21/10/2004 - Prize for life commitment to air quality - Mr Ian Galbally, a chief research scientist with CSIRO Atmospheric Research, today received the Werner Strauss Achievement Award from the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand.
18/10/2004 - CLET Head to deliver prestigious London lecture - The head of the Centre for Low Emission Technology (CLET) in Brisbane, Dr Kelly Thambimuthu, will today deliver the prestigious annual British Coal Utilisation Research Association (BCURA) Robens Coal Science Lecture at the 200 year old Royal Institution in London.
28/10/2004 - Everything you need to know about locusts - A new book on grasshoppers and locusts, which represents nearly 100 years of scientific research, will assist agriculturalists understand more about locust plagues.
15/10/2004 - National Water Week 17-23 October 2004 - Everyone knows water is essential for life. But these days water is fast becoming the most valuable resource of all in our sunburnt country.
19/10/2004 - Ocean sampling resumes to pinpoint carbon dioxide sponge - French and Australian scientists resume measurements of Antarctic waters south of Australia this week to assess their capacity as a massive oceanic sponge to absorb greenhouse gases and store them away for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years.
15/10/2004 - New Director for WA 'visualisation' centre - A leading expert in the application of high performance computing and computer simulation technologies, Dr Andrew Rohl, has been appointed Director of the Western Australian Interactive Virtual Environments Centre (IVEC) in Perth.
14/10/2004 - Australian expertise helps resurrect Iraq's ancient marshlands - Australian expertise has played a major role in the new international effort to assess and remediate Iraq's once magnificent Mesopotamian marshlands, which were drained and burned under Saddam Hussein's regime in one of the world's worst environmental tragedies.
14/10/2004 - CSIRO cotton Researcher lauded - A recent cost benefit analysis showed that CSIRO cotton breeding programs returned $86 for every dollar invested and that the net present value of that research to Australia is around $4.9 billion.
13/10/2004 - CSIRO's Air Cargo Scanner - A world first - CSIRO has now patented this truly world-first technology. When fully commercialised, the technology has the potential to earn millions of export dollars for Australia. The additional spin-off applications are equally exciting.
08/10/2004 - All aboard the beef bus - CSIRO Livestock Industries scientists are taking to the road this week in order to learn more about the commercial beef production systems in Central Queensland.
06/10/2004 - Trees key to sustainable steel-making - A multidisciplinary CSIRO team investigating uses of biomass in the steel industry has demonstrated that using char produced from trees instead of coke to fuel iron ore sintering significantly improves productivity and environmental performance.
06/10/2004 - Bovine genome sequence available - The first draft of the bovine genome sequence is now freely available to biomedical and agricultural researchers around the world..
01/10/2004 - Medal win brings music to Mathematician's ears - Renowned mathematician Dr Bob Anderssen has been awarded the prestigious George Szekeres Medal for his outstanding research achievements.
29/09/2004 - Fine tuning improves water productivity - Tuning crop varieties and agronomy to each other is a better approach to improving water-limited crop yields than focusing on 'drought resistance', according to CSIRO Plant Industry researcher Dr John Passioura.
28/09/2004 - Australia leads crop water use research - Australia is leading the world in successfully increasing crop yields in water-scarce environments by targeting physiological traits, according to CSIRO Plant Industry researcher Dr Richard Richards.
28/09/2004 - Research pioneer wins first Butt Smith Medal - Perth geoscientist, Richard Mazzucchelli, whose frontier research directly contributed to successful exploration programs for nickel, gold and copper, is the winner of the inaugural Butt Smith Medal.
27/09/2004 - CSIRO Dust Busters Share Golden Gecko - A team of CSIRO and BHPBIO scientists has been awarded a major environmental award – the WA Department of Industry and Resources’ Golden Gecko Award – for developing a new method for measuring the extent of iron ore dust from mines and other industrial sites.
23/09/2004 - Plans for Baynton wind farm blow closer - Plans to build one of Australia's largest wind energy projects at Baynton in Victoria are one step closer following formal agreement between Windlab Systems and Stanwell Corporation to jointly pursue the proposed development.
21/09/2004 - Flexible pain relief with morphine-free poppy - A handful of genes in a morphine free poppy could hold the key to producing improved pain management pharmaceuticals.
23/09/2004 - Native foods now on web menu - If you have ever wondered what muntries taste like, or whether wattle seeds can be good in a diabetes-friendly diet, a new website has all the answers needed to put Australian native foods on the menu.
27/09/2004 - How Much Animal Welfare Can You Afford? - Lessons to be learned from the United Kingdom’s efforts to improve its treatment of animals will be the subject of tonight’s Snowdon Lecture at CSIRO Livestock Industries’ Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Victoria.
20/09/2004 - Farmers turn to fluids - Backed by growing scientific evidence, Australian farmers like Andrew and Jenny Polkinghorne are making the switch from granular to fluid fertilisers, with great results.
17/09/2004 - Australia joins global wheat breeding team - Australian wheat researchers are participating in the International Adaptation Trial (IAT) in an effort to develop better wheat varieties for Australia's A$5 billion wheat industry.
15/09/2004 - Revolutionary sheep weigher on trial - CSIRO is trialling a device which could revolutionise the sheep industry - a solar-powered, stand-alone, walk-through sheep weighing system designed to substantially reduce flock management costs.
09/09/2004 - New vaccine for cattle pneumonia - A vaccine for a major bacterial cattle disease, bovine respiratory disease (BRD), which currently costs the Australian feedlot industry around $60m a year, is now available in Australia.
09/09/2004 - New Chief for CSIRO Minerals - CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Geoff Garrett today welcomed the appointment of Dr Bart Follink as CSIRO Minerals' new Chief.
06/09/2004 - Keep up the effort on bridal creeper - Community groups and land managers in South Australian and WA are being urged to renew their efforts to control one of southern Australia's worst environmental weeds, bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides).
02/09/2004 - Don't be complacent about bridal creeper - Community groups and land managers are being urged to renew their efforts to control one of southern Australia's worst environmental weeds, bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides).
15/09/2004 - Unlocking the mammalian genome - Ongoing research into how the mammalian genome works could lead to major advances in livestock production, according to CSIRO Livestock Industries" researcher, Dr Brian Dalrymple.
13/09/2004 - New tool in animal disease fight - CSIRO researchers are investigating whether an ancient arm of the immune system can be used to control livestock animal diseases.
14/09/2004 - RNAi enlisted in hunt for prawn vaccines - CSIRO researchers are using a biological phenomenon called RNA interference (RNAi) in an effort to develop a major biotechnological breakthrough for the aquaculture industry - vaccines for common prawn diseases.
07/09/2004 - Advances in 'gene silencing' on conference agenda - Recent advances in using 'RNA interference' (RNAi) to improve plant, animal and human health will be the major focus of the CSIRO-hosted Horizons in Livestock Sciences Conference on the Gold Coast from 12-15 September.
02/09/2004 - New fumigant to replace gas that damages ozone layer - CSIRO and the global industrial gas company the BOC Group have signed a deal to deliver to the international market a new environmentally-safe fumigant for treating soil, insect pests, weeds and diseases.
01/09/2004 - Threatened green sawfish tracked in Gulf of Carpentaria - Scientists have tagged and tracked a green sawfish for the first time in Australian waters, giving hope that gathering more knowledge of the threatened species will prevent its extinction.
30/08/2004 - CSIRO semiconductor science in successful spin-off - The CSIRO ICT Centre has completed the successful spin-off of its unique compound semiconductor technologies to EpiTactix Pty Limited.
26/08/2004 - CSIRO and partners spearhead new phase in exploration of Australia - CSIRO and its research partners are poised to lead the way in the next phase in the exploration of Australia!
25/08/2004 - CSIRO Board confirms commitment to strategy and leadership team - Responding to recent media comments by the Shadow Minister for Science and Research, CSIRO Chairman, Ms Catherine Livingstone says.
25/08/2004 - High-tech watch over ancient art - Space-age technologies developed by CSIRO and Murdoch University are being used to monitor Aboriginal rock art on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula for signs of damage which could be caused by industrial emissions.
25/08/2004 - A glimpse of the past revealed - A unique snapshot of a vanished Australia goes on show on Friday with the launch of CSIRO's photographic exhibition, In the Can: The Stanley Fowler Archive.
24/08/2004 - Avian influenza vaccine trials to begin - CSIRO Livestock Industries has developed an experimental vaccine to protect chickens from the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza (bird flu).
20/08/2004 - New role for sharks - lifesavers - A recent discovery shows that antibodies produced by shark immune systems could be used to detect a range of infectious disease agents, chemicals and environmental pollutants.
20/08/2004 - Beating Salinity - Forestry gets $A2.9million boost - The Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust will invest $A2.9 million over two years to foster the development of 'Commercial Environmental Forestry' (CEF) - a program designed to address one of Australia's major environmental problems, salinity.
20/08/2004 - Going for gold in water recycling - Australia could lead the world in water recycling, according to CSIRO scientists. We have the expertise; we have the technology - but do we have the will to go all the way?
19/08/2004 - Stories from CSIRO Exploration & Mining's earthmatters magazine, September 2004 - Innovative CSIRO research is helping mining companies work with the community to monitor and protect the environment
19/08/2004 - New Chair for Environment/Life Sciences Centre - CSIRO Livestock Industries' researcher, Dr Rob Kelly, has been appointed Chairman of CSIRO's Centre for Environment and Life Sciences (CELS) research site at Floreat in Perth.
20/08/2004 - Exploring new depths with Southern Surveyor - Australia's National Marine Research Facility, Southern Surveyor, sets sail from Sydney next month for northern Australian waters and the first leg of her most diverse ocean research program yet.
18/08/2004 - Creating more appealing macadamia nuts - Consumers could soon be enjoying macadamias that are tastier and more appealing than ever with new market research identifying what helps make a perfect macadamia and how to create it.
17/08/2004 - Unlocking the ways insects pests survive without air - A CSIRO scientist is a step closer to solving the mystery of how insect pests survive in low oxygen environments such as grain silos and how to reduce multi-million dollar reliance on toxic fumigants to kills such pests.
16/08/2004 - School kids raise the big issues in National Science Week - This week around the country secondary school students will be tackling the big issues of science and society.
16/08/2004 - Saltbush benefits for sheep and farmers - Salinity and meat researchers in Western Australia have identified a major nutritional benefit for sheep grazed on saltbush - a plant which is being used extensively to reduce dryland salinity levels.
12/08/2004 - Genomics Centre targets acid soils - After two years of operation the NSW Agricultural Genomics Centre has identified DNA markers for aluminium tolerance that will help breed plants tolerant to acid soils.
11/08/2004 - Detector Dogs, Lego-Bots, (...and Cane Toads) take over Top End - This year's Top End Science Fair promises to be the biggest and best yet when it opens next Tuesday 17th August at the CSIRO Laboratories in Berrimah.
09/08/2004 - Look! Amazing images using no camera and no film - An exhibition that takes photographic techniques into the new millennium will open during the Australian Science Festival from 14 August at the CSIRO Discovery Centre, Black Mountain, Canberra.
09/08/2004 - Great Big Science Gig 2004 - Glue for broken bones, chocolate for happy babies and bat saliva to prevent strokes - coming to a venue near you
09/08/2004 - The secret life of flies revealed - Australia will have a much greater capacity to understand its fly biodiversity with a generous endowment from an American benefactor.
09/08/2004 - Discovery art exhibition -
05/08/2004 - CSIRO ICT Centre Director Takes the Wheel - Dr Alex Zelinsky has commenced as full-time Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre after a transitional period from his former role as CEO of Seeing Machines Pty Limited.
05/08/2004 - Increasing international insect threat to stored food - Increased international trade means the world community will have to be more vigilant in preventing economic loss and hardship due to destruction and spoilage of foodstuffs by insects, according to CSIRO entomologist David Rees.
03/08/2004 - CSIRO Intellectual Property Income up 60% to record $22 million - Results from increased efforts to commercialise technologies were confirmed today when the CSIRO announced record income of $A22 million from its intellectual property and equity portfolios for the year to 30 June 2004.
02/08/2004 - Seedling Firm Wins Smart Award - Withcott Seedlings (Queensland) Pty Ltd was presented last week with the CSIRO-sponsored 2004 Premier of Queensland's SMART Award for outstanding achievement in the field of agribusiness.
05/08/2004 - Prawn fishers return snakes alive - Fishing crews have gathered information on more than 1000 sea snakes and hundreds of other species in the first year of a bycatch-monitoring study in the Northern Prawn Fishery.
28/07/2004 - Ocean study explores link with Australian rainfall - A five-nation oceanographic team is taking the first steps in a $3.6 million project studying the major flow of ocean currents between Asia and Australia and how they influence rainfall across Southern Australia and Indonesia.
27/07/2004 - Trans-Tasman joint venture appoints interim Chief Executive - An interim Chief Executive Officer has been appointed to head the trans-Tasman forestry and forest products research joint venture, Ensis, established recently by Australasia's two largest forest research agencies.
22/07/2004 - Farmers save endangered mammal - The survival of the endangered Red-tailed Phascogale is being bolstered by efforts of WA farmers and Landcare groups.
22/07/2004 - Climate is changing in your backyard - A new regional analysis of climate change in Victoria shows that climate is changing and will have wide-ranging effects across the State.
21/07/2004 - Acoustic research helps Blue Grenadier Fishery - Scientists and fishers will use deep ocean acoustic remote sensing techniques developed by CSIRO to help give long-term sustainability to the largest fishery in Australia's south-east.
13/08/2004 - Call to action for merino breeders - Merino stud breeders are being asked to support a national research effort designed to significantly reduce the major costs associated with dark-fibre contamination of the national wool clip.
19/07/2004 - Wool Fibre Research Branches Out - New research into the molecular events that underlie wool development could improve wool production and profits, according to CSIRO Livestock Industries scientist, Dr Graham Cam.
16/07/2004 - Yellow crazy ant eradication begins in Arnhem Land - little ant will destroy our culture, our land, our life, so we need to kill it now. Balupalu Yunupingu, Dhimurru senior ranger, north-east Arnhem Land
11/07/2004 - $20 million grant to fuel investment in new energy research - A $20 million grant to the Western Australian Energy Alliance (WA ERA) under the State Government's major research facilities program will be a critical part of Western Australia's future development, Premier Geoff Gallop said today.
09/07/2004 - The trout, the whole trout, and nothing but the trout - Confusion about common fish names will soon be a thing of the past with respect to Australian fish names.
06/07/2004 - New look at old ground - CSIRO’s HyLogging system, which has the potential to revolutionise the collection of data in mineral exploration, is being further developed in conjunction with government and industry partners. The system, which can log drill core at up to 1000 metres a day, provides a picture of minerals contained in core samples.
06/07/2004 - Photo opportunity of levitating magnet - More than 60 school students, delegates to the Youth ANZAAS 2004 conference, will be entertained with a tour of CSIRO’s Industrial Physics Laboratory at Lindfield on Wednesday, 7 July 2004.
06/07/2004 - International accreditation for CSIRO lab - CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), in Geelong, Victoria, has become the first facility in the world to be accredited as an international collaborative centre for new and emerging diseases.
05/07/2004 - Trans-Tasman forestry venture up and running - CSIRO and New Zealand’s Forest Research announced today that Ensis, their new joint venture in forest industry research and development, has commenced trading.
05/07/2004 - Australians take soil for granted - We need to better understand the soils beneath our feet if we are to use our land more productively and avoid major environmental problems, according to soil scientists from CSIRO.
29/06/2004 - Bacteria aids dryland salinity fight - Australia's efforts to reverse dryland salinity have received a boost with the development of a granular inoculant that helps wattles establish up to five times faster than normal.
29/06/2004 - Rabbits shed light on gut issue for livestock - The gut parasites of a wild rabbit population in Britain are providing insights into parasite interactions in livestock which could lead to new and improved management strategies for parasitic diseases.
26/06/2004 - Cliffhanger - SES Transforms CSIRO site into mock rescue zone - State Emergency Service volunteers will attempt a daring rescue atop CSIRO Minerals’ Perth facilities this Sunday as part of an exercise to practise their vertical rescue skills.
21/06/2004 - Rare, tiny ocean find in WA waters - A miniscule marine creature caught during a recent Indian Ocean research voyage is believed to be the first of its kind identified in the Southern Hemisphere.
24/06/2004 - Excess heat delivers cool benefits - Hornsby City Council has unveiled a unique CSIRO cogeneration package that delivers cooled air from waste heat. By addressing the twin problems of greenhouse gas emissions and peak electricity demand the package makes a very attractive option for small to medium enterprises.
18/06/2004 - Frogs muscle-in on 'wasting' process - Scientific studies of a unique Australian frog could lead to the development of new ways to improve livestock production levels and boost the prospects of maintaining human muscle strength into old age.
17/06/2004 - New beef quality gene marker identified - The discovery of a new gene marker for marbling of beef will help cattle producers more accurately predict the genetic potential of their animals to produce better tasting, more valuable, beef.
15/06/2004 - CSIRO leading Australia's energy research - With the announcement today of the Federal Government's Energy Statement, CSIRO Energy Technology Chief, Dr David Brockway has reaffirmed the organisation's commitment to delivering quality research solutions for Australia's energy future.
10/06/2004 - 'High-vigour' wheat puts weeds in the shade - CSIRO is breeding new 'high-vigour' wheats so fast-growing they can out-compete weeds while maintaining high yields.
07/06/2004 - ANU and CSIRO establish gateway to France - More than ten thousand French researchers will be linked to Australia's leading research organisations, CSIRO and The Australian National University as a result of an agreement signed today.
07/06/2004 - CSIRO Research in Greatest Biotech Show on Earth - CSIRO is mounting a major display of technologies this week at BIO 2004, the world's largest biotechnology conference, being held in San Francisco, USA, from 6-9 June.
04/06/2004 - CSIRO to webcast rare astronomical event - On the afternoon of 8 June 2004, one to the rarest celestial events will occur - a transit of Venus. It will be the first time since 1882 that this has occurred.
07/06/2004 - Smart statistics for cancer diagnosis - CSIRO statisticians have developed a new way to subtype paediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of cancer in children under 12.
21/06/2004 - Physics worth fighting over - Nearly 150 high school students from 27 countries will converge on Brisbane this week competing for a chance to deliver a knockout blow for physics.
02/06/2004 - Sunbaking to make your car body stronger - CSIRO scientists have discovered a new process which could soon lead to the production of aluminium cars and planes that get stronger the longer they are left to 'bake' in the sun.
02/06/2004 - International effort assists dairy research - A plant toxins expert from Iran is assisting CSIRO Livestock Industries" scientists in their search for the cause of a liver disease afflicting dairy cattle in southern Australia.
29/05/2004 - Ethanol high cost-to-benefit weighed up - The quiet introduction of ethanol to the domestic fuel supply has caused much heated debate about its benefits - and disparate media coverage, leaving the public with a confused understanding of the surrounding issues. In Ethanol - what's it all about, Ecos covers the 350ml report and gives a much needed overview of why ethanol has crept into our petrol, who's behind it and whether it really is a viable green fuel.
31/05/2004 - International award for Australian Biotechnology pioneer - Australian biotechnology pioneer, Dr Tom Grace, has been awarded the Society for In Vitro Biology's highest honour, the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the development of invertebrate in vitro biology.
28/05/2004 - Cooler weather triggers wasp risk - With the cooler weather and frosts arriving, European wasp activity may decrease but the life of a queen is just beginning.
26/05/2004 - Hollywood 10-day ice age highly unlikely - Hollywood's latest disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, is about to be released. It is a fictional account of the havoc wreaked by out-of-control climate as North America is beset by the chilling beginnings of a new Ice Age in the course of 10 days. The movie features numerous catastrophic weather events including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and tidal waves striking New York.
24/05/2004 - Counting the cost of worms in cattle - CSIRO Livestock Industries scientists in Rockhampton have observed larger-than-expected numbers of a parasitic nematode in the gut of insects responsible for transmitting them – buffalo flies.
24/05/2004 - Thickener research delivers $295M payoff - An AMIRA research program has delivered to the minerals-processing industry A$295 million in direct financial benefits over the last six years for an investment of about $10 million, an independent evaluation has found.
28/05/2004 - Industry focus for new Deputy Chief - A microbiologist with a long-standing interest in the development of vaccines, Dr Chris Prideaux, has been appointed Deputy Chief of CSIRO Livestock Industries.
19/05/2004 - Breakthrough polymer for bone repair - A breakthrough in polymer development means that soon there may be a radical new treatment for people with broken bones - a special kind of material that can 'glue' the bone back together and support it while it heals.
18/05/2004 - Australian Innovation go postage stamp size - A new series of postage stamps celebrating Australian Innovation is being issued by Australia Post today.
14/05/2004 - New Operation Director for Livestock Industries - A former Commanding Officer in the Australian Army, John Edwards, has been appointed to the new position of Director of Administration and Operations in CSIRO Livestock Industries.
26/05/2004 - Healthy country for a healthy reef - Queensland's Great Barrier Reef catchments will serve as a living laboratory as Australia pioneers a radical new approach to improving the health of the world's coral reefs.
27/05/2004 - Healthy country for a healthy Murray - The River Murray region - the Murray, its tributaries and its catchments - is at the heart of a huge national research project which is intended to find ways to increase the benefit from Australia's scarce water resources.
27/05/2004 - Water smart cities for a healthy country - As water supplies dwindle and our cities continue to grow, risks to our quality of life and rising charges stare Australia's 15 million city residents in the face.
27/05/2004 - Healthy country for healthy communities - Perth and the surrounding Swan-Avon region including the wheat-sheep zone of Western Australia are at the heart of a huge national research program to make better use and take greater care of Australia's scarce water resources.
27/05/2004 - Water: key to a healthy country - One of the largest water research partnerships in Australian history, the Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship, was launched in Canberra today by the Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.
14/05/2004 - Energy Express - new energy buildings for Australia - A new design software tool, Energy Express is expected to mark a turning point in the way energy-efficient commercial buildings are designed in Australia and overseas.
18/05/2004 - Fighting sheep worms with genomics - Leading-edge technology is being used by two CSIRO Livestock Industries' research teams to identify genes that enable sheep to resist intestinal parasites.
14/05/2004 - Burning for research and education in the north - A new fire research and education facility, the first of its kind in Australia, will be launched in the Northern Territory today.
11/05/2004 - CSIRO's $1.7 billion triennium funding success - a win for the nation - CSIRO's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Geoff Garrett, today welcomed the Federal Government's budget decision to reinstate three-year base-line funding for CSIRO.
10/05/2004 - CSIRO awards three flagship fellowships - Three academics will come to work with CSIRO this year under a new scheme, the Flagship Visiting Fellowships.
07/05/2004 - Scientists seek changes in fisheries - Marine scientists at CSIRO are identifying new indicators of change in broadbill swordfish, bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna populations to support the sustainable management of Australia's multi-million dollar tuna and billfish fisheries.
24/05/2004 - Herd testing crucial to 'reckoner' success - Australia’s dairy farmers are being asked to maintain their herd testing regimes to assist in the development of a Dairy Ready Reckoner designed to improve their production systems.
06/05/2004 - CSIRO celebrates successes at the AIIA iAwards - Two world-leading CSIRO technologies have been honoured at this year's AIIA iAwards, announced last night at a gala event as part of Innovation Week and CeBIT Australia.
06/05/2004 - $305 million to fund National Research Flagships - CSIRO's Chief Executive Dr Geoff Garrett today welcomed the Prime Minister's announcement of additional funding for the organisation's National Research Flagships as part of the Government's Building our Future through Science and Innovation program.
06/05/2004 - New high-tech concrete is lighter, stronger & green - Australian scientists have developed a breakthrough low-cost, lightweight, concrete technology that is set to lower costs and speed up construction projects from residential homes to high-rise buildings.
05/05/2004 - Unveiling the secrets of tick resistance - Research to improve the resistance of Australia's northern beef herds to cattle ticks received a boost recently with the discovery that tropically-adapted cattle breeds have a different immune response to tick infestation than more susceptible European breeds.
29/04/2004 - Time warp weaves science with art -
03/05/2004 - Ocean focus needed for future wealth, seafood - Australians can't afford to ignore their ocean ecosystems and coastal waterways while focusing on re-building resource sustainability on land, according to one of science's most influential marine researchers.
28/04/2004 - CSIRO 'camera' now boosting world's largest telescope - CSIRO-built equipment has been installed on the world's largest radio telescope to allow it to scan the sky seven times faster than it can now, and see further out into space.
27/04/2004 - 'Gene silencing' licence boosts crop research - CSIRO has entered into a landmark licence agreement with Bayer CropScience over the application of its DNA-delivered RNAi (RNAi) gene silencing technology in certain major crops.
27/04/2004 - Public transport of the future - Public transport systems of the future will feature high-tech vehicles supported, behind the scenes, by revolutionary control and scheduling systems that will make timetables redundant say CSIRO scientists.
28/04/2004 - Lasering-in on livestock behaviour - The use of laser technology to provide new insights into animal behaviour could lead to improved livestock management practices, according to the leader of a Rockhampton-based CSIRO Livestock Industries research group, Dr Dave Swain.
23/04/2004 - Kangaroo meat - health secret revealed - The meat of Australia's bush kangaroo may be the highest known source of the healthy fat CLA, a University of Western Australia and CSIRO sponsored PhD student has discovered.
21/04/2004 - New test to detect aquatic pests - CSIRO marine scientists have developed a technique that gives new hope in the battle to stop the spread of aquatic pests.
20/04/2004 - ANZAC forestry deal boosts competitiveness - In a move designed to substantially improve the competitiveness of Australia and New Zealand's forestry industries, the leading forest products R&D agencies in both countries have agreed to enter into joint venture arrangements from 1 July this year.
20/04/2004 - More storms and surges with warmer conditions - Sea-level rise and changes to cyclone intensity under enhanced greenhouse conditions would pose a considerable increase in risk to coastal property and infrastructure, according to a recent CSIRO study.
19/04/2004 - Agreement taps research excellence - Three leading research institutions and Australia's largest publicly listed oil and gas company have signed an agreement to foster the creation of a world-class energy research centre based in Perth.
15/04/2004 - Three-pronged attack on livestock pox - Maintaining Australia's disease-free status for capripox disease of livestock is the aim of a three-year, million-dollar research project involving CSIRO, Australian Wool Innovation and Canadian scientists.
05/04/2004 - The risky business of environmental contaminants - Science can save industry tens of millions of dollars by preventing pollution and directing resources to areas that need it most, according to CSIRO.
06/04/2004 - Northern prawn fishery monitors its future - Scientists are analysing the abundance and distribution of thousands of prawns caught at 300 sites across the Gulf of Carpentaria to help fine-tune the largest monitoring program designed for an Australian fishery.
01/04/2004 - Scientists find 58 new water bug species - The work of two scientists over the last decade has almost doubled the number of described Australian semi-aquatic bug species.
16/04/2004 - Improving livestock production techniques - Scientists from eight developing countries, the US, Europe, Japan and New Zealand will attend a workshop in Brisbane next week to learn new techniques designed to improve the productivity of ruminant livestock animals while reducing their emissions of a major 'greenhouse' gas, methane.
31/03/2004 - Prestigious UK materials award for new approach to corrosion - A team of Australian materials engineers has won the prestigious UK Institute of Materials Minerals & Mining, Guy Bengough Award (2004), for their outstanding contribution to the subject of corrosion.
05/04/2004 - Study confirms sheepskins prevent bed sores - A major cause of patient pain and suffering and additional healthcare costs in hospitals and aged care facilities - pressure ulcers (bed sores) - can be more than halved by using a simple but effective bedding overlay product developed by CSIRO.
30/03/2004 - Australian scientists' revolution in casting technology - Australian researchers who have worked quietly over several years in a long ignored area of metallurgy have been rewarded with startling discovery, which is set to reshape the way metals are manufactured around the world.
26/03/2004 - New Chief for CSIRO Land and Water - CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Geoff Garrett today announced the appointment of Dr Rob Vertessy as CSIRO Land and Water's new Chief.
25/03/2004 - Australia and NZ Forestry Deal - Australia and New Zealand today strengthened their position as world leaders in forest research.
24/03/2004 - CSIRO supports Federal Government's Review of Australian Scientific Research - CSIRO welcomes many of the comments outlined today by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, in his address to the National Press Club.
29/03/2004 - Global growth of carbon dioxide still rising - CSIRO has measured above average growth in carbon dioxide levels in the global atmosphere, despite global attempts to reduce these emissions. The source of the increase is most likely from the burning of fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas.
25/03/2004 - ACT school wind tunnel is Australian first - Students at Lake Ginninderra College in the ACT are the first in Australia to have access to their own wind tunnel to conduct scientific experiments on fluid dynamics and atmospheric conditions.
24/03/2004 - Ancient sands key to cleaning up industrial pollution - CSIRO research has found unusual properties in ilmenite sand from the Murray Basin that could be harnessed to remove heavy metal and radioactive pollution from mine drainage, industrial waste streams, and ground water.
24/03/2004 - Wood analysis expert wins major award - A senior scientist with CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products (CFFP), Dr Rob Evans, has been awarded a 2004 ATSE Clunies Ross Award for his ground-breaking work on the development of SilviScan-3 a third-generation device which can quickly analyse the properties of different kinds of wood.
02/04/2004 - Breeding mastitis out of the dairy herd - New technology developed by CSIRO Livestock Industries (CLI) will lead to the development of new strategies designed to substantially reduce the A$140 million lost each year due to Australian dairy cows contracting udder infections.
22/03/2004 - Cotton profits increased by humble legume - Cotton lint yields can be increased by up to 18 per cent when cotton crops are rotated with crops of a little known legume, vetch, according to a team of researchers at CSIRO Plant Industry.
22/03/2004 - The Leeuwin is our longest ocean current - One of Australia's most influential natural features, the Leeuwin Current has been confirmed as the longest continuous coastal current system in the world.
17/03/2004 - Making noise about gene silencing - Advances in an area widely regarded in scientific circles as the 'next big thing' - RNA interference (RNAi) - will be the major focus of a CSIRO-hosted conference on the Gold Coast in September.
12/03/2004 - Cutting edge technology to improve border security - A contract for the construction and supply of cutting edge neutron scanning technology was today signed by the CEOs of Customs and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
11/03/2004 - New R & D push for giant copper-zinc ore body - Does the Yilgarn Craton, the 500,000 square kilometres of desert encircling Kalgoorlie, host a 100 million tonne copper-zinc deposit? CSIRO Exploration and Mining is forming a team of crack scientists that brings together a new range of disciplines and technologies, to provide the answer.
10/03/2004 - Plant disease discovery solves rusty problem - In a world first CSIRO Plant Industry has discovered a gene that is the 'Achilles heel' of rust, a common disease of plants, which could save millions in breeding rust resistant plants and avert losses in food production.
09/03/2004 - 'Quickie' tests for bird flu outbreaks - In an effort to protect Australia from an outbreak of avian influenza, CSIRO Livestock Industries and the Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre (AB-CRC) are developing 'quickie' diagnostic tests for the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus.
05/03/2004 -European Wasp danger on the rise - With the population of dangerous European wasps peaking at this time of year, a bigger community effort is needed to stop their spread, the CSIRO has warned.
05/03/2004 - Dingoes at risk of extinction within 50 years - Australia's only wild dog, the iconic dingo, is facing its greatest threat to date - the domestic dog.
04/03/2004 - Intelligent antenna collects more than data - A revolutionary CSIRO antenna has won a major international award, presented in Washington last night.
02/03/2004 - Mt Gambier - Australian focus of international water supply study - Mt Gambier's Blue Lake will be the Australian focus of an international study to ensure future drinking water for towns and cities dependent on ground water.
04/03/2004 - Huge potential for water-efficient wheat - The latest trials of a Graingene-bred water-efficient wheat variety have shown it has the potential to add millions of dollars to the value of the NSW wheat crop.
24/02/2004 - Carbon economy for Northern Australia - Australia's tropical savannas cover two million square kilometres and are largely uncleared. They account for about a third of Australia's land-based carbon stores and have the potential to store even more.
02/03/2004 - Air pollution death toll needs solutions - Australia's air pollution death toll is higher than fatalities from road accidents. So air quality scientists, medical researchers and Government agency representatives from around Australia are meeting in Melbourne this week to tackle the health problems associated with air pollution.
02/03/2004 - Australia's 'guilt-free' food future - The coming Australian food revolution is all about one-stop, guilt-free indulgence, say the researchers who are already hard at work designing it.
02/03/2004 - Farmers in future food revolution - A revolution in health, flavour, quality and the safety of Australian food could add an extra A$3 billion – the equivalent of another beef or wool industry – to rural sector returns.
24/02/2004 - First Chief Scientist for Livestock Industries - The appointment of Dr Peter Willadsen as CSIRO Livestock Industries' inaugural Chief Scientist was announced today by the division's Chief, Shaun Coffey.
20/02/2004 - ACT Botany course draws top students - Seventeen botany and plant ecology students will today graduate from one of Australia's top botanical research programs based in Canberra.
20/02/2004 - CSIRO based drug effective against bird flu - Drugs based on CSIRO's research into the influenza virus have been shown to be effective, in laboratory tests, against a sample of an H5N1 influenza virus currently infecting chickens in Asia.
18/02/2004 - W.A. ocean research project reaps rewards - One of the major marine influences on Western Australia's unique marine ecosystems, the Leeuwin Current, has come under the spotlight in a series of successful research voyages by State and National research agencies.
16/02/2004 - CSIRO denies 'secret survey' claims - Claims by some media outlets this morning of a leaked CSIRO 'secret survey' on staffing issues are inaccurate and misrepresent the facts.
13/02/2004 - $6M breeding research targets wood quality - CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products researchers have begun work on a A$6 million joint project which aims to increase the value of Australia's pine wood production by around A$176 million Net Present Value over a 20-year harvesting period with a projected 27-year rotation
11/02/2004 - Useful solutions to a very salty problem - The catastrophic effect salinisation is having on Australia's fauna and flora and ways of controlling and/or eliminating the problem are discussed in detail in a 'Special Issue' of CSIRO Publishing's Australian Journal of Botany.
12/02/2004 - Billion dollar benefit from research investment - Grain growers can expect a return of more than twenty dollars for every dollar invested in storage research, according to CSIRO's Joanne Daly.
11/02/2004 - Murrumbidgee irrigation research on the world stage again - A CSIRO irrigation research laboratory at Griffith in NSW will provide ground-breaking knowledge, skills and technology to the world’s biggest and most intensive irrigation regions under a new United Nations program.
06/02/2004 - Managing NZ's cows from space - One of the world's leading dairy companies, Fonterra, is considering using satellite-based imaging technology developed by CSIRO Livestock Industries and partners to improve management of its massive dairy herd in New Zealand.
05/02/2004 - Work begins on bird flu vaccine - CSIRO Livestock Industries and animal health company, Imugene Limited, have started research work designed to develop a vaccine for chickens at risk of contracting the deadly strain of avian influenza now causing havoc in Asia.
04/02/2004 - CSIRO scientist heads global pest watchdog - One of CSIRO's weed and pest experts Dr Mark Lonsdale is the new Chair of a global project, the Global Invasive Species Programme, which is combating the threat of invasive pest species world wide.
03/02/2004 - Bluetongue disease a growing threat - Research into the reasons for the recent world-wide spread of the devastating animal disease, bluetongue, could have major implications for the long-term future of Australia's sheep industry.
30/01/2004 - Spotlight on sustaining Australia's tropical rivers - As Australia celebrates World Wetlands Day on 2 February, tropical rivers and their sustainability will be scrutinised at a scientific forum in Darwin.
28/01/2004 - Pine nutrition project to boost production - A system designed to optimise fertilising strategies for radiata pine plantations in the Green Triangle (SE South Australia and SW Victoria) is being jointly developed by CSIRO, the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC) and key softwood growers in the region.
28/01/2004 - CSIRO finalists in AIIA iAwards - The CSIRO ICT Centre has been selected as a finalist in two categories of the Australian Information Industry Association's iAwards.
28/01/2004 - CSIRO helps out in Asian 'Bird Flu' fight - Following recent outbreaks of deadly avian influenza in Asia, CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Victoria, is sending crucial diagnostic reagents and protocols to countries throughout the region.
27/01/2004 - Micro-view opens up big picture - Technological advances designed to help scientists solve big problems by gaining a better microview of the world is the theme of a conference being held at Deakin University's Waterfront Campus in Geelong, from 2-6 February.
21/01/2004 - Gallop Government commissions major Burrup rock art study - The Gallop Government has commissioned the first ever study into the possible effects of industrial emissions on Aboriginal rock art located on the Burrup Peninsula.
21/01/2004 - Aussie know-how makes Japanese meat safer - 'Traceable T-bones' are now appearing on Japanese dinner tables thanks to the ingenuity of Australian engineers and the international business acumen of Australia's largest food research organisation, Food Science Australia.
20/01/2004 - Sheep worms' Nemesis - selective breeding - Long-term research by CSIRO Livestock Industries has proved that selectively breeding sheep for worm resistance can significantly reduce Australian farmers' traditional reliance on drenching products in high rainfall areas.
20/01/2004 - Australian Innovation at the Speed of Light - CSIRO announced today its commitment of $5M to the Australian Synchrotron facility (AS) heralding its participation in the $206M facility as a Foundation Partner.
19/01/2004 - Study to investigate link between essential fatty acids, concentration and behaviour - CSIRO is undertaking a research project in 2004 to investigate the impact of certain nutrients on attention and learning/behavioural problems that may be related to children's ability to concentrate.
19/01/2004 - From Fudge to Sludge - When the Peters & Brownes Group wants its ice-cream to be exxx-tra smooth, it calls on CSIRO Minerals' Particle Analysis Service (PAS).
15/01/2004 - Hotter summers, fewer frosts for Australia - The number of very hot summer days in some Australian cities could double by 2030. This conclusion is consistent with findings that summer heatwaves will be common in Europe by the end of this century, says a CSIRO climate scientist.
15/01/2004 - Squirty star imitates black hole - Scientists using CSIRO's Australia Telescope near Narrabri in northern NSW have made a discovery that they hope will increase our understanding of a fundamental cosmic process.
14/01/2004 - Double pulsar find to test relativity - An international team of scientists working in the UK, Australia, Italy and the USA has made an astronomical discovery that has major implications for testing Einstein's general theory of relativity.
12/01/2004 - CSIRO brings home the bacon - A team of CSIRO Livestock Industries researchers are helping to make pigs healthier and happier, while fattening the bottom line.
07/01/2004 - Knowing when to flower - The secret of flowering in our major food crops like wheat has been revealed with the discovery by CSIRO Plant Industry of a gene that triggers flowering in cereals.
06/01/2004 - U.S. expert recruited to Johne's disease fight - A leading American livestock disease expert, Dr John Bannantine, has been awarded a McMaster Fellowship to support CSIRO Livestock Industries" efforts to reduce the impact of Johne's disease.