Australian National University

While the research has focused on repairing injured brain tissue and the diseases that cause it, such as Parkinson’s or stroke, the team members say that with some fine-tuning the technology could be applied to all kinds of damaged tissues

Medical

Self-assembling hydrogel becomes a sanctuary for implanted stem cells

Scientists in Australia have made a big breakthrough in regenerative medicine, developing a hydrogel that acts as a “sanctuary” for transplanted stem cells in the brain, giving them the smooth start they need to survive in their new environment.

The new hydrogel can heal like lving skin

Science

Self-healing, shape-shifting hydrogel behaves like muscle and skin

Scientists in Australia have developed a jelly-like material with many of the properties of living tissue. A form of a hydrogel, it is self-healing, very strong and can change its shape – allowing it to mimic skin, ligaments, and bone.

An artist's illustration of two flares blasting out of the Milky Way, disrupting the Magellanic Stream that circles the galaxy

Space

Milky Way core flared up like a lighthouse in the recent past

Nowadays, the Milky Way is a pretty quiet galaxy – but just a few million years ago its central black hole sent off huge flares of radiation.

View of Saturn and its rings captured by Cassini in 2016

Space

Inside Saturn, conductive liquids may flow like honey

Analysis of Saturn’s interior describes jet streams that continue deep below the surface and thick liquid that “flows like honey”.

An artist's rendition of a black hole beginning to devour a neutron star

Space

Gravitational waves point to a black hole swallowing a neutron star

Astronomers have detected a gravitational wave signal that appears to be caused by a black hole swallowing a neutron star. Aside from being an incredible cosmic cataclysm to witness, this detection is important for another reason: it may be the final point in the gravitational wave trifecta.

The star U Camelopardalis pulses out a shroud of dust and gas – a similar process to what astronomers have observed coming from the red giant T Ursae Minoris

Space

Red giant star spotted in its death throes

Human lives make it impossible to witness the full life cycles of stars, planets and galaxies. But sometimes, if we’re lucky, astronomers might be able to catch crucial moments playing out before their eyes. Now a team has done just that, watching as a red giant star goes through its death throes.

A new chip uses different colors of light to store data in a similar way to the human brain

Electronics

Brain-mimicking chip uses different-colored light to learn and forget

Engineers have recently focused on trying to emulate the structure of the brain with artificial synapses. Now, a team of researchers have made a new artificial synapse design that works using a light-based biotechnology technique called optogenetics.

The bones of Homo luzonensis were discovered in Callao Cave, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines

Science

New species of human discovered in cave in Philippines

A new species of human has been discovered in a cave in the Philippines. Named Homo luzonensis after the island of Luzon where it was found, the hominin appears to have lived over 50,000 years ago, painting a more complete picture of human evolution.

Physicists have measured how long it takes particles to quantum tunnel through barriers, and found it to be effectively instantaneous

Physics

Physicists measure quantum tunneling time to be near-instantaneous

If you throw a particle at a wall, there’s a chance that it will suddenly appear on the other side. This is thanks to a phenomenon known as quantum tunneling, and now a team of physicists has measured just how long that process takes.

Researchers have found that deep sea gas reservoirs could be a huge source of carbon dioxide emissions that we aren't yet accounting for in climate change models

Environment

Carbon reservoirs in the ocean floor may have ended the last ice age – and could bubble up again

A study has found a huge new potential source of carbon emissions: reservoirs of gases trapped at the seafloor, which could be released as the oceans warm up. And the team suggests that these gases belched up from the deep thousands of years ago and put an end to the last ice age.

Satellite data combined with new modeling has given scientists the ability to more accurately predict drought

Space

How satellites are helping scientists more accurately predict drought and wildfire risk

Advanced scientific instruments in orbit around the planet have given us the ability to track its stocks of groundwater resources, which researchers are now figuring out how to tap into to build more accurate predictions of drought and the risks that it brings months in advance.

By measuring seismic waves passing through the center of the Earth, researchers have concluded that the inner core is solid but squishy

Science

Earthquake vibrations suggest Earth's inner core is solid but squishy

It’s long been thought that the Earth's inner core is a solid ball of iron, but direct evidence is hard to come by. Now, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have detected a type of seismic wave passing through the core that only propagates through solid objects.