Macquarie University

An artist's illustration of an Earth-like exomoon orbiting a Saturn-like exoplanet

Space

Hypothetical "ploonets" would blur the lines between planets and moons

Weird, hypothetical objects called "ploonets" may start life as a moon circling a giant planet, but models show they can be exiled and essentially turn into planets themselves. If true, this theory could explain away some astronomical mysteries.

New research reveals that diamonds are often made up of material from the seafloor

Materials

Diamonds found to be made mostly of the seafloor, pressure-cooked to perfection

Researchers in Australia and Germany have found that many diamonds begin life as sediment on the bottom of the ocean, before being swallowed up by the Earth’s mantle and forged into our favorite shiny stones.

An artist's impression of the warped shape of the Milky Way disk

Space

The Milky Way galaxy is warped, according to new 3D map

Conventional wisdom has long held that the Milky Way was a flat disk of stars and gas, with a bulge in the middle. But now astronomers have created a more accurate 3D map of the galaxy and found that it’s more warped and twisted than previously thought.

Environment

Single-celled organisms could help turn coffee grounds into coffee cups

A PhD student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, has come up with a way to turn waste coffee into biodegradable coffee cups. It hinges on a process which converts mannose, the prevalent sugar in the grounds, into lactic acid which can in turn be used to make biodegradable plastics.

Chemical analysis of a mummy has now revealed that the mummification process was being performed 1,500 years earlier than previously thought, across a wider area

Science

Prehistoric mummy shows embalming took place 1,500 years before the Pharaohs

Mummification is usually associated with the age of Pharaohs, but it didn't spring up overnight. Now an international team has found further evidence that deliberate mummification was taking place a millennium and a half earlier and across a much wider area of Egypt than previously believed.

Can cleverly placed lights keep surfers safe?

Marine

Light up surfboards could keep sharks at bay

Interfering with a shark's sensory system is one of the ways scientists believe we may be able to keep beachgoers safe. Now researchers in Australia (where else?) are exploring a new way of deterring these apex predators, by fixing lights to surfboards to obscure their view.

Biology

For these insects to survive, imitation is golden

Scientists in Australia have uncovered what they believe to be one of the largest mimicry systems on Earth, made up of more than 140 different species that mimic one another with the same distinctive golden sheen to ward off would-be predators.

A blood test for determining the subtype of MS could be as little as two years away following the discovery of a blood biomarker

Medical

First blood biomarker for multiple sclerosis discovered

Determining the subtype of MS a patient has currently involves an array of expensive, time-consuming tests. Now, after a search lasting 12 years, an international team of researchers has identified a biomarker that would allow MS subtypes to be determined with a simple blood test.