RMIT University

Australian scientists have designed a new capsule that could mean diabetics might one day swallow their insulin instead of injecting it. The design also has potential uses in delivering other protein drugs, such as antibiotics and cancer treatments.

For some people who are morbidly obese, changes in diet and lifestyle just aren't sufficient to shed all the extra weight. A new study suggests that a hibiscus flower extract could help, without the side effects of weight-loss drugs.

Although glass is known for being fully recyclable, the US Environmental Protection Agency states that only about one third of post-consumer glass actually gets recycled. A new glass-based building cladding material could help boost that number.

For some time now, a nanomaterial known as MXene has been touted as a faster-charging alternative to the lithium used in batteries. It could soon be an even more viable choice, as scientists have devised a method of making it last much longer.

While the purification of wastewater once just involved the removal of traditional pollutants, it now also entails the removal of microplastics. A new powder reportedly does the job much quicker and more thoroughly than has previously been possible.

Australian scientists have discovered strangely folded diamonds in rare meteorite samples. In investigating how they came to form, the team found evidence that they were forged in a cataclysm on an ancient dwarf planet.

In recent years, we've heard about efforts to replace some of the aggregate used in concrete with crumbled used tires. Now, however, scientists have succeeded in producing good quality concrete in which all of the aggregate has been replaced with tire particles.

Getting an organ from donor to recipient is a race against time, with many going to waste. Now, researchers in Australia have identified new cryoprotectants that could preserve organs and tissues for much longer without damaging them.

Because they feed by filtering seawater, mussels are particularly vulnerable to pollutants present within that water. According to new research, it now looks like waterborne microplastics could keep the molluscs from growing to their regular size.

Changing up the recipe could help roads last longer. Researchers in Australia have now shown another advantage of adding rubber from old tires to asphalt – extra Sun protection that could help roads last up to twice as long before cracking.

Regrowing or replacing bone lost to disease is tricky and often painful. In a new study Australian researchers have found a relatively simple way to induce stem cells to turn into bone cells quickly and efficiently, using high-frequency sound waves.

If you're designing a plastic for applications such as food packaging, you want it to stay clean but you don't want it to stick around for centuries once discarded. A new lotus-leaf-inspired material may fit that bill.