There is, however, another feasible nuclear fuel that has been studied in prototype reactors but never used commercially: uranium-233 (U233), which is derived from naturally occurring thorium.
Theangle.org's Rich Bowden spoke to Bruce Robinson, Convenor for ASPO-Australia (Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil) about the threat of oil shortages to the country, the measures that need to be taken to offset such a crisis and the hopes for renewable energy.
Given the nature of agriculture in this country and the effects of rising populations both here and globally, I contend it is time to re-examine the virtues of a stable productive yeoman farming sector.
By Rich Bowden: The Australian government-owned science organisation CSIRO has described the future of solar technology in the country as having a “global impact” after announcing the installation of 450 solar mirrors, or heliostats. CSIRO will begin the rollout for Australia’s largest solar-thermal tower system at the CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle,...
A study has found population increase to be four times more important than the effects of climate change on water availability.
The banning of the toxic chemical endosulfan has been welcomed by the Greens though action on the pesticide should have occurred much earlier, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.
Scientists in California have reported a significant increase in freshwater flow into the world’s oceans per year claiming it to be a result of more extreme and frequent storms caused by the shift in the world’s weather patterns.
BHP Billiton chief Marius Kloppers has called on the Gillard Government to introduce a tax on carbon ahead of international agreements to protect Australia's economic interests.
While the concept of peak water as an overarching term for the increased shortage of water supplies in Asia remains contentious, it has served to focus attention on the increasing water crisis facing many countries
An Australian study has found family financial pressures increase the likelihood of physical abuse on women.
There's a reason Tony Abbott didn't show up to the announcement of the Coaliton's national broadband policy. Lets face it, commentators and pundits have been too polite to describe it for what it is — a sh!t policy.
The announcement yesterday by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that a Coalition Government would end the current protection policy of Australia's waters highlights a lack of leadership over marine parks, according to environment group WWF-Australia.
An American water distributor company believes it can resolve many of the world's water shortages by shipping water from where it is plentiful, to destinations in Asia and the Middle East via an Indian distribution point.
The release of a list containing more than 80 of Australia's most dangerous pesticides, many of which are banned overseas, has raised questions of the effectiveness of Australia's regulatory system.
The Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) $US100 million loan to China’s Wuhan Province to help finance the Wuhan Urban Environmental Improvement Project is expected to act as a template for the country and the region, bank officials have said.
A study conducted by the University of Melbourne has found professional women with young families are leaving the workforce at an alarming rate.
A conference focusing on countries' adaptability to climate change has been described as a "turning point" for climate change science.
WWF Australia has called on the country's pesticide regulator to follow the lead of the United States and ban the controversial toxic pesticide endosulfan.
The Australian Government has announced that it will release $47.3 million to the CSIRO to fund renewable energy solutions for a radio observatory.
The findings of a key report of the effect of climate change on vulnerable has been challenged at climate change talks in Germany.
The Australian Greens have called for better water monitoring methods to be implemented in the wake of allegations that contamination of creek systems has occurred near the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory.
Australia ranks in the top ten of the world's worst environmental performers, according to a new study.
The decision by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd earlier this week to shelve plans for an emissions trading scheme has drawn ire from environmental groups who say it will harm the nation's economy.
Marine sanctuaries should be considered an "important tool" in marine resource management and used as part of an integrated approach to marine planning and implementation, a Western Australian Department of the Environment report has stated.
A report released today by a public policy think tank, has criticised the Federal Government's proposed ETS scheme, describing it as a waste of taxpayers' money.
There has been no quest in my life greater than that for knowledge. The drive to learn, to understand the worlds of man and nature, is a need – deep and visceral.
Environmental NGO WWF has called on Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke and State ministers to fix the country's national pesticides authority when they meet at a conference in Darwin tomorrow.
Government science organisation Geoscience Australia has said it is unclear if mining near the town of Kalgoorlie was responsible for yesterday's magnitude 5.0 earthquake.
An international health expert has said the Australian diet has changed for the worse over the last twenty years and now rivals the American diet as one of the worst in the world.
Australian scientists have been at the centre of a clean nuclear energy discovery that has the potential to deliver sustainable energy from nuclear power.
Water data management in Australia has received a boost with the unveiling of a new information transfer format.
Rising sea temperatures have caused coral bleaching at the world's southernmost coral reef at Lord Howe Island, say a team of Australian researchers.
A report released earlier this week by technology giant Siemens has called for an $83 billion investment from business and governments over the next ten years to ensure Australia's water and renewable energy future.
A new climatic index developed by Australian and Chinese researchers will help scientists understand why southwestern Western Australia has experienced such a decline in rainfall over the past 40 years.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has weighed into the climate science debate with Director Greg Ayers stating 100 years of climate data shows there is definite evidence of a change in weather patterns with the globe's temperatures trending upwards.
The Australian Government's inaugural Energy Resource Assessment has outlined the increasing future role of renewable energy such as solar and wind in satisfying Australia's energy needs.
Parliamentary Secretary for Water, Dr Mike Kelly yesterday announced Federal Government funding for a water recycling project on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
By Rich Bowden: Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has said the opening of a geothermal energy project in South Australia offered a “great opportunity” to develop renewable energy in Australia. Speaking on Friday at the opening of the Panax geothermal project near Penola on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, Ferguson said the site...
By Rich Bowden: An Australian study has found that simple advice recommended to treat back pain is often not received with patients being referred to unnecessary and expensive treatment. Research carried out by the Sydney-based health non-profit organisation The George Institute has discovered that advice for the best treatment for back pain, including to...
By Rich Bowden: The United States’ ambassador to Australia, Jeffrey Bleich, has told reporters of a proposed increase of staff at the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility near Alice Springs. Stating that both his country and the Australian Government are investing heavily in the upgrade of the joint defence facility, Mr Bleich said the...
By Rich Bowden: Recent research carried out by the University of Western Sydney (UWS), has revealed the importance of accurate interpreting in court trials. The findings of the study, which were presented recently at the ‘Jury Research and Practice Conference’ at NSW Parliament House, show that misinterpreted evidence or statements by interpreters without specialist...
By Rich Bowden: A report conducted by Wellington’s Victoria University has found young Muslims living in New Zealand have adapted well to society. The study looked at the lives of 180 Muslim youths aged 13 to 19 years and gauged their psychological and social well-being based on life satisfaction, psychological symptoms, school adjustment and...
Australian Governments on all levels have come under increasing pressure to ban plastic baby bottles made with the controversial Bisphenol A (BPA) after research revealed the chemical's toxicity was present even in small doses.
New research has shown both Australia and New Zealand have just experienced their hottest decade since temperatures were first recorded.
By Rich Bowden: There is renewed hope for the survival of the iconic Tasmanian Devil as scientists have decoded the genetic marker for the facial cancer which is threatening the species’ existence. Researchers have been working to isolate the origin of the facial tumour which has seen of the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) population...
By Rich Bowden: An Australian-based researcher has made history by using ancient Aboriginal Dreamtime legends to locate a meteorite crater in the Northern Territory. US scientist Duane Hamacher arrived in Australia having researched astrophysics but has been pursuing his PhD at the university for the last year studying Aboriginal astronomy within the Macquarie University‘s...
In his second of a five-part series, Jon Moore explains that it is impossible to revert to a previous "Golden Age" and warns that we must adapt to changing circumstances or perish.
Simon Hukin, General Secretary of the W.A. Secondary Students' Association and General Manager, Quantum Butterfly Studios has penned the above open letter to Senator Conroy listing his concerns about the recently-announced mandatory Internet filter.
By Rich Bowden: Former Australian of the Year Prof Tim Flannery has praised a climate agreement reached by world leaders at Copenhagen and described Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s role in the key talks as “outstanding.” In a online statement from the Danish capital, author, leading climate scientist and commentator Prof Flannery, speaking on behalf...
By Rich Bowden The koala is one of the world’s species most at risk from the effects of climate change, according to a new report by a leading environment group. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has said the koala along with the Arctic Fox and the Leatherback Turtle as among those...
In the first of a five part series, author and archaeologist Jon Moore takes a sideways look at the great climate debate and asks the question, is everything we are being told bollocks?
By Rich Bowden: Research conducted in New Zealand has exploded customers’ preconceptions that switching banks is a difficult and expensive procedure. Dr Claire Matthews, who researched the subject for her Doctor of Philosophy in Banking Studies at Massey University‘s Centre for Banking Studies, questioned nearly 3000 New Zealanders on their attitudes to switching banks...
By Rich Bowden: A new research centre, which will develop methods to power cities and desalinate water using geothermal energy, has been opened in Perth, Western Australia. The Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence (WAGCOE) is a partnership between CSIRO and The University of Western Australia and the Curtin University of Technology, with funding...
By Rich Bowden: An Australian research team has taken a radically new approach to weight loss, preventing the body from receiving hunger signals rather than preventing the brain from sending them. Observing that drugs which try to mask hunger signals from the brain are mostly ineffective, the team, led by Professor Herbert Herzog and...
By Rich Bowden: A recently-released report on the state of New Zealand’s glaciers has found they have, once again, lost a significant portion of their ice mass. The National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the NZ-based organisation which conducts both commercial and non-commercial research in the field of environmental sciences, has found...
By Rich Bowden: Documents and emails purporting to show manipulation of climate data and suppression of dissenting material have been hacked from the University of East Anglia, U.K. The university has confirmed the theft of documents though said it is impossible to say if all the data now released on the Internet is genuine....
Our love affair with oil, the most glorious and tragic story of our times, but how does it end? Michael Hodgkin looks at the science behind the story.
By Rich Bowden: Scientists have called on the Tasmanian Government to extend a “Noah’s Ark” plan to isolate healthy Tasmanian devils from a debilitating and fatal facial tumour disease. The deadly cancer has killed around 70 percent of the devils in its home state of Tasmania and scientists began transporting healthy devils interstate four...
By Rich Bowden: The Australian CSIRO has moved closer to helping the country reduce its reliance on fossil fuels when it opened a new facility at its Energy Centre in Newcastle, NSW today. The new Renewable Energy Integration Facility founded by the Government science agency will “…develop new grid management technologies that will allow...
By Rich Bowden: Australia and China should co-operate at Copenhagen to produce a binding agreement on climate change, a conference held in Tianjin, China has heard. Delegates attending the talks co-hosted by Australia’s Flinders University and China’s Nankai University, heard that the global financial crisis which had gripped Asia, along with expected consequences of...
By Rich Bowden: Australian researchers have come up with an ingenious method of increasing the efficiency of conventional solar cells. A team led by University of Sydney scientists Dr Tim Schmidt and Professor Max Crossley have achieved a one third increase in the upconversion efficiency of solar cells by harvesting the part of the...
An experiment to re-introduce eradicated native bush rats to the Sydney region is underway in an attempt to reduce the city's black rats from bushland.
Australian researchers have said it is still possible to contain climate change to within 2 degrees C.
The Australian Government has acknowledged the risks to Australian teenagers' health and wellbeing in a report released today.
CSIRO has said Victorian energy distributor SP AusNet has begun road testing the revolutionary plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
Australian marine scientists have attracted the world's interest over a new environmental impact assessment for fisheries.
Australian researchers are looking to a controversial cell therapy in a bid to treat a potentially fatal disease suffered by bone marrow recipients.
A study conducted by FASTS has found that few women are represented in the higher echelons in Australian science.
University students have designed a revolutionary electric car which does not require axles and gear boxes.
A report commissioned by the Mary River Council of Mayors, has found the contentious Traveston dam to be unnecessary.
An Australian geologist has warned that a significant volcanic eruption in Australia is "well overdue."
A BBCTV expedition team has discovered a new species of giant rat while filming in a volcano in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.
A report released by WWF-Australia has said over 1,300 new plant and animal species have been discovered in Australia over the past decade.
Australian researchers have unearthed the remains of a giant hippo-like creature near Alice Springs, a find that promises to shed new light on the Northern Territory's archaeological past.
Australian and U.S. researchers have teamed up to create a breakthrough in solar efficiency.
Australian scientists have discovered that Asian and European honeybees have the capacity to understand each other, despite having different secret dance languages.
By Rich Bowden Img: Air pollution. Credit: pfala/flickr Fifteen leading Australian climate scientists have used the platform of a weekend newspaper article to hit back at what they see as creeping climate scepticism in the country’s media and politics. Declaiming doubters in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 1 named “Climate...
By Rich Bowden. First printed in The Tech Herald 30/7/09. Img left: CSIRO headquarters, Canberra, ACT. Credit: CSIRO Img right:Outcrop of komatiite lava, South Africa. Credit: CSIRO An Australian study has concluded that a “late veneer” of the Earth’s platinum came from extraterrestrial sources. Scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)...
Img: East Timor President Jose Ramos Horta. Credit: Jeffrey Kingston. East Timor’s President Jose Ramos Horta speaks to the ABC’s Jim Middleton about the five newsmen killed in Balibo, East Timor on the eve of the Indonesian invasion in December 1975. In this video Ramos Horta gives a fascinating insight into the events which...
