Issue 218

160 people who attended the The Cutting Edge Symposium on Synthetic Biology are pictured on the steps of the Australian War Memorial. The event was held in Canberra on 4–5 April 2016.

Symposium highlights Australia as a vibrant hub for synthetic biology

Biofactories, biosensors and beyond: new technologies are being inspired by nature. Synthetic biology is one of the most rapidly growing areas of modern science and there has been a groundswell of interest in Australia.

Dr Frank Reith (University of Adelaide) and Dr Barbara Etschmann (Monash University) collecting platinum nuggets in Brazil. Image: Prof Joël Brugger

Panning for platinum – the prospects are good

The search for the world’s rarest precious metal could get easier, thanks to bacteria.

Systematically addressing disaster resilience in Australia could save billions

The cost of replacing essential infrastructure damaged by disasters will reach an estimated $17 billion in the next 35 years. It is essential we systematically build disaster resilience in Australia.

Species everywhere are on the move

Plants and animals all over the world are redistributing and changing their behaviour in response to warming temperatures. Observing these changes tells us a lot about our changing climate.

Beating the eucalypt blues – new ways to model air quality

Australia is obliged to report on pollution levels. How we model these levels can be improved.