Posts – Page 42 – ECOS

Under the hood: the lowdown on EVs and low-emission vehicles

You’ll have heard the usual arguments against electric cars – limited range, too few recharging stations around to make them worthwhile, and the problem of battery disposal. On the other hand, say proponents, electric vehicles offer the prospect of ‘zero emissions’ driving.

As rainfall variability increases, do our graziers have solutions?

Graziers the world over are facing increasingly variable rainfall, new research shows. The next question is: How will they manage their livestock as they face this unpredictability?

Celebration of life in the forests of Borneo

Timm Döbert spent three years working towards his PhD based in a research camp in Borneo’s lowland rainforests. It was a chance to study close at hand the human impact on a diverse ecosystem – and a privileged opportunity to marvel at the diversity of life on Earth. It’s also a photographer’s paradise. He and colleagues have shared with us some of their favourite images.

How researchers are mapping an invasive species advancing across an entire region

In Northern Australia, researchers have Gamba grass in their sights. They're applying cutting-edge advances in satellite, airborne and terrestrial remote sensing along with emerging tools in computer vision and machine learning to address environmental challenges such as invasive species.

Scientist’s 30-year search for Southern Ocean climate secrets

Dr Steve Rintoul is embarking on his 13th voyage to the Antarctic. On board the RV Investigator and armed with new deep water robots, he and his team will be probing the remaining unknowns of the Southern Ocean's role in our climate system.

Refining the accounts on canola emissions savings

Accounting for emissions savings in producing biofuels compared to fossil fuels is about to get harder. Australia's got an interest in proving the worth of canola.

Throwing a more sustainable shrimp on the barbie

With prawn aquaculture on the rise to meet booming global demand, there's a focus on the sustainability of fishmeal feeds that contain wild-caught fish ingredients. Prawn nutrition research has shown the way forward for eliminating that pressure on wild fisheries.

Experimenting with fuel and fire

A lot has been learned about fire behaviour from the bushfires that have lashed the Australian continent in the past. But to really refine fire behaviour knowledge, researchers need to put their hypotheses to the test through carefully orchestrated large-scale field experiments.

Up in smoke

In 2006, when fires broke out near Cape Grim, Tasmania, scientists measured the smoke plumes in unprecedented detail, resulting in a more accurate smoke forecasting tool for use in weather forecasting, and for issuing health-related smoke warnings.