Virtual core: a library of Australia’s mineralogy

29th Aug 2019

It’s estimated that there are more than 10 million metres of drillcore samples in vast warehouses around Australia, crammed with invaluable information for government, industry and researchers. A virtual library can facilitate access to all this knowledge. How do you fit the 10 million metres of information into open-access online resource? Read the full article here.

Update: Breaking the mould: gold-digging fungi found in WA

01st Jul 2019

Update to our recent post about Fungi found in WA containing Gold: Last week in Bendigo a family stumbled across a rare gold nugget worth $35,000. Where did the nugget come from? A gold-coated fungi near Boddington in Western Australia. Read the full article here.

New Evidence Shows That Diamonds Are Made From Recycled Seabed

13th Jun 2019

Cosmos Magazine recently published a story about new evidence linking recycled Seabed to the creation of much loved and adored diamonds. It was originally thought that the salts trapped inside diamonds did come from the ocean and seawater but at that point they couldn’t be tested. Now it is known that marine sediment which comes into close contact with a type of rock common in the mantle, known as peridotite, is a key part of the diamond creation process. Read the full article here.

Researchers Teach a Robot to make Breakfast

13th Jun 2019

The latest news in Robots has seen researchers teaching a robot to make breakfast. This is more important than it sounds when you consider that until now robots have been unable to coordinate two-handed movements in the same way that humans do.

Researchers are working on improving Robotic two hand movements such as passing one item from one hand to the other and keeping on object still while the other hand moves such as when stirring a cooking pot and cutting. Read the full article here.

Energy Industry Ripe for Change Thanks to Digital Technologies

13th Jun 2019

The energy sector has been issued a warning that it is ripe to be “Uberised” with digital technologies set to shake-up the industry. Typically criticised for being slow-to-change the Energy Industry is being pushed to implement changes similar to large world-wide companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon. Read the full article here.

Water Quality Control in SEQ Thanks to SAMMI the Robot

13th Jun 2019

New technology SAMMI the Robot is being used to monitor and test the quality of water in SEQ. Powered by the sun, SAMMI spends its days conducting quality monitoring throughout difficult to access locations. This cutting edge technology has made testing the water in SEQ safer, quicker, and more easily accessible for difficult-to-reach locations. Read the full article here.

Breaking the mould: gold-digging fungi found in WA

29th May 2019

Last week in Bendigo a family stumbled across a rare gold nugget worth $35,000. Where did the nugget come from? A gold-coated fungi near Boddington in Western Australia. Read the full article here.

Pilot Program uses human waste biogas as renewable energy

28th May 2019

A pilot program in South Australia will use the power of poo, also known as human biogas, to store and deliver renewable energy that is also cost efficient.

This new technology will take biogas from a wastewater treatment plant then store it as latent heat in molten silicon at a temperature of 1,414 degrees Celsius. It’s then delivered back as heat or power and turned into energy. Read the full article by ABC here.

Almost $1 million in funding to go to Australia’s first solar to hydrogen-based microgrid

28th May 2019

A grant of nearly $1 million has been announced for a 100% renewable energy project which will see the World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest reduce its reliance on diesel fuel to generate power.

The Daintree region is a step closer to hosting an Australian-first solar to hydrogen-based microgrid. Backed by a federal government grant of $990,150, Daintree Renewable Energy Pty Ltd is expected to take the project to ‘shovel ready’ within 12 months. Read the full article here.

Australian homes are improving their energy efficiency

16th May 2019

The CSIRO has found that Australian residential homes are becoming larger in size and more energy efficient.Read the original article here.