Research Highlights

Media issued by Science Alert
Research undertaken at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University reveals coral animals produce the 'smell of the ocean'—influencing cloud formation and protecting  themselves against rising seawater temperatures. Australian marine scientists have found the first evidence that coral itself may play an important role in regulating local climate. They have discovered that the coral animal—not just its algal symbiont—makes an important sulphur-based molecule with properties to assist it in many ways, ranging from cellular protection in times of heat stress to local climate cooling by encouraging clouds to form.

Media issued by ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions
In a bid to save endangered animals from extinction by  climate change, a team of Australian and New Zealand environmental scientists  has pioneered a revolutionary way of deciding whether animals can safely be  re-located. The researchers have 'test-driven' the new framework using the  hypothetical case of the New Zealand tuatara, the country's largest reptile, which is being considered for relocation from its home on a number of small  offshore islands in the north of NZ to the South Island, where it is currently extinct. The study was co-funded by The ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED).

Media issued by The University of Sydney
A breakthrough  in photonics that will help create extremely compact optical chips, a hair's  width in size and delivering a photon at a time, has been achieved by  researchers from the University of Sydney. "This result  has applications in the development of complex quantum technologies, including  completely secure communications, quantum measurement, the simulation of  biological and chemical systems and of course quantum computing," said Dr Alex  Clark, leader of the research team from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Ultrahigh Bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS). Carried out at the University of Sydney's School of  Physics, the research is published in Nature  Communications today.

Media issued by ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science
A new, quick and simple eye test can predict who is more at risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence  in Vision Science have found that while people with early AMD can still see in fine detail, other parts of their vision may be damaged and this isn’t  revealed by current eye tests. The new test can show doctors or optometrists where to look and when to watch a patient more closely, helping them to lessen the risk of the disease and avoid total blindness.