There’s GOLD in Them There Hills, Termite Hills That Is…

Those superneat boffins at Australia’s science-factory – The CSIRO –  have found that termite mounds could indicate where gold or other mineral deposits lie beneath the surface.

Researchers believe that even small termite mounds could be reliable markers, and that termites themselves may be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of finding new mineral deposits.

Termite mounds are abundant across Australia’s north, and the largest ones can stand up to five metres tall. The research was published in science journals PLoS ONE and Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, found that at a test site in the West Australian goldfields termite mounds contained high concentrations of gold. This gold indicates there is a larger deposit underneath :: Read the full article »»»»

Australian Government Joins US Energy Department in $83m Solar Research Project

The Australian Federal Government has announced an $83 million solar research program in partnership with the United States. The eight-year project will bring together six Australian universities, the CSIRO and the US department of energy.

Its aim is to create new technology that will reduce the cost of solar power. Australia’s Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says it is the biggest solar energy research investment in Australia’s history :: Read the full article »»»»

Southern Ocean Carbon NOT Sinking

Australian and British researchers have found that one of the world’s largest carbon sinks stores carbon differently than first thought. Utilising data collected over ten years from robotic – Argo – probes, the team has shown subduction happens at specific locations as a result of interplay between winds, currents and massive whirlpools.

Dr Matear says the study also shows the Southern Ocean is not as efficient as first thought in capturing anthropogenic carbon dioxide. The Southern Ocean contains about 40 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by the world’s oceans.

Researchers from the CSIRO and British Antarctic Survey examined the way the Southern Ocean sucks carbon absorbed from the surface layer into the deeper ocean.

Research co-author Dr Richard Matear from the CSIRO says the study shows the method through which carbon is drawn down from the surface of the Southern Ocean to the ocean’s interior – or deep waters :: Read the full article »»»»

Our Planet’s Water Cycle is Intensifying With Global Warming

A study published in the journal Science has concluded that climate change is altering oceans and rainfall worldwide. A team of three researchers looked at ocean data over the period 1950 to 2000. The research found salinity levels have changed in all the world’s oceans, wetter areas are experiencing more rain and drier areas have become drier.

Susan Wijffels from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – CSIRO - says she expects the trend to continue.

“The answer of how much more is going to be in the future depends on how much more warning there is going to be,” she said. ”So if we stay on a high emissions pathway we might see warming up around three degrees, which will give us maybe a 24 per cent change in our water cycle.”

The authors say this could have implications for global food security. In the paper, Australian scientists from the CSIRO and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, reported changing patterns of salinity in the global ocean during the past 50 years, marking a clear fingerprint of climate change. :: Read the full article »»»»

CSIRO Reveals Bootylicious Beyoncé Fly

CSIRO researchers have paid a mealymouthed compliment to US pop sensation Beyoncé Knowles – naming a rare horse fly after her in honour of its bootylicious golden behind. The Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae fly, which is found in far north Queensland, sports a spectacular gold patch on its abdomen which CSIRO insect expert Bryan Lessard says makes it the “all-time diva of flies”.

“It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly’s abdomen that led me to name this fly in honour of the performer Beyoncé as well as giving me the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy – the naming of species,” Mr Lessard said in a statement released on the CSIRO blog.

The rare Scaptia plinthina horse fly was collected in 1981 from the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, in far north Queensland. the fly was discovered in the same year the former Destiny’s Child singer was born. Read the full article »»»»

Climate Change: Humans Pumped Out 10 Billion Tonnes of Carbon Emissions in 2010

New research has found global carbon emissions surged by a record amount in 2010 after falling during the international financial crisis.

The Global Carbon Project published its yearly analysis of carbon dioxide emissions in the journal Nature Climate Change today.

The report found that global carbon dioxide emissions increased by a record 5.9 per cent in 2010. The report says the overall atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in 800,000 years.

“At current rates, including the increase in emissions that has been occurring over the last few years and continuing and even accelerating this year, we have about 35 to 40 years to go, before we hit that limit of a total of 1 trillion tonnes” Read the full article »»»»

Australian Researchers Develop Nanotech Paintable Solar Crystals

Printable, flexible solar cells that could dramatically decrease the cost of renewable energy have been developed by PhD student Brandon MacDonald in collaboration with his colleagues from CSIRO’s Future Manufacturing Flagship and the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute.

Australian researchers have developed solar panels which can be painted or printed directly onto a surface. With help from the CSIRO, University of Melbourne PhD student Brandon MacDonald has produced solar cells so small they can be suspended in liquid, such as ink or paint. MacDonald hopes the new technology will be two to three times cheaper than solar cells currently on the market, Macdonald says he expects the cells to hit the market within 5 years. These solar panels will be made of nano-crystals with a diameter of just a few millionths of a millimetre. MacDonald says they will use just 1 per cent of the materials needed to make traditional solar panels.

“Using nano-crystal inks, they can be manufactured in a continuous manner, which increases throughput and should make the cells much cheaper to produce, we can then apply this ink onto a surface, so this could be glass or plastics or metals” Read the full article »»»»