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Analysis: new model for ocean floor formation sparks controversy

This week’s edition of the British journal Nature contains a paper that is sparking fiery debate among the world’s leading geochemists.

Tasmanian waters to become climate change 'hot spot'

Climate change will happen at an accelerated rate in Southeast Australia, with Tasmanian waters predicted to rise 2.5°C by 2050 and have large impacts for the fishing industry.

Grand Canyon as old as the dinosaurs

New dating methods have revealed the Grand Canyon is more than 50 million years older than previously thought, and was formed when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, scientists report.

Conclusive study of polar ice melt released

The melting of polar ice caps raised sea levels by nearly 11 millimetres (0.5 inches) over the past two decades, scientists said, calling it the most definitive measure yet of the impact of climate change.

Ice and organic matter found on Mercury

Data collected by the MESSENGER spacecraft has confirmed the presence of frozen water and organic matter in craters at Mercury’s north pole, NASA scientists report.

Beef cattle could be bred to produce less methane

Cattle can be bred to emit less methane and reduce the contribution of beef production to climate change, said an Australian researcher who spent two years measuring cattle burps.

Saving wine from climate change

Wine regions risk losing their characteristic grape varieties as a result of climate change, but new methods developed in Australian vineyards could hold the solution.

Inherited obesity ‘programmed’ in the womb

Obese parents are more likely to have obese children, not only as a result of genetics and lifestyle, but by ‘programming’ the baby’s development in the womb, according to new research.

Models behind ocean floor formation "naïve": Australian geochemists

Geophysicists' current models of how the mantle melts, enters magma chambers and eventually forms the ocean floor can't explain the high levels of trace elements found in the ocean floor, and are "naïve", said Australian researchers.

Most energetic quasar discovered

A quasar five times more powerful than any previously observed to date – with an energy output at least two trillion times that of our Sun – has been discovered, astronomers announced.

Seas rising 60% faster than U.N. forecast

Sea levels are rising 60% faster than the U.N.'s climate panel forecast in its most recent assessment, scientists reported.

Seminal fluid, not just sperm, enables pregnancy

Seminal fluid elicits an inflammation-like response in a woman's cervix, a response that may be crucial for successful pregnancies, said Australian reproductive immunologists.

Organ transplant pioneer dies at 93

Joseph Murray, who won the Nobel Prize for performing the first-ever successful organ transplant in 1954, has died in Boston at the age of 93, his family said.

Australian wildlife taught to shun cane toads

Australia's native animals are being fed nauseating sausages of cane toad meat in a bid to train them against eating the toxic species as it spreads into new areas, researchers said.

Gene determines early risers, time of death

There really is such a thing as a 'morning person', according to researchers who found that a single gene could explain some of the differences in when people wake up, and when they die.