Ecos articles from January 2003

Ecos archives from January 2003

Recycling water, up and down to the Darling.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... As the drought tightens its grip on Australia, some city councils are promoting the slogan, 'make every drop count'. For many farmers, however, there are few drops to count. But there could be, if a water recycling scheme proposed by Darling...

Saving our beef and bacon.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... Australia's capacity to cope with a major outbreak of livestock disease is being enhanced with the installation of a robotic sample handling and information management system at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL). The system,...

Searching soils for functional genes.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... Soil organisms are increasingly recognised as vital to the health of agricultural systems. Bacteria, fungi, protozoa, insects and worms all play a role in nutrient cycling, disease and pest control, and 'structural maintenance'. But...

Take-home tips for smarter prawning.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... Prawn farmers in Belize, Central America, have found a way to simultaneously triple prawn production and reduce the environmental impact of the production process. Australian scientists and prawn farmers are hoping to adapt and enhance the...

Mining tool retrained to seek acids and salts.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... A nuclear probe developed for minerals exploration and mining may soon be enlisted in the fight against some of our biggest environmental challenges; acid mine drainage and salinity. The probe is part of the SIROLOG suite of spectrometric...

Hybrid turbine mines power from waste.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... A new hybrid turbine system that uses reject coal and methane gas to generate electricity could help 'green' the mining industry and reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. Developed by CSIRO Exploration and Mining, in collaboration...

Magnesium alloys go lightly on the road.(spectrum)
January 1, 2003... An Australian-developed magnesium alloy is a strong competitor in the race to displace a major part of the aluminium diet in engine assembly lines. Dr Colleen Bettles and colleagues at the Cooperative Research Centre for Cast Metals...

Feeding the future: could a sorghum from Ethiopia offer a pathway to food security in a drier world?
January 1, 2003... Australian grain growers face three major challenges this century, according to the Grains Research and Development Corporation: meeting quality requirements, increasing productivity and protecting and enhancing the environment. But can...

Fly fishing: Wendy Pyper consults the earbones of barramundi for clues to their life in the Fly.
January 1, 2003... On its way to the Gulf of Papua, the mighty Fly River traverses some 1400 km from its source in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG), through virgin rainforest, tropical swamp forest, open savanna and grasslands. The river and...

Pioneering proteins: the blossoming field of proteomics promises better ways of managing and treating serious ailments in livestock and humans.
January 1, 2003... A remarkable renaissance is taking place in protein science. Commentators are talking about 'biology's biggest boom industry'. This stems largely from the explosion of data generated by the renowned Human Genome Project and associated advances...

Managing mimosa: entomologists have enlisted a battery of beetles to help loosen mimosa's grip on northern Australia.
January 1, 2003... Australia's tropical rangelands provide a home away from home for many exotic plant species, dozens of which have become established since European settlement. The worst offender is Mimosa pigra, (also known as mimosa, giant sensitive...

Biotech cotton: a budding field: Steve Davidson sums up the performance of genetically-modified cotton in Australia.
January 1, 2003... In 1996, the first commercial genetically-modified crop was released in Australia. The crop was Ingard[R] cotton, a transgenic variety containing a gene from the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, a microbe long used as a...

Unearthing geckos and truffles.(Alcoa World Alumina Australia (Alcoa) receives Golden Gecko Award from the Western Australian Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources. )
January 1, 2003... After some 35 years at the forefront of mine site rehabilitation, Alcoa World Alumina Australia (Alcoa) has received a Golden Gecko Award from the Western Australian Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources. The award recognises the...

The great frog survey.(journal extracts)
January 1, 2003... ONE OF the largest frog surveys undertaken in Australia has provided scientists with an insight into the ecology of a common, but poorly understood ground-dwelling frog. Dr Kirsten Parris, an ecologist at the Australian National University,...

Butting whales.(journal extracts)
January 1, 2003... IN THE 19th century, enraged sperm whales sometimes turned on the whalers that pursued them and sunk their ships, inspiring the fictional tale of Moby Dick. Now scientists may have worked out how these whales managed to destroy well-constructed...

Time-worn koalas.(journal extracts)
January 1, 2003... ANY self-respecting koala needs good teeth. Koalas manage to survive on a diet of tough eucalyptus foliage that is low in protein and high in fibre, insect-repelling chemicals and toxins, but to digest this difficult diet the leaf material must...

Tales of the swamp.(turtles and crayfish)
January 1, 2003... AS IF it doesn't have enough problems, the critically endangered western swamp tortoise, Pseudemydura umbrina, faces a new threat. There are concerns that the yabby, Cherax destructor, introduced to Western Australia from Victoria in 1932, may...

More milk for India.(new feed supplement expected to increase milk production)
January 1, 2003... A new feed supplement is set to increase milk production from India's dairy herd by millions of litres a day, boosting the economic and social situation of the country's 11 million dairy farmers. The 'by-pass protein' supplement, developed...