Latest University of Queensland Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online As climate scientists continue to sound warnings about how the impending sea level rise will impact coastal cities, a group of Australian researchers has found that shorebirds could be feeling squeezed even more than humans. According to the research team’s report in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B (RSPB), a 23 to 40 percent loss of shorebirds’ main feeding grounds could lead to a 70 percent decline in their population....

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral system in the world, so big that it can be seen from space, is one of the planet’s most remarkable natural wonders. But researchers from University of Queensland have now revealed this precious ecosystem is not faring so well. The problem: European settlement and extensive degradation on mainland Australia. The expansion of European settlement in Australia has been contributing...

[ Watch the Video ] A team of researchers led by Barbara Wueringer of the University of Queensland, Australia have been studying the feeding habits of the freshwater-dwelling sawfish Pristis microdon. The researchers found that when the sawfish feeds, it uses electrosensors in its long snout to detect the location of the prey in the water. The sawfish swipes, several times per second, at its prey with a side to side motion with enough force to saw the fish in half. The sawfish would...

Researchers have partnered with Google in an effort to allow anyone with Internet access to take a virtual tour of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The Catlin Seaview Survey announced that it will carry out the first comprehensive study of the composition and health of reef coral to an unprecedented depth range. The project's chief scientists, Ove Hoegh Guldberg, a professor at the University of Queensland, said scientific data gathered would help strengthen the understanding about how...

Australia and New Zealand have the highest rate of marijuana and amphetamine use in the world, according to a new study published last week in the medical journal The Lancet. According to Matt Seigel of the New York Times, the study, which was co-authored by University of New South Wales professor Louisa Degenhardt and University of Queensland professor Wayne Hall, claims that nearly 15% of the combined 15- to 64-year-old population had used some form of marijuana in 2009. Those...

Marine scientists from the University of Queensland have discovered hybridized sharks off Australia’s east coast, leading them to believe that some of these predatory beasts display a tendency to interbreed, challenging long-standing scientific theories regarding shark behavior. This is the first time scientists have confirmed a substantial number of hybrid sharks off Australia’s coast, speculating that it may be an adaptation or reaction to climate change; and scientists now believe...

[ Video 1 ] | [ Video 2 ] Australian vision scientists today unveiled a novel way to help pilotless aircraft accurately determine their heading and orientation to the ground - by imitating how insects do it. The technology can improve the navigation, flight characteristics and safety for civil and military aircraft, as well as pilotless drones says Mr Richard Moore, a researcher at The Vision Centre and The Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. “UAVs (unmanned...

The secret of how birds zip flawlessly through narrow spaces without crashing into obstacles has been unlocked by Australian scientists. Their discovery could be used to design ‘bird-safe’ buildings and windmills, and improve the versatility of pilotless aircraft. Researchers at The Vision Centre have found that birds weave rapidly and safely through dense forests and narrow corridors by using their eyes to sense the speed of background image flow on both sides and adjust their...

Experts say that an hour spent watching television shortens a viewer's life by 22 minutes. Researchers say watching too much TV is as dangerous as smoking or being overweight, and that the "ubiquitous sedentary behavior" should be seen as a "public health problem."Experts from the University of Queensland, Australia, wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine: "TV viewing time may have adverse health consequences that rival those of lack of physical activity, obesity...

Researchers are developing a language specifically for robots to help them navigate and improve themselves. The Lingodroid research project allows robots to generate random sounds for the places they visit in both simulations and a real office. These sounds are shared and the robots play games to help establish which sound represents which location. The language is so sophisticated that it can be used to help robots find places other robots direct them to. Project leader Dr. Ruth Shulz from...