News: School of Biological Sciences

Designing healthier cities with good bacteria

Photo of a tree

The urbanisation of towns could be contributing to poor health outcomes in our communities, research from the 成人大片 and Flinders University has found.

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A glimpse into the past: what digging for DNA in cave dirt tells us about ancient Australia?

Sediment layering at Blanche Cave, Naracoorte

For most people the term 鈥渁ncient DNA鈥 might conjur up images of Jurassic Park, where DNA extracted from a mosquito preserved in amber was used to re-create long extinct dinosaurs.

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2024 SA Environment Awards Success

2024 SA Environment Awards EI Dr Isobelle Onley, Dr Katja Hogendoorn, Professor Sean Connell and Dr Dominic McAfee

Yesterday, on World Environment Day, we celebrated the 2024 SA Environment Award finalists and winners. The evening was a fantastic celebration of environmental champions across the state, emceed by the charismatic Tiahni Adamson.听

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Tropical fish are invading Australian ocean water

Tropical fish are invading Australian ocean water

A 成人大片 study of shallow-water fish communities on rocky reefs in south-eastern Australia has found climate change is helping tropical fish species invade temperate Australian waters.

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SciStarter Australia is a new home for citizen science

SciStarter Australia app in use

Citizen science platform SciStarter Australia has officially launched on the final day of Global Citizen Science month, creating a one-stop location for citizen science projects seeking volunteers in Australia.

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Adelaide is losing 75,000 trees a year. Tree-removal laws must be tightened if we want our cities to be liveable and green

Adelaide

Large areas of concrete and asphalt absorb and radiate heat, creating an 鈥渦rban heat island effect鈥. It puts cities at risk of overheating as they are than surrounding areas.

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Heat stress from ocean warming harms octopus vision

A newly hatched Octopus berrima

While climate change has led to an increase in the abundance of octopuses, heat stress from projected ocean warming could impair their vision and impact the survivability of the species.

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Exploring ancient DNA for environmental insights

Exploring ancient DNA for environmental insights

Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) has revolutionised the study of ancient environments and the evolution of living things. It helps researchers unlock secrets found in sediments, ice, and water and has transformed our understanding of past biodiversity across different timescales, from decades to thousands of years ago. The Environment Institute is privileged to support the training of highly specialised experts in these cutting-edge techniques.

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Wildlife in our homes: Australian reptiles in the global exotic pet market

A shingleback skink

On March 3rd we celebrate World Wildlife Day, and the theme for 2024 is "Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation." We are thrilled to feature the research of our guest blogger, Sebastian Chekunov, a PhD candidate from Dr.听's Invasion Ecology research group. Dr Cassey is an ARC Industry听Laureate听Fellow, Combatting Wildlife Crime and Preventing Environmental Harm.

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Rainy day ice age in the global south

Rainy day ice age in the global south

An international study of the mineral deposits in stalactites in South Australia鈥檚 Naracoorte Caves, has shed new light on climate conditions in the Southern Hemisphere during ice ages.

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