http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org provides the latest news from Macquarie University Despite upgrades to technology and ore management techniques, new and compelling research shows that the combined effects of historic and contemporary emissions are the definitive cause of environmental lead contamination in the city of Mount Isa. http://phys.org/news290675883.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:50:02 EST news290675883 (Phys.org) —Researchers from Macquarie University and the University of Canberra have developed an assessment scheme that allows them to look into the future to see which exotic plants might become tomorrow's problematic invaders. http://phys.org/news290244471.html Biology Wed, 12 Jun 2013 08:28:03 EST news290244471 (Phys.org) —Researchers have discovered that the brightly coloured frills of the iconic Australian frillneck lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) can be used to predict the animals fighting ability. http://phys.org/news288942671.html Biology Tue, 28 May 2013 07:20:01 EST news288942671 (Phys.org) —In a paper published today in the peer-reviewed science journal PLoS ONE, researchers have presented a new model to explore how changes in food availability might influence honeybee colony growth. http://phys.org/news287216901.html Biology Wed, 08 May 2013 08:20:02 EST news287216901 (Phys.org) —New research from Macquarie University suggests that arid zone reptiles could struggle to find suitable homes as a result of human induced climate change. http://phys.org/news283073181.html Biology Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:50:04 EST news283073181 Researchers from Macquarie University and RMIT have warned about potential major damage to the long-term health of rivers and the local environment following recent changes to New South Wales Government planning rules around development setbacks along watercourses. http://phys.org/news282548497.html Space & Earth Fri, 15 Mar 2013 06:41:47 EST news282548497 (Phys.org) —Deep in water-filled underground caves beneath Australia's Nullarbor Plain, cave divers have discovered unusual 'curtains' of biological material – known as Nullarbor cave slimes. http://phys.org/news281786573.html Biology Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:20:03 EST news281786573 (Phys.org)—Research, published today in the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, has examined the interplay between ethnicity, religion and income, to understand how these factors influence the choices people make when managing money. http://phys.org/news281182278.html Other Sciences Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:10:04 EST news281182278 Researchers at Macquarie University have been perfecting a technique that may help see nanodiamonds used in biomedical applications. PhD student Jana Say has been working on processing the raw diamonds so that they might be used as a tag for biological molecules. http://phys.org/news280053258.html Physics Thu, 14 Feb 2013 08:35:27 EST news280053258 (Phys.org)—As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide. This absorption comes at a cost, since it makes the ocean more acidic. An acid ocean will affect all marine species, but the potential severity of these effects is the subject of debate. http://phys.org/news277975451.html Space & Earth Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:27:11 EST news277975451 (Phys.org)—New findings suggest that the ecology of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) – the largest living animal – has recently changed due to human activities. A team lead by researchers at Macquarie University and Flinders University unexpectedly found, in the Antarctic, individuals from the pygmy blue whale subspecies (B. m. brevicauda) that inhabits Australian waters, and hybrids between Australian blue whales and the Antarctic blue whale subspecies (B. m. intermedia). http://phys.org/news272101110.html Biology Wed, 14 Nov 2012 07:50:01 EST news272101110 (Phys.org)—An Australian lizard, the Eastern Water Skink, has dispelled a long held myth that reptiles are slow learners. Researchers studying the lizard have found they do have the ability for rapid and flexible learning, challenging previous work that has suggested reptiles are less cognitively sophisticated than other vertebrates. http://phys.org/news269676912.html Biology Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:50:01 EST news269676912 (Phys.org)—In a recent experiment conducted at the Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, Bahamas, researchers designed a novel foraging task to determine that juvenile lemon sharks could learn from each other. http://phys.org/news266472627.html Biology Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:13:04 EST news266472627 Australian nuclear scientists are helping an international team of archaeologists and historians to unravel a mystery about a collection of Egyptian mummies prone to cross dressing and lying about their gender and their age. http://phys.org/news264667611.html Other Sciences Mon, 20 Aug 2012 07:47:24 EST news264667611 (Phys.org) -- Scientists are delving into the social networking behaviour of sharks, to determine why and when large marine predators congregate, and the mysteries of their society. http://phys.org/news262248097.html Biology Mon, 23 Jul 2012 08:10:03 EST news262248097