https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of New South Wales A major international research collaboration led by UNSW Sydney's Center for Healthy Brain Aging (CHeBA), in partnership with an international consortium of six leading universities, has found that social health—how individuals interact with and are supported by their social environments—plays a critical role in maintaining cognitive function and building the brain's resilience against dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-strong-social-health-linked-brain.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:20:01 EDT news695559001 A viral TikTok recipe shows how social media, aspiration, and fear of missing out are reshaping what Australians buy. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-greek-yogurt-viral.html Economics & Business Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:01 EDT news695471162 Stromatolites—and their close relatives, microbial mats—could be mistaken for what seems like a bunch of old dark rocks. But instead, they are dense, layered communities of microbes. Long before complex life such as animals or plants existed, stromatolites breathed the first molecules of oxygen into Earth's atmosphere. Now, in a study published in Current Biology, researchers say they may also hold insights into how complex life began. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-asgard-earth-tiny-tubes-reveal.html Evolution Thu, 09 Apr 2026 11:00:06 EDT news694943992 UNSW researchers have redesigned hydrogen fuel cells to solve a critical flaw, bringing clean energy for aviation, heavy transport and beyond closer to reality. Hydrogen fuel cells, using locally produced green hydrogen as the only fuel, have long been viewed as the ultimate clean energy source, but their commercialization has been difficult. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-hydrogen-fuel-cell-key-energy.html Energy & Green Tech Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:40:03 EDT news694871424 Engineers from UNSW have created a worldwide UV radiation map for solar panels, highlighting major differences in exposure depending on climate and mounting systems. Their new global study has revealed that ultraviolet (UV) radiation may be quietly shortening the lifespan of next-generation solar panels by up to 10 years—and current industry testing standards may not fully reflect real-world conditions. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-04-global-reveals-hidden-uv-generation.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:50:01 EDT news694773721 Humans are masters of seeing faces in any old thing—a handbag, TV static, toasted white bread. Scientists want to know why. A few years ago, as the category 5 Hurricane Milton bore down on the Florida coast, the internet noticed something strange. Doesn't the satellite image of the storm look a bit like an angry bald guy? Or a skull? https://phys.org/news/2026-04-clouds-pareidolia.html Social Sciences Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:26:37 EDT news694772735 A poor diet remains a leading contributor to ischemic heart disease, according to an analysis from 204 countries over a 30-year period, published in Nature Medicine. The authors estimate that suboptimal diet associated with this disease was responsible for more than 4 million ischemic heart disease related deaths and almost 97 million total disability-adjusted life years were lost in 2023. The findings could improve understanding of how specific diets influence ischemic heart disease patterns and support nutrition-focused strategies to reduce health impacts. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-poor-diet-linked-heart-disease.html Sun, 05 Apr 2026 09:30:01 EDT news694104759 For the first time, people who want to stop using crystal methamphetamine may be able to treat their addiction with a cheap and readily available medication, say researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center (NDARC), UNSW Sydney. Results from the landmark Tina Trial, published in JAMA Psychiatry, show that adults who took mirtazapine—a generic antidepressant—were significantly more likely to reduce their methamphetamine use compared to those given placebo. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-common-antidepressant-fresh-people-methamphetamine.html Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:00:07 EDT news694187213 Nicotine-based vapes (e-cigarettes) are likely to cause cancers of the lung and oral cavity, according to a new study led by UNSW Sydney and published today in Carcinogenesis. The study is titled "The carcinogenicity of e-cigarettes: a qualitative risk assessment." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-vaping-cancer.html Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:00:06 EDT news694104242 New UNSW research following thousands of Australian families over 23 years shows parents' drinking matters most when teenagers are 15 to 17—and again when those teenagers grow up and become parents themselves. A new study from UNSW Sydney shows that's no coincidence—but it also says the story is not as simple as "alcoholism runs in families." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-parents-habits-children.html Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:00:07 EDT news693482768 More than one in 10 Australian surfers say they have injured someone else while surfing, according to new research from UNSW's Beach Safety Research Group that sheds light on an under-recognized risk in crowded surf breaks. The study, published today in the journal Injury Prevention, found that 93 out of 815 Australian surfers surveyed—or 11.4%—said they had injured another person in the water at some point while surfing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-surveyed-aussie-surfers-surfing.html Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:40:02 EDT news693141538 Women who used fertility treatments had no higher overall risk of invasive cancer than other women, a large Australian study led by researchers from UNSW Sydney has found. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analyzed health records of more than 417,000 women and found some specific cancers were slightly more common, while others were less common. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-ivf-linked-higher-cancer-differences.html Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:20:05 EDT news692374381 From whale songs to lion roars, animals have evolved to stretch their voices across distances so that friends—and sometimes foes—can hear them. Each sound is coded with messages like "Come here!" "Back off!" "Danger's lurking!" or "Want to hang out?" But why can some communicate over thousands of kilometers, and others mere meters? https://phys.org/news/2026-03-distance-animal.html Evolution Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:00:01 EDT news692371616 Engineers at UNSW Sydney and Monash have developed an innovative way of sending hidden information that's hard to intercept. Using a phenomenon known as "negative luminescence," the system works by making signals blend perfectly into the background of natural heat radiation, such as can be seen with a thermal camera. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-negative-technology-plain-sight.html Telecom Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:00:03 EDT news692270762 Childhood trauma does not inevitably lead to poor outcomes in adulthood, new research from UNSW Sydney has found—and many people who experience adversity still thrive for decades afterwards. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-childhood-trauma-doesnt-future-year.html Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:40:05 EDT news692262260 Researchers at UNSW have discovered a new way to make graphene, a remarkable "wonder material," using just discarded peanut shells. The development opens the door to cheaper, more sustainable electronics and energy storage devices and could help transform agricultural waste into valuable products inside phones and computers that are used every day by billions of people around the world. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-peanut-high-quality-futuristic-graphene.html Nanomaterials Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:20:02 EST news691318801 Contrary to existing evidence from observational studies, the meningococcal B vaccine (4CMenB) has no effect on preventing the acquisition of gonorrhea, according to the results of the world's largest randomized control trial (RCT) into possible efficacy, conducted by Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics and the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-meningococcal-vaccination-gonorrhea-trial-results.html Vaccination Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:40:01 EST news691260961 UNSW engineers have tackled a longstanding problem at the heart of global agriculture: how to make urea for fertilizer without the intensity of emissions associated with fossil-fuel-powered factories. The solution is outlined in a study published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-high-emissions-fertilizer-catalyst-boosts.html Biochemistry Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:20:01 EST news691072201 Most bacterial gastrointestinal illnesses in Australia are thought to be caused by two pathogens, Campylobacter and Salmonella. But an emerging pathogen, Aeromonas, is much more common than previously thought, with UNSW researchers revealing that more than two years ago it was the second-most common bacterial intestinal pathogen in Australia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-overlooked-aeromonas-emerges-gastro-illness.html Gastroenterology Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:30:01 EST news690797005 Most people believe they can spot AI-generated faces, but that confidence is out of date, research from UNSW Sydney and the Australian National University (ANU) has demonstrated. With AI-generated faces now almost impossible to distinguish from real ones, this misplaced confidence could make individuals and organizations more vulnerable to scammers, fraudsters and bad actors, the researchers warn. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-people-overconfident-ai.html Consumer & Gadgets Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:00:49 EST news690634801 One in nine people in prisons globally have a history of injecting drug use and their risk of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis is up to 45 times higher than in the general population. Yet access to infectious disease prevention, treatment and harm reduction services remains woefully inadequate, with most countries failing to provide basic coverage, according to two landmark reviews published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-global-extent-drug-infectious-diseases.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:00:01 EST news689853965 A clinical trial led by Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney has found that point-of-care testing for hepatitis B DNA is as effective as traditional laboratory testing, paving the way for faster diagnosis and treatment in hard-to-reach communities. The results have been published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-hepatitis-dna-accurate-lab.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:00:02 EST news689512315 Vancomycin is the antibiotic doctors reach for when almost nothing else will work. It's used in hospitals for serious drug-resistant infections, or for when an infection is spreading through the patient's bloodstream, but it's also notoriously tricky to dose: too little and it won't knock out the infection, too much and the patient risks kidney damage or even death. Up to 40% of patients receiving vancomycin develop an acute kidney injury. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-simple-patch-medications-safer-effective.html Medications Sat, 07 Feb 2026 10:00:05 EST news689527286 A new study shows that, despite fires, floods and record heat, most Australians do not change their behavior or beliefs in response to climate change—except in a narrow window following a disaster. Lead author Dr. Omid Ghasemi from the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response (ICRR) says the study set out to answer a central question in climate policy: whether rising climate-related costs would drive stronger public action. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-disaster-sway-votes-wont-climate.html Environment Fri, 06 Feb 2026 10:15:29 EST news689595301 When UNSW Associate Professor Shafagh Waters explains cystic fibrosis (CF) to the children she works with, she asks them to imagine what is happening inside their own bodies. "I tell them to picture an airport," she says. "There's a gate at the surface of every cell. It's meant to open so water and salts can flow through—just like planes leaving a gate. In cystic fibrosis, that gate might be stuck closed, built in the wrong place, or it could be so unstable that it falls apart as soon as it forms." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-tiny-mini-grown-children-cells.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 06 Feb 2026 08:43:37 EST news689589781 New research has revealed a confronting life-expectancy gap for people with intellectual disability in NSW, highlighting persistent and preventable inequities in health outcomes. The research, Life Expectancy of People with Intellectual Disability, led by Associate Professor Preeyaporn Srasuebkul, which examined morbidity and mortality outcomes for people with intellectual disability, found life expectancy at birth was 67 years—16 years shorter than the NSW average. The gap is even wider for people with Down syndrome. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-life-people-intellectual-disability-years.html Neuroscience Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:33:37 EST news689441582 Financial abuse is a common and often hidden type of abuse within family and domestic violence, characterized by behaviors that control, restrict, or hide money and financial information, frequently involving a person's bank accounts, credit cards, tax filings, and business reporting systems. Financial abuse is a very particular subset of economic abuse. It's an effective form of coercive control that restricts a person's financial autonomy, decision-making capacity, and access to their own funds, and it's estimated to cost the economy nearly $11 billion a year and affects more than 2.4 million Australians. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-financial-abuse.html Social Sciences Mon, 02 Feb 2026 20:10:02 EST news689253446 A recent study followed more than 73,000 NSW children from their prenatal period through to adulthood to reveal how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to risks of teen self-harm or suicide. Those with the highest risk of self-harm or suicide in adolescence sustained cumulative ACEs throughout their early and middle childhood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-childhood-trauma-linked-high-teens.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:19:41 EST news688828742 Engineers at UNSW Sydney have developed a way to monitor solar cells at a microscopic level while they are operating to discover exactly how damage caused by ultraviolet light can be naturally repaired. The new monitoring method allows experts to directly observe chemical changes inside high-efficiency silicon solar cells as they degrade under UV exposure, which in turn is expected to help develop processes that can help the cells recover using normal sunlight. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-method-solar-cells-sunlight.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 27 Jan 2026 08:10:47 EST news688723802 UNSW engineers have made a major step forward in the development of a new type of solar cell that could help make future solar panels cheaper, more efficient and more durable. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-emerging-solar-cell-material-efficiency.html Engineering Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:20:04 EST news688128176