Category: Published in Double Helix

Dogs sniff out warmth

Dog noses are pretty spectacular. Their sense of smell is between ten thousand and a hundred thousand times better than ours. This means they can detect pretty much anything we train them to, including drugs, endangered animal poo and cancer. If that wasn’t enough, we now think they can even ‘smell’ heat. Scientists gave dogs … Continue reading Dogs sniff out warmth →

Eyes light up with radiation therapy

For years, cancer patients have reported seeing flashes of light during radiation therapy. After careful observation, scientists have caught this light on camera, and discovered what causes it. Cherenkov radiation is a type of light caused by charged particles (such as electrons) travelling through a material at high speed. This effect is the reason that … Continue reading Eyes light up with radiation therapy →

Upcycling goes down in history

The word ‘upcycling’ was invented in the 1990s to describe reusing old items in new ways, instead of throwing them out. However, it turns out upcycling has been done for a lot longer than this – three thousand years longer. Archaeologists have spent the last seventeen years excavating an ancient manufacturing site called Saruq al-Hadid … Continue reading Upcycling goes down in history →

Squawkzilla: King of the parrots

When scientists unearthed large fossilised leg bones in New Zealand, they assumed they belonged to an ancient eagle. Ten years later, they realised they were wrong – these were the fossils of the largest parrot to ever walk the Earth. Heracles inexpectatus (Hair-a-cleeze in-ex-pec-tay-tus) stood about a metre tall – as tall as a four-year-old … Continue reading Squawkzilla: King of the parrots →

Slugs put predators in sticky situation

If slugs are so slow, how do they escape predators? Easy – slow them down even more. Scientists from Newcastle were doing research in the nearby Watagan Mountains when they found a tree frog stuck to a branch. Right next to where it was trapped was a red triangle slug. The scientists watched it for … Continue reading Slugs put predators in sticky situation →

Under the microscope: My job as a sheep poo analyst

On a farm half an hour from Temora, in the middle of New South Wales, is a lab. Every day before work, Tom Shuttleworth drives to town, collects the mail, and takes it back to be analysed under a microscope. However, this isn’t anything that you’d normally find in a parcel. Instead, Tom looks at … Continue reading Under the microscope: My job as a sheep poo analyst →

Human history preserved in whale earwax

Scientists are measuring stress in whales – using the animal's earwax. The research is uncovering how recent human history has affected whales. Whale earwax has light and dark bands, with one of each made every year. The bands are caused by the different conditions the whales experience on their annual migrations (travel). This means that … Continue reading Human history preserved in whale earwax →

Spiders use electricity to fly

If you’ve read or watched Charlotte’s Web, you might remember the scene where hundreds of baby spiders fly away from the farm on their webs. This technique, used by many spiders, caterpillars and mites, is called ballooning. You might expect that the spiders use the wind to balloon, like flying a kite. However, Dr Erica … Continue reading Spiders use electricity to fly →