Issue: July/August 2008
News
New role for sharks - saving lives
La Trobe University scientists pioneering the use of modified shark antibodies to fight disease have showcased their research at BIO-2008 in San Diego.
New research centre to unravel the mysteries of autism
La Trobe University, supported by a private donation of a million dollars, has launched Australia's first dedicated research centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Perspectives on Iraq
World-renowned foreign correspondent Jon Lee Anderson visited Melbourne recently as a guest of La Trobe University.
Students get that global nano buzz
A group of nine students and two high school teachers recently visited the Nano Tech 2008 Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan – the biggest nanotechnology exhibition in the world.
Research
Human rights on the home front
La Trobe research in examining the new Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, which came into operation in January, begins to challenge our culture.
Drugs in your drinking water?
Consumers should not be drinking water from local wastewater treatment plants, according to La Trobe environmental chemist.
Coaxing molecules into new sensors
The potential power of nanotechnology has inspired research into new ways of testing for chemicals and bacteria in the environment and medicine.
Scaling down to diamond quantum electronics
La Trobe physicists lead an international team that has received one million dollars in research funding to investigate the semi-conductor properties of diamond as a new material for nano-chips.
Survey taps into household water use
Householders will be given the chance to have their say about what drives their water use behaviour.
Brain scans break the mould for market mavens
Market researchers and neuroscientists have confirmed in hard data that most informed consumers fall into one of four broad personality groups whose preferences correlate predictably with consumer behaviour.
The holy grail of traffic management
A La Trobe University graduate has invented a battery-powered device for detecting traffic gridlock.
Great wall of fungus comes tumbling down
A biochemist has demonstrated that a protein from ornamental tobacco is able to break through cell walls and kill a fungal cell that causes major disease and crop losses in plants worldwide.
Community
Students highlight need for law reform
As the cost of living soars, payday loan charges can top 700 per cent.
Making a difference to school science
With help of more than $330,000 in funds from the Commonwealth government, La Trobe educationists are working to improve science and technology education in primary and secondary schools.
In2 Science - for the next generation
University to School Peer Mentoring - which has helped more than 14,000 state school students with studies in science and mathematics - is expanding.
L-plates for cyberspace
A new cyber club program launched in May gives children aged 6-12 years the skills to roam in cyberspace.
Fifty years of art collecting in Bendigo
One of the University's main art collections - the FM Courtis Collection on the Bendigo campus - is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary
Books
Playing with words
English is on the move. Odd blends of words like affluenza and baggravation are appearing with ever-increasing frequency. Lists of malapropisms are forwarded around the internet. Comedians try to outdo each other with their banter.
Statistics: out with the 'p' and in with the 'T'
Statisticians say that the 'p' value is often misunderstood. A new method tranforms a test statistic onto a calibration scale where it is called evidence T.