Common

Bacteria are resourceful little organisms. They can live in some of the weirdest, most inhospitable places on our planet – arid deserts, toxic acidic lakes, even deep in Earth's crust below the ocean floor.  But scientists have just discovered a new, very unexpected habitat for the hardy little microbes: the venom of snakes and spiders. This contradicts what we thought we knew; such venoms contain antimicrobial compounds, which scientists assumed to mean they were sterile environments in which no microbes could…

A new study has uncovered a previously unknown process by which some NSAID pain relievers affect the body. It may explain why different NSAIDs can have unexpected effects on many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.Pain and inflammation are commonly treated by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin. However, even at similar doses, different NSAIDs can have unexpected and unexplained effects on many diseases, including heart disease and cancer.Now, a new study, led by <span…

Scientists have discovered that arthritis is a strong predictor for development of clinically important liver problems in people with Hemochromatosis.Edith Cowan University has identified key links between arthritis and the risk of serious liver disease in people with hemochromatosis.New Edith Cowan University (ECU) researchers have identified a crucial link between arthritis and the risk of serious liver disease in people with Australia’s most prevalent genetic disorder.An estimated 100,000 Australians carry the…

What's in a head? According to new research, a little bit of our ancestors' tails.In the early days of complex, multicellular life on Earth, animals started out without any spines or brains. They only had a network of neurons spread throughout their body. Over the course of millions of years, however, that system somehow became concentrated on one end. But how?  Tunicates, or 'sea squirts', are the closest living relatives of vertebrates, and they don't have a true head.Their central nervous system is instead made up of…

The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is an amazing phone to own, thanks largely to the beautiful screen and novel folding body. But it’s not immune to the problems that even the best handsets can experience — and there’s nothing worse than your new phone having issues you can’t figure out how to fix. If your Galaxy Z Flip 3 is behaving strangely or not functioning as expected and you’re losing sleep over it, we’re here to help. We’ve gathered together some of the most common Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 problems and found simple fixes…

Apple is delaying moving forward on its hybrid return to work for office employees, saying in a memo (reported earlier by Bloomberg) that “we are extending the phase-in period of the pilot and maintaining two days a week in the office for the time being.” For those who are in the current two-day-per-week pilot, Apple said that if they feel uncomfortable coming into the office, they will again have the option to work remotely. The company’s COVID-19 response team said that its updates are based on monitoring local info…

Is Zoom giving you problems and you can’t seem to fix them? Telecommuting is more popular than ever, with thousands of companies turning to videoconferencing to keep their employees in the loop. Zoom and other online meeting tools make that easier than ever, but as with any other software, issues will arise, and they disrupt or even prevent good video calls. Fortunately, while there are Zoom service outages you can’t do much about, you often can fix typical problems yourself. To help get your Zoom calls working…

Researchers at EMBL Heidelberg found that inversions in the human genome are more common than previously thought, which impacts our understanding of certain genetic diseases.Our <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>DNA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material…

Toxoplasma gondii is probably the most successful parasite in the world today. This microscopic creature is capable of infecting any mammal or bird, and people across all continents are infected.  Once infected, a person carries Toxoplasma for life. So far, we don't have a drug that can eradicate the parasite from the body. And there is no vaccine approved for use in humans.Across the world, it's estimated 30–50 percent of people are infected with Toxoplasma – and infections may be increasing in Australia. A survey of…

A notice that reads "WARNING: Viewer Discretion is Advised." Credit: Tomchen1989, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) Experts from the University of Nottingham have developed a common language to use on trigger and content warnings, after their research found that current warnings do not adequately take account of the needs of the intended audience.…