Making a difference: Outcomes of ARC supported research 2019–20

Downloadable PDF version is also available.
Please use the icons in this new flipbook format to view in fullscreen, search, download, print and share the whole document or individual stories.

Making a Difference 2019-2020

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD THROUGH FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

• Smashing the quantum speed record
• Millisecond radio reflexes field a curveball from deep space
• Giant tsunami followed dinosaur-killing asteroid
• Ancient hyena poo sheds new light on human evolution
• The making of a superplume: Huge underground mountains of hot rock
• Synthetic bio-computers may hold the key to solve the unsolvable
• Glitching neutron star opens up to researchers

INDUSTRY DRIVEN RESEARCH TO GENERATE ECONOMIC IMPACTS

• Protecting wheat from salty soils
• Debunking the myth about wheat breeding and allergies
• Gone with the wind—reducing agricultural methane emissions
• The key to success is a company’s culture
• Deodorising sheep makes them less appealing to blowflies
• Recycling denim in a new way
• Reinventing sugarcane into energy
• Breakthrough in plant nutrient detection
• Spearheading a mathematical approach to solve business problems

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

• 2D materials found to thrive in space conditions
• Artificial leaves to absorb CO₂
• Ultrathin graphene film efficiently absorbs energy from the warm rays of the sun
• 20 years of research leads to airport explosives detector
• Tweaking silicon to improve solar cells for cheaper energy

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT

• Help or hindrance? Untangling the role of woody liana vines
• For a fish, it’s not just who you are, but where you are
• ‘Whoopi’ the manta ray shows how healing’s done
• Plastic pollution harms oxygen-producing ocean bacteria
• Mangrove dieback reveals an unexpected source of methane
• Revealing the world’s biggest parrot: ‘Heracles’
• Scientists measure the loss of Shark Bay seagrass
• Fighting pollution with maths
• Leading an evolution in coral

INDIGENOUS RESEARCH AND COLLABORATION

• Indigenous collaboration vital to conservation research outcomes
  *Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication may contain the names or images of deceased persons.
• Including Indigenous stories in the Australian Dictionary of Biography
  *Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication may contain the names or images of deceased persons.
• Celebrating and preserving Indigenous ceremonies
• Understanding extreme bushfire behaviour and firestorm development

STRIVING FOR CULTURAL AND SOCIAL OUTCOMES

• Examining the cultural legacy of Melbourne’s first Archbishop
• Values influence where we spend our time and money
• The uplifting history of Australian aviation
• Dancing kids achieve boosted abilities to self-regulate
• Early differences and disadvantage in health outcomes for LGBQ people
• Climate and economic factors driving farmers from the land
• Emotional intelligence gets the grades

IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

• The Big Anxiety Festival
• The lasting impact of caregiving for a dying loved one
• Uncovering the mechanism to human viral immunity
• DIY pressure pump breaks down technology barrier
• Illuminating the golden staph
• Exploring cognitive ageing and its impacts on individuals
• Sleeping ‘on-call' or not

Publication information

ISSN (Print) 2209-6000

ISSN (Online) 2209-7414

Published: August 2020

^©Commonwealth of Australia 2020

All material presented on this website is provided under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence with the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Australian Research Council (ARC) logo, images, signatures and where otherwise stated.

The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website as is the full legal code for the CC Attribution BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence legal code. Requests and enquiries regarding this licence should be addressed to ARC Legal Services on +61 2 6287 6600.

Images:

• ^{Front cover: Glitching neutron star opens up to researchers (page 13). Artist’s impression of the inside of a neutron star—Credit: Carl Knox, ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav).}
• ^{Back cover: Mangrove dieback reveals an unexpected source of methane (page 45). Credit: Southern Cross University.}
• ^{Contents page:}
  • ^{The key to success is a company’s culture (page 19).}
  • ^{Mangrove dieback reveals an unexpected source of methan (page 45). The research team encountering some obstacles on the way to measuring methane emissions from a forest of dead mangroves in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Credit: Southern Cross University}
  • ^{Understanding extreme bushfire behaviour and firestorm development (page 58). Image: 2014 Grampians Fire, Victoria, exhibiting a towering fire cloud or ‘pyrocumulonimbus’. Credit: Randall Bacon.}
  • ^{Dancing kids achieve boosted abilities to self-regulate (page 66). QUT early childhood researcher Kate Williams has developed a fun rhythm and movement program linked to pathways in the brain to support young children's attentional and emotional development. Credit: QUT}
  •  ^{The lasting impact of caregiving for a dying loved one (page 75). Helping the needy stock photo. Istock.com/Lighthaunter.}