Image of banner

01 Breakthrough

Image of hydrogen car

Fuelling the future with hydrogen

We're big fans of hydrogen and its ability to deliver low carbon energy. It's a versatile fuel with a wide range of uses and can be produced using low or zero-emissions energy sources. Transport, electricity, heat, food, synthetic fuels – there’s many potential benefits. But there is some work to do in making it competitive, so we've just released a Hydrogen Roadmap to help plot the course. From cutting our emissions to helping us drive further between refills, hydrogen's future in Australia looks bright.

02 Research

image of cancer patient

Putting cancer to sleep

Australian scientists have discovered a new type of anti-cancer drug that can put cancer cells into a permanent sleep, without the harmful side-effects caused by conventional cancer therapies like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These traditional treatments cause irreversible DNA damage targeting both cancer cells and healthy cells. The new class of drugs will focus on cancer cells only, leading to better treatment for cancer patients.

Image of gold inglot

Cyanide-free gold first

When talking about gold, all that glitters is most likely produced using cyanide. Over 90 per cent of the world’s gold extraction processes use this toxic chemical, which can have disastrous consequences if processes are not managed properly. So, we’ve developed a gold recovery process that replaces cyanide with a non-toxic chemical reagent. The results have been promising.

03 Discoveries

Image of marine microbe

04 People

Image of Cathy Foley

Meet our new Chief Scientist

We've just appointed Dr Cathy Foley as our Chief Scientist. Not only is Cathy one of Australia’s leading scientists, with a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, a Bachelor of Science and a Diploma of Education, she is also leading the way for women in science and encouraging the next generation of young girls to follow in her footsteps. “Australia’s future prosperity will be fuelled by science," says Cathy. "I’m looking forward to helping shape the science agenda, raising the profile of the role of women in STEM and being a mentor to other women inspired by science.”

JOBS

Direct a national treasure

The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is a free, online database which gives millions of Australians access to biodiversity records. It is the most comprehensive and accessible data set on Australia’s biodiversity ever produced. CSIRO seeks a suitably qualified and experienced person for the prestigious role of Director ALA. The Director is responsible for providing the vision, direction and leadership in the delivery of the Atlas of Living Australia to and for Government, industry and community stakeholders.

Got your sea legs?

CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere is seeking to appoint two Hydrochemists to join the Hydrochemistry Team based in Hobart. You will help to provide specialised analytical chemistry services to Australia’s Marine National Facility and to scientific research programs, as well as supporting the scientific operations of the MNF Research Vessel RV Investigator.

05 Participate

Image of honey

How pure is your honey?

Did you know Australian beekeepers produce between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of honey per year? It is an impressive amount - but it’s still not enough. Australians love honey. To make up for demand, lots of honey pots on our supermarket shelves are made from imported products or a blend of local and imported honey. Thankfully, our testing technology can track product origins right down to the local hive.

Image of bbq

Aussie BBQs up in smoke?

As the weather warms and Australians move back out doors en masse, a great Aussie tradition will fire up again (just give it two or three goes first, and let the gas flood it). Yes, the backyard barbie is a quintessential summer pastime. But do a million simultaneously sizzling hotplates pose a threat to our air quality? Smoke emission laws in some states are under review and as with anything barbecue-related, the steaks are high.

Extras

Watch Taking stock of our top end water supplies

We blog about news, the universe, big ships and more.