Western Morning News

Shutterstock Emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, usually come from non-human animals. However our understanding of most animals’ immune systems is sadly lacking as there’s a shortfall in research tools for species other than humans and mice. Our research published today in Science Advances details cutting edge immunology tools we developedContinue Reading

In My Blood It Runs/ABC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains references to deceased people. In 2019, Dujuan Hoosan travelled from Garrwa country in the Northern Territory, to Geneva where he addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council. As he sat by his father’s side,Continue Reading

Shutterstock On Tuesday, a year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry revealed the state’s koalas are on track for extinction in the wild by 2050, without urgent government intervention. Habitat destruction and fragmentation for agriculture, urban development, mining and forestry has been the number one koala killer since European occupation ofContinue Reading

I recently wrote about Victoria’s surge in COVID-19 cases. On that day, Victoria recorded 11 new infections, after a few days of new cases in the high teens and low twenties. I wondered then whether the situation could be brought quickly under control. Unfortunately, it has since got much worse.Continue Reading

S Wright, Author provided For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra dry land where people lived. Archaeologists could only speculate about how people used those now-submerged lands, and whether any traces remain today. But in aContinue Reading

On Monday, online discussion platform Reddit permanently took down its largest community of Donald Trump supporters, r/The_Donald. The community had more than 7,000 active users per day (although this has previously been much higher). The ban was on the grounds that some posts incited violence, and the community had engagedContinue Reading

Shutterstock Researchers have found a new strain of flu virus with “pandemic potential” in China that can jump from pigs to humans, triggering a suite of worrying headlines. It’s excellent this virus has been found early, and raising the alarm quickly allows virologists to swing into action developing new specificContinue Reading

By securing victory in a national vote on constitutional changes, Vladimir Putin could now remain president of Russia until 2036 if he chooses to stand again. After 20 years in power, the narrative of Russia’s chaotic 1990s remains core to Putin’s legitimacy as the leader who restored stability. Although theContinue Reading

DANIEL POCKETT/AAP As of this morning, ten “hot spot” postcodes in Melbourne’s suburbs have gone back into Stage 3 coronavirus lockdown. In these suburbs, stay-at-home restrictions will be enforced by police patrols, “booze bus”-style barriers and random checks in transport corridors. In what Premier Daniel Andrews described as “extraordinary steps”,Continue Reading

With three months before JobSeeker is due to end and calls for billions of dollars in extra spending, there is a growing debate about how Australia’s post-coronavirus economy will actually look. While Scott Morrison has said Australia will need to lift economic growth by “more than one percentage point aboveContinue Reading