Data sharing by popular health apps is “routine”

Mobile health apps are a booming market targeted at both patients and health professionals. However these apps also pose unprecedented risk to consumers’ privacy given their ability to collect sensitive user data of great value to commercial interests.

Australia’s rarest bird on menu for wedged-tailed eagles

A successful rabbit cull two decades ago has had unforeseen consequences, with a study finding wedge-tailed eagles are now preying on the critically-endangered plains-wanderer, one of Australia’s rarest birds.

The IPCC is underselling climate change

A new study has revealed that the language used by the global climate change watchdog, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is overly conservative – and therefore the threats are much greater than the Panel’s reports suggest.

New global register aims to curtail the spread of invasive species

There are now several thousand invasive species of plants, mammals, birds, frogs, snakes, fungi and insects around the world. Spread by humans they harm both the natural environment and human productivity, but new efforts to map them might help contain their threat.

Why Bitcoin can never be green

While the initial frenzy has faded, Bitcoin mining still consumes as much as energy as the whole of Denmark around the world and even constant renewable sources such as hydropower cannot balance its environmental impact.

Democracy is good for your health

Living in a democracy is closely linked with better health for adults thanks to an increase in government spending, according to international researchers.

ANU research set to shake-up space missions

A new study from The Australian National University (ANU) has found a number of superthin “2D” materials can not only withstand being sent into space, but potentially thrive in the harsh conditions.

Groundbreaking survey of childhood maltreatment underway

A $2.3 million five-year study of the prevalence and effects of child maltreatment in Australia, the most comprehensive national study of its type, is underway.

Mapping global threats to biodiversity

A University of Queensland-led team has mapped the massive extent of destructive human activities, including hunting, land clearing, urbanisation and other agro-industrial land uses, on global biodiversity.

More than just melting ice – the human footprint on Antarctica

The human impact on Antarctica may be more than just melting ice, according to Australian research which investigated the footprint of Antarctic research stations on the continent’s rare ice-free land.

How to get more people to use public transport

We know public transport takes traffic off the road and is better for the environment, but most of us prefer driving to taking the bus. Could better design could persuade us to think again?

Drug companies stay coy about safety

Should new safety warnings about the potentially serious harmful effects of medicines be considered ‘confidential business information’? University of Sydney researchers make a case for stronger regulation and full ongoing public access.