Making a difference—Outcomes or ARC supported research

Making a difference Outcomes of ARC supported research 2018–19

The Australian Research Council acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to them, their cultures and Elders past, present and future. Please note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication may contain names and images of deceased persons. The ARC is also responsible for administering the Engagement and Impact (EI) assessment. EI assesses the engagement of researchers with research end-users and shows how universities are translating their research into economic, social, environmental, cultural and other impacts. Assessments are made by expert panels of researchers and research end-users using narrative studies and supporting quantitative indicators. THE AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH COUNCIL The Australian Research Council (ARC) is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity within the Australian Government. The ARC’s purpose is to grow knowledge and innovation for the benefit of the Australian community through funding the highest quality research, assessing the quality, engagement and impact of research and providing advice on research matters. The ARC funds research and researchers under the National Competitive Grants Program (NCGP). The NCGP consists of two elements—Discovery and Linkage. Within these elements are a range of schemes structured to provide a pathway of incentives for researchers to build the scope and scale of their work and collaborative partnerships. The majority of funding decisions under the NCGP are made on the basis of peer review. The ARC evaluates the quality of Australian university research through the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) program. ERA is an evaluation framework that identifies research excellence in Australian universities by comparing Australia’s research effort against international benchmarks. ERA assesses quality using a combination of indicators and expert review by research evaluation committees.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

Welcome to the third edition of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Making a Difference publication, featuring a snapshot of ARC-supported research projects that have delivered notable outcomes in 2018–19. Anyone with a natural curiosity will find the diverse research stories in this publication to be fascinating—from bull ant venom pain remedies, to a performance-based research laboratory staged at sites across the Kimberley, to a blast simulator that will test the frontiers of explosives protection—and it is with great pleasure that we share them with you. The ARC proudly supports some of the world’s greatest fundamental and applied research, and we take care in this publication to feature a sample drawn from a wide range of universities, and across a wide range of disciplines. This includes research that is pure ‘blue-sky’ knowledge creation, as well as industry-ready commercial outcomes, and a spectrum of projects that are conducted by early career researchers, through to some of Australia’s most well-known research leaders. The ARC is unique in Australia for its support of such research diversity. Australia’s innovative strength is well known overseas, and this strength is underpinned by the excellence that is found across all research disciplines and in

universities all around the country—as we know, from measuring Australian research against world-standard benchmarks in our State of Australian University Research 2018–19: ERA National Report . The impact of this research on the lives of ordinary Australians is also significant, as is illustrated in so many more stories also available to explore, drawn from our inaugural 2018 Engagement and Impact Assessment. The Australian research sector is a wonderful community to support, with new incredible stories of innovation and discovery year on year. Our lives and culture are much richer for the work of our research community, and I thank them for what they give back to us all.

ISSN (Print) 2209-6000 ISSN (Online) 2209-7414 Published: July 2019 © Commonwealth of Australia 2019

All material presented in this publication is provided under a CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence www.creativecommons.org > Licenses > by-nc-nd/4.0 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 www.creativecommons.org > licenses > by-nc-nd 4.0 legal code. Requests and enquiries regarding this licence should be addressed to ARC Legal Services on +61 2 6287 6600. Front cover image: A scene from Cut The Sky. Image courtesy: Rob Maccoll. See story ‘Listening to Country’; page 43. Inside cover image: Stock image—Golden hour in the bush. Image courtesy: iStock.com/shells1. Back cover image: Post-fire Warrumbungle NP in 2013. Image courtesy: Fritz Geiser. See story ‘The burning question—the effect of torpor on mammals during and after bushfires’; page 45.

Professor Sue Thomas Chief Executive Officer Australian Research Council

4 Fossil record of early humans may forget the wet 6 What a dog’s colour can tell us 7 Better understanding animal reproductive processes 8 Masquerade of galactic proportions detected by Hubble 9 Building a new bacterial ‘tree of life’ 11 The attractive power of purple plumage 12 Bizarre ‘platypus fish’ found on Australia’s original reef 13 On the dog’s trail UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD 2

15 27 36

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS RESEARCH 47 53 62 75 IMPROVING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING STRIVING FOR CULTURAL AND SOCIAL OUTCOMES

39 Restoring biodiversity to rehabilitated mines 40 3D imaging reveals leaf complexity 41 Warming microbes may shrink Southern Ocean carbon sink 42 Restoring fish habitat to improve sustainability of fisheries 44 Freezing polar oceans—a great place for fish species formation 45 The burning question—the effect of torpor on mammals during and after bushfires ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT

COLLABORATION AND GENERATING ECONOMIC IMPACTS

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

16 Droughts and bushfires predicted from space months in advance 18 Ceramic particles confer fire-resistance to lightweight cladding 19 Emergency lights connect devices for smart buildings 20 Fresher, longer lasting baby spinach 23 Having a blast 24 A new Motif for cognitive tests 25 Magnetic polymers improve tainted wine

55 Support needed in Australia’s growing craft economy 56 Lifting millions from poverty by increasing access to basic financial services 57 The staggered pathways to Australia 58 The Prosecution Project 59 Translating an ancient Manichean papyrus manuscript 61 New approaches to copyright

48 Listening to Country 50 Creative prison writing program provides voice for Indigenous men 51 Studying Aboriginal stone-walled fish traps in the Gulf of Carpentaria

76 Mentoring the next generation of mathematicians 79 Leadership in many languages

64 Diamond coating brings bone-bling to biomedical implants 65 Sex differences in hormone exposure linked to anxiety 67 Scientists determine the chemistry of moist eyes 68 The Australian Cancer Atlas 69 Bull ant venom could actually kill pain 70 X-ray triggering nano-bubbles to target cancer 72 Getting people up to speed 73 Breakthrough blood sample for pregnant women

29 Optical microchip brings us closer to quantum computing 30 New extremely sensitive ‘ultra-ultrasound’ 31 New citizen science app for storm hunters 32 Autonomous robotic systems to maintain global infrastructure 33 Putting the quantum into battery 35 First untethered Australian autonomous underwater vehicle dives under Antarctic ice shelf

iii CONTENTS

UNDERSTANDING OUR WORLD Fossil record of early humans may forget the wet What a dog’s colour can tell us Better understanding animal reproductive processes Masquerade of galactic proportions detected by Hubble Building a new bacterial ‘tree of life’ 4 6 7 8

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The attractive power of purple plumage Bizarre ‘platypus fish’ found on Australia’s original reef On the dog’s trail

Beautiful background of the starry sky, colorful nebula, star light, shine. Credit: iStock.com/MARIIA VASILEVA

FOSSIL RECORD OF EARLY HUMANS MAY FORGET THE WET A research team based at La Trobe University and The University of Melbourne has conducted a ten-year study into gaps in the fossil record of early humans from the so-called ‘Cradle of Humankind’ caves in South Africa. The team—which includes Dr Robyn Pickering, ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipient, Professor Andy Herries, supported through the ARC Future Fellowships scheme, and ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship recipient, Professor Jon Woodhead—has discovered that the fossil record is biased towards periods of drier climate, suggesting there might be significant holes in our understanding of the evolution of early humans. The caves in which the fossils are found have significantly eroded over the years, and the expected age range of the fossils makes dating the fossils difficult. In recent years, one method that has shown to be successful is the uranium-lead dating of the flowstone (a calcium carbonate cave formation that grows during wet periods) that occurs in layers between fossil-rich cave sediment. The researchers found that flowstones formed in multiple caves in the region at the same time, allowing the various sequences to be directly correlated for the first time. Moreover, the work suggests that periods when fossils were deposited in the caves were biased towards drier periods when flowstone was not forming. The research team included 10 scientists from Australia, South Africa and the US and received additional support through the ARC’s Discovery Projects scheme.

Uranium-lead dating revealed that the fossils in these caves date to six narrow time-windows between 3.2 and 1.3 million years ago.

The deroofed Drimolen Palaeocave deposits in South Africa from which flowstones were dated. In South Africa, such caves have yielded the remains of our early ancestors between 3.1 and 1.3 million years ago. Credit: Professor Andy I.R. Herries.

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Chocolate-coloured Labrador retrievers have, on average, 10% shorter lives than black or yellow Labradors, according to a study of veterinary records.

WHAT A DOG’S COLOUR CAN TELL US

BETTER UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL REPRODUCTIVE PROCESSES ARC-supported researchers from The University of Western Australia have found that some fish species are highly selective when it comes to choosing the father of their offspring. ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipient, Dr Clelia Gasparini, and Associate Professor Jon Evans, have discovered that female Poecilia reticulata (guppy) fish may mate with several males—like many other species—but they also exercise great control over which males will ultimately be successful in fathering their offspring. The researchers found that females can affect reproductive outcomes and fertilise their eggs by differentially using sperm from different males— speculating that the females may be controlling the way it is stored in their body after mating, as a way of sorting the ‘best’ from the ‘worst’. The researchers say that the study provided a clear demonstration that female guppies have subtle but powerful control over what happens at the gamete (reproductive cells) level after mating. This research may have implications for our understanding of reproductive processes and evolutionary mechanisms across a range of animal species, and may have important applications to the fields of assisted reproductive technologies and fertility research.

ARC-funded researcher, Professor Paul McGreevy, and his research team at The University of Sydney, in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College (UK), has revealed that the life expectancy of increasingly popular chocolate Labrador retrievers is much lower Kingdom-based Labrador retrievers of all colours shows chocolate Labradors also have a higher incidence of ear infections and skin disease. Part of the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme-supported VetCompass™ Programme, which collects and analyses demographic and clinical information on dogs in Australia, the research is being replicated in Australia, where Labrador retrievers are the most popular breed than their black or yellow counterparts. The study of more than 33,000 United of pet dog. The LIEF funding has united all of the nation’s veterinary schools on a single project for the first time. The research found that the prevalence of pyo-traumatic dermatitis (a skin condition) in black dogs was 1.1%, in yellow dogs it was 1.6%, and this figure rose to 4% in chocolate-coloured dogs. Meanwhile, otitis externa (an ear infection) was found in 12.8% of black dogs, 17% of yellow dogs and 23.4% of chocolate-coloured dogs. Professor McGreevy said the relationship between coat colour and disease came as a surprise to researchers and that the study confirms the dangers of breeding for colour if health is not monitored at the same time. The findings point to previously unknown genetic connections between coat colour and disease in dogs, which warrant further investigation.

The study has shown not only that sexual selection can continue after mating, but that the females can control this process.

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Aquarium fish guppies, male. Credit: iStock.com/Georgy_Golovin.

Professor Paul McGreevy and his Labrador retriever, Bundy. Credit: Cath Muscat.

The new taxonomic tree presents a standardised model, and is being greeted with excitement by the scientific community. Taxonomy is the process of classifying living things by arranging them in a hierarchy of related organisms. This technique has allowed the fixing of many bacterial misclassifications, and making the evolutionary timelines between bacterial groups consistent. For instance, the genus Clostridium , historically a ‘dumping ground’ for classifying rod-shaped bacteria that produce spores inside their cells, has been reclassified into 121 separate genus groups across 29 different families. BUILDING A NEW BACTERIAL ‘TREE OF LIFE’ Bacterial classification has been given a complete makeover by a team of researchers led by ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Professor Philip Hugenholtz, based at The University of Queensland, using an evolutionary tree based on genome sequences. The study relied on a technique called metagenomics, where bacterial genomes are obtained straight from environmental samples, to create a more complete picture of the structure of the bacterial kingdom. Due to advances in sequencing technology, entire genetic blueprints of hundreds of thousands of bacteria are now obtainable, including bacteria that have not yet been grown in the lab.

MASQUERADE OF GALACTIC PROPORTIONS DETECTED BY HUBBLE

ARC-funded researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that nearby reddish galaxies have been ‘pretending’ to be much more distant than they really are, and were distorting astronomical calculations of galaxy populations in the early universe. Ultra-bright galaxies in the early universe are now likely to be less common than initially thought, the team at The University of Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions has found. The researchers used Hubble to observe two galaxies thought to be so distant that we see them more than 13 billion years back in time when the universe was young. The new observations showed that the brightest known galaxy candidate in the early universe turned out to be much closer to us after all—with profound implications for models of how galaxies formed when the universe was in its infancy. The good news is that these observations strengthened the evidence that the other bright galaxy in the same image is truly an object in the infancy of the universe. This implies that while not quite as common as previously thought, galaxies containing billions of stars were already present at such early times. These sources will be characterized in greater detail by next-generation telescopes that Australian astronomers will use, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

Random patches of sky viewed through Hubble’s Wide Field Camera more than 100 times built a rich dataset that covers unrelated parts of the universe.

Galaxies located in the Pisces constellation, which covers an area about 170 times smaller than that of the full moon. Credit: R Livermore (The University of Melbourne), M Trenti (The University of Melbourne), and the BoRG team. Based on data taken with the NASA/ ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

(Above): Clostridium difficile bacterium. Credit: iStock.com/Dr_Microbe. (Left): The ‘tree of life’ for the bacterial world, bacteria’s taxonomy in a phylogenetic tree. Credit: Donovan Parks.

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THE ATTRACTIVE POWER OF PURPLE PLUMAGE Male purple-crowned fairy-wrens use their purple plumage to display their social status and competitive ability, according to a study by Monash University biologists including ARC Future Fellow and Discovery Projects recipient, Associate Professor Anne Peters. The study showed that the function of bright plumage in attracting mates or repelling rivals may be gained or lost independently, offering some new explanations for the great diversity of brightly coloured plumages seen in birds. While some male birds seasonally produce a brightly coloured nuptial plumage to attract females at the start of the breeding season, the researchers studying the monogamous purple-crowned fairy-wren found that, as well as being faithful long-term to their partners, these birds also act aggressively towards other rival males. By closely following marked individuals over six years and watching their behaviour around 3D lifelike male models, the researchers established that ‘prettier’ versions of such models—males with more developed purple crowns—were attacked more aggressively by the dominant male in family groups. The study has provided new insights into the function of plumage ornaments, and how they are gained or lost through different evolutionary processes. The long term research also aims to make a contribution to the conservation of this endangered species. Resident breeder male purple-crowned fairy-wren investigating a 3D-printed model representing a male intruder in nuptial plumage in his territory. Credit: Laurent Lermusiaux/AWC.

The research is significant because it is the first time that researchers have found evidence for such evolutionary scenarios, and it shows how complex—even more than previously thought—the evolution of colourful plumage ornaments might be.

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BIZARRE ‘PLATYPUS FISH’ FOUND ON AUSTRALIA’S ORIGINAL REEF Funded through the ARC Discovery Projects scheme, Professor John Long and his research team at Flinders University and The Australian National University have discovered a remarkable ancient fish with a long snout, reminiscent of a platypus bill. The fossil, named Brindabellaspis , belongs to an extinct group of armoured fish called the placoderms, and was found in a region near the Brindabella Ranges in New South Wales which is the site of one of the world’s oldest coral reefs. Placoderms existed as a diverse range of species on the reef habitat 400 million years ago, occupying many of the evolutionary niches that are now taken up on modern reefs by ray-finned fishes. The research team have reconstructed two of the ancient fossils and discovered the fish had a long bill extending out in front of its eyes. The discovery shows that early species of vertebrate fish were highly adapted and specialised, and opens up many more questions about what might still be discovered in this remarkable Australian fossil reef. The researchers suggest that the bill of Brindabellaspis may have had a function similar to that of a modern platypus or a paddle fish, whose snout is full of electroreceptors to help locate its prey. (Above): A life reconstruction of Brindabellaspis stensioi, an unusual placoderm fish from the 400-million-year old Burrinjuck reef in New South Wales, Australia. Credit: J ason art, Shenzhen. (Below): The long platypus-like snout of the 400 million year old placoderm fish Brinadabellaspis, from the Taemas site in NSW. Credit: J.Long, Flinders University.

ON THE DOG’S TRAIL ARC-funded researchers from The Australian National University and The University of Western Australia have radiocarbon dated the oldest known dingo bones from Madura Cave on the Nullarbor Plain and have found that they are between 3,348 and 3,081 years old—later than thought previously. Archaeologist and ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Professor Sue O’Connor, says that most researchers believed dingoes arrived in Australia sometime between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago or possibly even earlier. They were almost certainly introduced as domestic animals and once in Australia they became feral but were tamed by Indigenous Australians and used as companion animals in much the same way as dogs today. Their spread would have been rapid because it would have been aided by people, as they were useful animals or pets and were likely transferred between groups. The new dating techniques were conducted directly on dingo bone from the cave deposits, rather than by using charcoal from a nearby hearth, which is far less accurate. The more accurate dating information helps us to better understand the timing of the disappearance of a number of other native animals including the Thylacine from mainland Australia, which followed their predation by newly-arrived dingoes.

The new evidence suggests that dingoes arrived in Australia more recently than previously believed.

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COLLABORATION AND GENERATING ECONOMIC IMPACTS Droughts and bushfires predicted from space months in advance Ceramic particles confer fire-resistance to lightweight cladding Emergency lights connect devices for smart buildings Fresher, longer lasting baby spinach Having a blast A new Motif for cognitive tests Magnetic polymers improve tainted wine 16 18 19 20 23 24 25

Old vine grapes in the Barossa Valley, South Australia near Adelaide. Credit: iStock.com/DarrenTierney.

DROUGHTS AND BUSHFIRES PREDICTED FROM SPACE MONTHS IN ADVANCE ARC-supported researcher, Professor Albert van Dijk, and his research team from The Australian National University, funded through an ARC Discovery Projects grant, are using new space technology to predict droughts and increased bushfire risk, with predictions up to five months in advance of potentially devastating environmental events. Using data from multiple satellites, the researchers were able to measure very small changes to the water volume 500 kilometres away—including sea level rises, melting ice in Antarctica and fluctuations in the Murray-Darling Basin. Combining these data with a computer model simulating the water cycle and plant growth, the team built a detailed picture of the water’s distribution below the surface and likely impacts on vegetation months later. They were also able to make predictions regarding increased fire danger and farming problems several months down the track. This new approach of looking down from space and underground opens up possibilities to prepare for drought with greater certainty. It will increase the amount of time available to manage the dire impacts of drought, such as bushfires and livestock losses. The research team used data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, which measured the movement of mass and recorded changes in the Earth’s gravity over time. The GRACE satellites were recently decommissioned, but the team is planning to collect data from the GRACE Follow-on satellites developed in collaboration by Australian, American and German scientists, and launched into space last year.

Researchers have been able to quantify the available water more accurately than ever before, leading to more accurate forecasts of vegetation up to five months in advance.

The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launches onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Tuesday, May 22, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The mission will measure changes in how mass is redistributed within and among Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as within Earth itself. GRACE-FO shared its ride to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial rideshare agreement. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

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EMERGENCY LIGHTS CONNECT DEVICES FOR SMART BUILDINGS Smart building ecosystems are progressing with research collaboration between The University of New South Wales and an Australian company, WBS Technology, facilitated by funding through an ARC Linkage Projects grant. The research team, led by Associate Professor Wen Hu, has developed a new wireless platform that relies on connecting LED exit signs to each other to create a network, which can then be networked with other devices, allowing them to share information or be controlled remotely using a smartphone app via the internet. Other devices that can be connected to this network include ventilation and pumping systems, security cameras and sensors, and access doors. As they are installed, each exit sign or emergency light automatically acts as a node in the network, passing information back and forth. This technology will allow buildings to monitor themselves, react to their surroundings and follow instructions from afar. This technology is an example of the Internet of Things network where all manner of devices including computers, lights, cars and home appliances can connect, interact and exchange data with each other and across the internet.

CERAMIC PARTICLES CONFER FIRE-RESISTANCE TO LIGHTWEIGHT CLADDING Dr Kate Nguyen, based at The University of

The development comes in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower blaze in London that claimed the lives of 72 people, and as the building industry globally works to create a lightweight cladding material that will not combust during a structural fire. Dr Kate Nguyen has recently received a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the ARC, and her team is now working closely with Envirosip to commercialise the development. Dr Nguyen has since joined RMIT where she will continue this work in collaboration with ARC CAMPH and The University of Melbourne.

Melbourne and the ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing (CAMPH), has led the successful development of an organic, non-combustible and lightweight cladding core—a product that was previously thought to be impossible to create. Typically, lightweight cladding is made from organic, carbon-based, composite materials like plastic, but these materials by their nature are combustible. Non-combustible materials like steel, ceramic tiles or concrete are much heavier and more expensive to produce and install. In partnership with construction materials company Envirosip, Dr Nguyen has experimented with different ceramic particles to formulate a material that could withstand heat of 750 degrees Celsius. The idea for the material came from discovering that small ceramic particles in plastic insulation around electrical cables chemically interact with each other, forming a heat resistant network through the material.

COLLABORATION AND GENERATING ECONOMIC IMPACTS 18 The lightweight cladding core material showing the tiny ceramic particles. Credit: Sarah Fisher/The University of Melbourne.

Dr Wen Hu checking one of the hallway lights meshed into the smart building network. Credit: Quentin Jones.

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FRESHER, LONGER LASTING BABY SPINACH Ms Vongai Dakwa, a PhD candidate at the ARC Training Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products at the University of Tasmania, is working on increasing the shelf life of baby spinach and other baby salad leaves, so it keeps fresh in your fridge for longer. Ms Dakwa is working with Woolworths and Houston’s Farm, a Tasmanian grower and processor of baby leafy salad vegetables, to conduct a range of laboratory experiments, to examine a range of post-harvest factors that increase shelf life. Baby leafy salad vegetables currently have a short shelf life of only about 12 days. The research team has been investigating the influence of storage temperature, surface moisture and bruising on shelf life. Laboratory trials found that damaged leaves greatly decreased the shelf life of baby leafy vegetables like rocket and spinach. The research has revealed that shelf life can be increased if cotyledons—the first leaves to appear from a germinating seed—are not included with the packed baby spinach. Ms Dakwa and the team have also shown that high levels of moisture in packed leafy salad vegetables reduce the product shelf life. They are now trialling innovative ways to remove excess moisture in the bags so the baby salad leaves stay fresher for longer. PhD Candidate Vongai Dakwa measures the colour of baby spinach using a colourimeter in a Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture lab. Credit: Supplied by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.

Ms Dakwa’s research project is one of ten PhD projects being conducted at the ARC Training Centre, led by food safety expert, Associate Professor Tom Ross, from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.

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HAVING A BLAST The University of Wollongong has unveiled The National Facility for Physical Blast Simulation (NFPBS), a collaboration of eight Australian universities and the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) and supported by the ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme. The largest of its kind in the world at 3,000 square metres, the NFPBS facility will allow systematic, highly-controlled blast experiments at much lower cost, greater safety and higher fidelity than field trials. It will enable researchers to better understand blast behaviour, which will lead to improved security and safety of infrastructure. The simulation facility may also be used with replica models of the human body to better understand what happens, particularly to the brain, in the milliseconds after it is hit by an explosive blast-wave. With thousands of military personnel having experienced the effects of blasts, researchers want to know what the immediate and long-term effects are on the body. Traditionally, blast-resistant designs have been based on observations of actual explosive testing, which can be dangerous, expensive and uncertain in nature.

Professor Brian Uy, The University of Sydney, and Professor Alex Remennikov, University of Wollongong, beside the new LIEF-funded blast simulator. The facility will allow systematic, highly controlled blast experiments at much lower cost, greater safety and higher fidelity than field trials. Credit: Paul Jones, University of Wollongong.

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A NEW MOTIF FOR COGNITIVE TESTS

MAGNETIC POLYMERS IMPROVE TAINTED WINE Researchers at the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production have found a way to remove tainted flavours of wine using a novel magnetic polymer. The discovery has the promise of improving the taste of bottles of wine that have been left open too long, as well as removing other unwanted flavours. By attaching magnetic nanoparticles to polymers and using magnets to remove the polymers, the researchers have been able to remove alkyl methoxypyrazine—which gives the aroma of green capsicum—from a Cabernet Sauvignon, a common flavour that can be out of balance in wine if fruit is picked too early. Taste testers found that the new approach removed these molecules without dampening the wine’s aroma intensity. Lead researcher, Associate Professor David Jeffery, from The University of Adelaide’s Waite campus, said that these magnetic polymers could also potentially be used to target and remove other wine faults such as smoke and ladybug taints. It may be possible to tune the polymer for other taint compounds, creating a technique which is much more selective than current methods. The researchers have found that the polymers could be regenerated and used up to five times without losing the ability to extract the targeted compound. The research team is now investigating how to best commercialise and implement the technique for use in wineries.

The Macquarie Online Test Interface (MOTIf) is an online facility designed to automatically administer, score and provide reports for cognitive tests of reading. Developed by ARC-supported researchers in the Department of Cognitive Science at Macquarie University and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders , the tests are available online at no charge to registered teachers, clinicians and researchers, with the results stored in a secure and private user database. Under the lead of Professor Genevieve McArthur, Dr Saskia Kohnen, and Professor Anne Castles, the tests on MOTIf have been developed using detailed theoretical models of reading, and so allow for precise assessment and targeted intervention, tailored to a child’s individual needs. This assists professionals in identifying and providing support for the significant proportion of children who struggle to learn to read: according to data from the Australian Council for Educational Research, one in seven 15-year-olds currently fail to meet basic reading standards. Most of the tests currently available on MOTIf are designed for primary school children. However, the researchers are working to develop high quality and free-of-charge assessments directly catering for the high school student population. These tests, which will allow detailed analysis of the reading and spelling needs of older students, are an example of how MOTIf is both powerful and flexible enough to respond to the specific needs of its users.

With over 10,000 registered users from more than 20 countries, MOTIf has become a one-stop-shop of comprehensive theoretically-based evaluations of reading, spelling and spoken language skills.

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Mother helping daughter with homework. Credit: iStock.com/damircudic

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Optical microchip brings us closer to quantum computing New extremely sensitive ‘ultra-ultrasound’ New citizen science app for storm hunters Autonomous robotic systems to maintain global infrastructure Putting the quantum into battery First untethered Australian autonomous underwater vehicle dives under Antarctic ice shelf

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Abstract network background. Global Communications technology. Credit: iStock.com/shulz.

OPTICAL MICROCHIP BRINGS US CLOSER TO QUANTUM COMPUTING An optical quantum computer with the potential computing power to engineer new drugs and save energy is a major step closer to reality, thanks to a project led by Associate Professor Mirko Lobino, an ARC Future Fellow from Griffith University’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics and Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre. Professor Lobino worked in collaboration with The Australian National University and the University of New South Wales-Canberra nodes of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology to investigate an optical microchip that has most of the basic functionality required for creating future quantum computers. Their optical microchip is the first to generate, manipulate and detect a particular state of light called squeezed vacuum, which is an essential resource for a fundamental protocol of quantum computation. The integration of these three basic steps brings us closer to the reality of an optical quantum computer.

The microchip has components that are connected by tiny channels called waveguides to guide light around, in a similar way that wires connect different parts of an electric circuit.

Associate Professor Mirko Lobino works on the microchip. Credit: Griffith University.

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NEW EXTREMELY SENSITIVE ‘ULTRA-ULTRASOUND’ ARC-supported researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have combined modern nanofabrication and nanophotonics techniques to build an ultraprecise ultrasound sensor on a silicon chip. The new and extremely sensitive method of measuring ultrasound could revolutionise everything from medical devices to unmanned vehicles. ARC Future Fellowship recipient, Professor Warwick Bowen, from UQ’s Precision Sensing Initiative and the team at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS) have developed a near perfect ultrasound detector which could usher in a host of exciting new technologies. With sensors smaller than a millimetre across, the device can detect the tiny noises from individual air molecules, and measure ultrasound waves that apply tiny forces—comparable to the gravitational force on a virus. As well as common uses in biomedical imaging, such as during pregnancy, and to detect tumours, ultrasound technology can accurately image underwater objects and aid in the navigation of unmanned vehicles. Improving these applications requires these smaller, higher-precision sensors. With a sensitivity that allows the measurement of tiny forces, such as the sound emitted by living bacteria and cells, the new ‘ultra-ultrasound’ could change how scientists understand biology.

NEW CITIZEN SCIENCE APP FOR STORM HUNTERS Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and Monash University School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment have developed a new app, WeatheX . Available on IOS and Android, WeatheX aims to engage citizen scientists to report and photograph observations of hail, strong winds, tornadoes and flooding. The very nature of storm events often makes them difficult to precisely forecast, and sparse observation networks seldom capture the full picture as they unfold. Climate and weather models struggle to reproduce regional rainfall because of the lack of detailed observations to help inform our understanding of cloud physics. The app records information including the location and type of weather event, and photos with identifying features such as number plates removed. Researchers say that simply getting these observations from a network of citizen scientists will help climate researchers tackle some of the biggest challenges in the field.

Information collected by the app is collated into a database where researchers can analyse the movement, development, changes and impact of an observed storm system as it happens.

(Top): Professor Warwick Bowen. (Bottom): A scanning electron micrograph of a microdisk similar to the one researchers used to create their new ultrasound sensor. Credit: The University of Queensland.

Measuring hail diameter following a severe thunderstorms for the WeatheX app. Credit: Joshua Soderholm.

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 30

DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 31

AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS TO MAINTAIN GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE The research has resulted in the launch of a spin-out company, Sabre Autonomous Solutions, which was developed to take these robotic solutions to market.

PUTTING THE QUANTUM INTO BATTERY A new study led by researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies —Professor Meera Parish and ARC Future Fellow, Jesper Levinsen—has taken us a step closer to realistic quantum batteries by discovering that interactions within them are key to their charge advantage.

earlier theoretical research into individual, isolated quantum batteries to consider a more realistic, many-body system with intrinsic interactions, the researchers have shown that interacting many-body quantum batteries do charge faster than their non-interacting counterparts. The work demonstrates the merging of realistic condensed-matter systems with quantum thermodynamics, and is an important step towards realising a real-world application of the quantum battery.

With support from several ARC Linkage Projects grants, researchers at the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Autonomous Systems are developing autonomous robotic systems to assist in steel bridge maintenance, underwater structure cleaning, and to augment the strength of humans conducting physically demanding work. Led by Distinguished Professor Dikai Liu, the team, in collaboration with the NSW Roads and Maritime Service, has developed two autonomous grit-blasting robots that can assist in the maintenance of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. By performing assessments on the steel girder bridge and removing old paint and corrosion, the robots are reducing human exposure

to deadly workplace hazards—including a 134-metre drop to water from the top of the bridge, and a risk of exposure to lead-based paint and fine dust particles. The team has developed biologically-inspired climbing robots, and is now developing an underwater robot to clean and inspect the underwater parts of bridge and wharf structures, which are often dangerous to access in the high currents of the intertidal zone, and covered with thick growths of oysters and barnacles. As well as securing a number of US and Australian patents, this work has received recognition through research and engineering excellence awards at state, national and international levels.

Quantum batteries offer the potential for vastly better thermodynamic efficiency, and ultra-fast charging time, much faster and more efficient than the electrochemical batteries like Nickel Metal Hydride or Lithium Ion, in common use today. By expanding

The forcing of a quantum battery into a new, ‘charged’ state represents an example of non-equilibrium physics, in which systems are ‘forced’ out of equilibrium into a temporary state.

(Left): Autonomous underwater robot for cleaning and inspecting the underwater parts of bridge and wharf structures. (Right): Autonomous climbing robot for inspection and condition assessment of confined spaces. Credit: University of Technology Sydney.

The research group at Monash University, including three of the authors (front row, from right to left) Thao Le, Meera Parish and Jesper Levinsen. Also present are PhD students Emma Laird (left) and Thomas Kirk (centre). Credit: Steve Morton.

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DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 33

FIRST UNTETHERED AUSTRALIAN AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLE DIVES UNDER ANTARCTIC ICE SHELF A $5 million autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) named nupiri muka has been successfully deployed under the Sørsdal Glacier ice shelf during the summer Antarctic season, supported by the Australian Antarctic Division with funding through the ARC’s Special Research Initiative: Antarctic Gateway Partnership at the University of Tasmania. The way in which ice shelves melt is connected to what is happening underneath them, and how ocean circulation and water properties such as temperature and salinity interact with the ice. The nupiri muka has allowed the research team to study these variables as well as mapping the profiles of the sea bed and the underside of sea ice and the Antarctic ice shelf. The AUV has also enabled sonar imagery and the collection of large amounts of data across extensive areas. Director of the Antarctic Gateway Partnership, Professor Richard Coleman, noted that the AUV’s recent trip permitted a rare view underneath an ice shelf in the lead-up to a calving event, where ice chunks suddenly break away from the edge of a glacier.

The successful deployment means Australia has joined a small number of countries with an AUV capable of independently exploring under polar ice, opening the way for more ambitious future polar research projects under sea ice and ice shelves.

(Left): AUV near Sørsdal Glacier. (Above): AUV team at Davis Base. Credit: Australian Antarctic Division.

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DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 35

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT

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Restoring biodiversity to rehabilitated mines 3D imaging reveals leaf complexity Warming microbes may shrink Southern Ocean carbon sink Restoring fish habitat to improve sustainability of fisheries Freezing polar oceans—a great place for fish species formation The burning question—the effect of torpor on mammals during and after bushfires

The Mangroves. Credit: iStock.com/Damocean.

RESTORING BIODIVERSITY TO REHABILITATED MINES New ARC-supported research at Curtin University has revealed a global bias in ecological restoration assessments, with the longer-term effect on animals being overlooked in most mine site restoration activities. Lead author of the study, Ms Sophie Cross, a PhD student from the ARC Training Centre for Mine Site Restoration in Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the research highlighted a need for an increased focus on fauna monitoring and behavioural studies as a way of understanding the long-term success of mine site restoration. Although animals are often assumed to return to the area of a mine site following its closure and the return of vegetation; in practice, restoring animal communities and biodiversity can be exceptionally challenging. While the study found that the usual method of vegetation surveys may not be sufficient to predict the long-term success of restoration measures in effectively restoring ecosystems, the good news is that Australia is already leading the way in considering fauna as part of mining restoration activities. A perentie (Varanus giganteus) observed crossing a road into reference bushland adjacent to an active mine site in Mid West Western Australia. Monitor lizards are common throughout arid Australia, but little is known of how they respond to mining activities or site restoration. Perenties forage over large distances and present an ideal species to assess landscape change and restoration success over large spatial scales. Credit: Sophie Cross.

According to the researchers, although mining activity may create a relatively small footprint on the land, 75 per cent of active mine sites are situated on land considered to be of high conservation value.

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT 38

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT 39

WARMING MICROBES MAY SHRINK SOUTHERN OCEAN CARBON SINK The amount of carbon locked away in the depths of the Southern Ocean could fall by almost 20 per cent by 2100 as warming waters lead to increased microbial activity, according to ARC-supported research at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania. The Southern Ocean absorbs a large proportion of heat and carbon dioxide from anthropogenic emissions, with billions of tonnes of carbon locked away as phytoplankton die and sink to the ocean floor. Modelling and laboratory-based experiments have predicted that ocean microbes will become more active as the climate changes, interrupting the flow of carbon to the seafloor. For the first time, those predictions have been tested by field research in the Southern Ocean conducted by Dr Emma Cavan, supplying experimental data to improve climate modelling in the future. The research forms part of a project led by ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Professor Philip Boyd, who is investigating how the natural microbial activity of the Southern Ocean could be utilised to mitigate against the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Research suggests that the change in activity of the microbial community could see increasing amounts of carbon dioxide recycled back into the atmosphere instead of being stored in the deep sea for many decades or centuries.

3D IMAGING REVEALS LEAF COMPLEXITY A team of Australian and US scientists has demonstrated how three-dimensional (3D) imaging can reproduce the inner reality of the leaf, including the dynamic carbon and water exchange processes. Professor John Evans, a Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis , based at the Research School of Biology at The Australian National University, said although leaves and plant cells are three dimensional, plant biologists use highly simplified 1D or 2D models, evading the difficult, confounding and beautiful 3D reality. But the field of plant science is now in the process of being profoundly transformed by new imaging and modelling technologies that are allowing scientists to peer inside the leaf with a clarity and resolution inconceivable a generation ago. The researchers predict that using a collaborative approach, they will be able to answer, within the next decade, outstanding questions about how the 3D special arrangement of organelles, cells and tissues affects photosynthesis and transpiration. The international team of researchers included ARC Future Fellowship recipient, Professor Margaret Barbour from The University of Sydney.

The leaf is an amazingly complex landscape, where water and gases flow in many directions depending on variables such as temperature, light quality and wind. 3D images can give researchers an unprecedented understanding of what is really happening.

(Above): Leaf. Credit: The Australian Research Council. (Below): Internal structure of a piece of sunflower leaf with veins in blue, airspace and plant cells. Credit: Dr Mason Earles.

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT 40

ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT 41

Collecting microbes from the southern ocean on the RV Investigator. Credit: Emma Cavan.

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