Scientists step closer to creating invisibility cloaks and other top stories.

• Scientists step closer to creating invisibility cloaks

  

  Researchers from at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) showed for the first time a practical cloaking device that allows curved surfaces to appear flat to electromagnetic waves. In a first, scientists have made an object disappear by using a ...

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• Humidity probe for industrial applications

  

  Humidity probe for industrial applications Michell Instruments has announced the HygroSmart HS3 probe, which has been designed to withstand the harsh and demanding conditions found in industrial processes. According to the company, the sensor uses polymer tile for long-term reliable measurements, and has an accuracy of 0.8 per cent relative humidity. The probe consists of a solid, corrosion-resistant body with an interchangeable sensor. When calibration is due, the old sensor is exchange..

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• After years of decline, humpbacks are resurfacing on West Coast

  

  From a five-minute boat ride out of downtown Victoria to halfway to Port Angeles, record numbers of humpback whales are foraging, leaping and singing to the awe of naturalists and tourists alike. “We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Michael Harris, executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association. The organization represents 38 whale-watching companies in B.C. and Washington, and works with whale researchers. “We’re seeing all sorts of behaviours: breaching, peck slapp..

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• NASA continues to unlock secrets of our solar system

  

  By: PTI | Washington | Published:July 18, 2016 1:44 pm NASA are now looking to send astronauts to Mars after sending unmanned missions to study the red planet. (File) As we wait for Juno’s first close-up images of Jupiter, NASA continues to explore our solar system to help answer fundamental questions about whether we are alone in the universe. “There are many uncharted, promising worlds and objects we are eager to explore with our current and future missions,” said..

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• Whales breaking records

  

  Picture: Makala Peter, Wildlife Cruises WHALE watchers are recording the “busiest season on record” as sightings pour in from Western Port and Port Phillip. “The 2016 whale season has turned into a record breaker around our bays.  We’ve just had our busiest weekend of sightings ever,” said Dolphin Research Institute, research officer David Donnelly said on Wednesday. “Winter in our bays and surrounding coastal waters has become something of a busy time for keen whale watchers. Large whales are..

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• Aussie moth ball link to Quantum Computing revolution

  

  A new type of MoBa? The key to quantum computing could be as simple as burning the active ingredient in moth balls; using this method, the holy grail of quantum computing – the ability to work in ‘real-world’ room temperatures – has been demonstrated by an international group of researchers, combining chemistry with quantum physics.The team has made a conducting carbon material that they demonstrated could be used to perform quantum computing at room temperature, rather than near absolute ..

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• Researchers Trace Farming Back To Its Middle Eastern Roots Using DNA, Find Links To Ethnic Groups All Over The ...

  

  Over 12,000 years ago, farming began in the Fertile Crescent, a Middle Eastern region compiled of countries that today, go by, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Iran and western Turkey. The simple idea, would be that Middle Easterns created farming, but a recent study shows that the origin of farming is not simple at all. The study, which was published in the journal Science, sought to uncover just how farming spread from the Middle East to Eurasia. The question the researchers had, was whether the ..

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• NASA is monitoring an enormous dark region spreading across the surface of the sun

  

  Coronal hole on the Sun0:23NASA video shows a big hole on the surface of the sun All in all, it’s just another hole in the sun.NASA has spotted an enormous black mass growing on the surface of the sun.The gulf in our parent star was first spotted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft and while it looks troubling, the space agency has assured the dark region is nothing to fear.NASA said the dark patch is called a coronal hole, which is a large version of a phenomenon frequently occurri..

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• Vic Health using Defence algorithm to predict flu outbreaks

  

  An analytics tool developed by the Department of Defence's science and technology branch to guard against bioterrorism has found a new home in public health, thanks to a collaboration between its creators and Victoria’s health department. EpiDefend is an algorithm created by Defence scientist Tony Lau and his team. It uses a ‘particle filtering’ technique of statistical analysis to crunch through historical data on lab-confirmed flu cases, anonymised patient data from GPs, and collections of en..

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Newcastle rookie Josh King juggles fulltime job and NRL career .	Accused murderer Ben Batterham has returned to work as a chef at ... .