Author: Editorial Board

Australians have endorsed the important role mining plays in the prosperity of the nation but there is still much to be done to bolster the industry’s acceptance, trust and support, according to a CSIRO report released today.

Released at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne, the Australian attitudes toward mining report is based on a survey of more than 5000 people Australia-wide.

According to lead researcher, Dr Kieren Moffat, the survey provides insights and data on community attitudes and possible ways for the sector to build its future opportunities and ‘social licence to operate’.

A key finding is that, Australians consider that mining is a worthwhile pursuit when you weigh up all the associated benefits and costs,

Global emissions of carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels reached a new record of 36 billion tonnes last year.

At the same time, the pace of emissions from burning fossil fuels continues to grow at a high rate.

Executive-Director of the Global Carbon Project (GCP) and co-author of the 2014 report CSIRO’s Dr Pep Canadell said the carbon dioxide level was “unprecedented in human history”.

Dr Canadell said fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions are projected to increase 2.5 per cent this year, bringing the total carbon dioxide emissions from all sources above 40 billion tonnes.

“Fossil fuel emissions in the past 10 years on average grew at 2.5 per cent per year, lower than the growth rate in the 2000s (which was 3.3 per cent per year) but higher than the growth rate in the 1990s (1 per cent),” Dr Canadell said.

“The declining growth rate in recent years is associated with lower GDP growth compared to the 2000s, particularly in China.”

The report shows that Australian emissions continued to decline in 2013, adding to a downward trend that began in 2009, largely due to the decline in electricity generation from coal power plants.

The largest emitters in 2013 were China, USA, the European Union, and India, together accounting for 58 per cent of global emissions.

Fossil fuel emissions are tracking the high end of emissions scenarios used by climate scientists to project climate change using global circulation models.

The GCP provides an annual report of carbon dioxide emissions, land and ocean sinks and accumulation in the atmosphere, incorporating data from multiple research institutes from around the world.

The full data and methods are published today in the journal Earth System Science Data Discussions, with associated papers in the journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change.

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Novelist, educator, and vlogger John Green has drawn a lot of press lately, including but not limited to a New Yorker profile by Margaret Talbot, in the wake of the film version of his popular young-adult novel The Fault in Our Stars.

But we here can say we featured him before that magazine of cultural record did: in 2012 we posted his Crash Course in World History, and last October, his Crash Course on Literature. If you keep up with this site, you probably know Green less as a coming-of-age-tragedy-writing “teen whisperer

How a neurological nightmare illuminates the wondrous workings of the brain-body connection.

“In both writing and sleeping,

Released today by CSIRO, an analysis of Australia’s galleries, libraries, archives and museums (or GLAM industry) has revealed that digital innovation in the sector is inconsistent and isolated. The report provides a roadmap for the industry in order for it to maximise the potential of the digital economy.

With Australia’s rapid uptake of online and mobile platforms, people are now choosing to access and share information in very different ways.

According to Dr Michael Bruenig, Acting Director of CSIRO’s Digital Productivity Flagship, many of Australia’s cultural institutions have not kept pace with this change.

“The report identified that only a few organisations have made fundamental changes to their operations that would allow them to place digital services at their core, rather than as an ‘add-on’ activity,” he said.

“For example, it is now possible to visit the National Museum virtually via a guided robot. This innovation means school students in regional Australia are able explore exhibits and engage with the museum, when they otherwise would not have the opportunity to,” Dr Bruenig said.

The report also showed that Australia is falling behind international best-practice in digitising over 100 million artworks, books and audio-visual items. According to Dr Bruenig, this slow progress means we risk losing public visibility of cultural and heritage material of significance.

“The way Australia’s collections are managed varies considerably. Some progressive institutions have collections that are fully digitised and can be accessed virtually over the web. However unfortunately some of Australia’s collections are still managed through log books and card indices,” he said.

The report outlines several recommendations that would allow the GLAM industry to take full advantage of digital technology. These include:

(1) shifting to open access models and greater collaboration with the public

(2) exploring new approaches to copyright management that stimulates creativity and supports creators

(3) sharing skills, standards and approaches to digitisation building on aggregation initiatives like Trove and the Atlas of Living Australia

(4) standardising preservation of ‘born digital’ material to avoid losing access to digital heritage

(5) sharing capability, storage and networks between organisations in the sector, exploiting the potential of AARNet and the NBN for collection and collaboration.

According to Dr Bruenig, by adopting these recommendations and building on some innovative examples in the sector, Australia’s GLAM industry will be in a position to embrace digital, rather than be engulfed by it.

The report, conducted in partnership with the Smart Services CRC, is based on consultation with representatives from state, national and local galleries, libraries, archives and museums, researchers and international experts.

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New data released today by the United Nations show that under-five mortality rates have dropped by 49% between 1990 and 2013. The average annual reduction has accelerated – in some countries it has even tripled – but overall progress is still short of meeting the global target of a two-thirds decrease in under-five mortality by 2015.

New estimates in “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2014” show that in 2013, 6.3 million children under five died from mostly preventable causes, around 200 000 fewer than in 2012, but still equal to nearly 17 000 child deaths each day.

“There has been dramatic and accelerating progress in reducing mortality among children, and the data prove that success is possible even for poorly resourced countries,

In a report released today, CSIRO scientist Denise Hardesty says her team surveyed sites approximately every 100 km along the Australian coastline.

“We found about three-quarters of the rubbish along the coast is plastic,

With 1984’s Neuromancer, William Gibson may not have invented cyberpunk, but he certainly crystallized it. The novel exemplifies the tradition’s mandate to bring together “high tech and low life,