ScienceNetwork WA invites you to join Australia in ‘The Conversation’.
“The Conversation is an independent source of analysis, commentary and news from the university and research sector viewed by 350,000 readers each month. Our team of professional editors work with more than 2,600 academic authors from 180 institutions.”
ScienceNetwork WA has the pleasure of presenting articles from The Conversation written by Western Australian authors.
It is hoped that these commentaries will enhance your appreciation of WA’s contribution to the national discussion. The commentaries will cover the fields of science and technology, environment and climate, and health and medicine.
The Conversation allows its articles to be republished under the Creative Commons licensing agreement. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/
From bone to brawn: ancient fish show off their muscles
By Kate Trinajstic, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry at Curtin University
Fossilised soft tissues, such as skin and muscle, are exceptionally hard to come by.
When you think the chances of an animal being fossilised is less than one in a million – and these usually have only bone preserved – the chances of us finding a fossilised animal, complete with preserved muscles, are very low indeed.
So it’s no surprise previous work piecing together the musculature of extinct species involved trying to reconstruct those muscles using scars on the surface of the fossilised bones – until now.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.
Manage the land to protect the reefs
By Jens Zinke, University of Western Australia and Joseph Maina, Macquarie University
The world’s coral reefs are both beautiful and rich in biodiversity, supporting a number of marine species.
However the negative effects of climate change and human activity have begun to take their toll on these delicate ecosystems, with coral bleaching, damaged structures and the loss of species already occurring.
Though there are many issues threatening the health of coral reefs, for those that have grown near the shore, sedimentation is a major problem.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.
Australian endangered species: White-bellied Frog
By Dale Roberts, Winthrop Professor at University of Western Australia
The White-bellied Frog (Geocrinia alba) is a tiny frog from south-west Western Australia, inhabiting a range of 130km2 between Margaret River and Augusta.
It was only discovered in the early 1980s and described in 1989.
Male White-bellied Frogs call from small depressions in wet soils during the breeding season.
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.
Opposition keen to stop marine parks, but will fishers benefit?
By Timothy Langlois, Research Fellow, Oceans Institute at University of Western Australia
Last night the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network survived a vote in the House of Representatives.
The Opposition had hoped to disallow the motions setting up the network, but were narrowly defeated.
Presumably they will reopen their attack on the network should they take office in September
This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.
