Latest news with #UniversityofMelbourne
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Attention please, is your phone dominating your life?
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026. Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026. Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026. Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
West Australian
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Attention please, is your phone dominating your life?
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Attention please, is your phone dominating your life?
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention. Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction. "We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said. Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like". Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on. "You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said. The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention. The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction. The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world. "It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said. An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme. Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos. Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time. She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop. Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university. There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators. These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall. Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
National Post
a day ago
- Business
- National Post
The University of Melbourne Selects Rimini Street to Reduce Risk and Accelerate Innovation Around its Oracle Systems
Article content Top ranked Australian university selects Rimini Support™, Rimini Protect™ and Rimini Connect™ for its Oracle systems to focus IT resources towards strategic initiatives that deliver exceptional student experiences Article content LAS VEGAS — Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, management and innovation solutions, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced that the top-ranking higher learning institute in Australia, The University of Melbourne, has engaged Rimini Street to enable greater digital innovation investments for its organization consisting of 55,000 students and 10,000 staff. Article content 'Rimini Support keeps our systems running smoothly, Rimini Protect offers us proactive protection against threats and vulnerabilities, and Rimini Connect extends the life of our existing release. This is all without having to perform another upgrade.' Article content By selecting Rimini Support™, Rimini Connect™ and Rimini Protect™ for its Oracle Database, EBS and Hyperion systems, the University has eliminated the need to undertake costly, frequent upgrades without a strong ROI while gaining flexibility to innovate around its core systems. The strategic move supports the academic institute's continuous commitment to delivering an exceptional student experience. Article content 'Today's students expect to be online, whether that's curriculums or access to resources,' said Daniel Buttigieg, director of enterprise technology at the University of Melbourne. 'The savings we're achieving by moving to Rimini Street are enabling us to reinvest and refocus on developing new digital solutions and enhancing online access for our users.' Article content Reducing Risk for its Customized Oracle Environment with a Better Support Model by Rimini Street Article content Overseeing the University's enterprise systems and services, from data centers and networks to ERP and CRM systems, Buttigieg's remit includes the University's ERP systems that underpin the back-office activities of financial, HR and payroll transactions, including the 300 plus customizations that have been developed along the way for specialized process and data flows. Article content With Oracle's vendor support, which does not include support for these customizations, the University experienced lags in responsiveness which sometimes led to tickets sitting in queue for months without being addressed. Article content 'Before Rimini Street, in order for us to remain supported by the vendor, we had to continually upgrade on their timeline just so when we put in a ticket, they don't come back to us and say, 'Sorry, but you're not on a version we support anymore,'' said Buttigieg. 'We were stuck in a perpetual cycle of upgrades, each one taking months of preparation, testing and deployment. The risks were equally high. If an upgrade or security patching goes wrong, we could lose access to things like our ERP or identity management system, which can be catastrophic for an organization of our size and the number of staff and students that we have.' Article content Buttigieg adds, 'We weren't seeing an investment in the platform that was appropriate to the size of the support cost that we were paying. So, by moving over to Rimini Street and not getting access to those newer releases really wasn't impacting us because we weren't seeing the value of that investment through our support costs.' Article content End-to-end Software Support and Services Enable Accelerated Digital Innovation Without the Disruption Article content By switching to Rimini Street, Buttigieg says they no longer worry about support for their core systems or having to dedicate funds and team focus on unnecessary upgrade activities. Confident in the value and quality of services provided by Rimini Street, the University added Rimini Connect™ for Email to ensure ongoing compatibility with email servers and take advantage of the latest security protocols. Article content 'Rimini Support keeps our systems running smoothly, Rimini Protect offers us proactive protection against threats and vulnerabilities, and Rimini Connect extends the life of our existing release. This is all without having to perform another upgrade,' said Buttigieg. Article content University of Melbourne is proving that a smarter IT strategy doesn't just save money – it opens new opportunities for innovation and growth. Article content 'The education industry is highly competitive, and staying on the forefront of innovation requires investment of people, time and money,' said Rimini Street's Dion Rooney, vice president, industry team and retail solutions. 'We've helped many higher learning institutes across Australia, New Zealand and abroad, accelerate their timeline to executing their vision simply by providing better support and the ability to optimize and redirect their resources towards modernization and strategic initiatives. Now that's a smart move that both the school and students can equally benefit from.' Article content Learn more about University of Melbourne's story of innovation in collaboration with Rimini Street here. Article content Explore the full Rimini Street portfolio Article content of ultra-responsive, trusted and proven support, managed services, security, integration, observability, professional services and Rimini ONE™ end-to-end outsourcing solutions for SAP, Oracle and VMware, and many more applications to support competitive advantage, profitability and growth. Article content About Rimini Street, Inc. Article content Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a Russell 2000® Company, is a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support and innovation solutions and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software. The Company offers a comprehensive portfolio of unified solutions to run, manage, support, customize, configure, connect, protect, monitor, and optimize enterprise application, database, and technology software. The Company has signed thousands of contracts with Fortune Global 100, Fortune 500, midmarket, public sector and government organizations who selected Rimini Street as their trusted, proven mission-critical enterprise software solutions provider, achieving better operational outcomes and realizing billions of US dollars in savings used to fund AI and other innovation investments. Article content To learn more, please visit and connect with Rimini Street on X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Article content Forward-Looking Statements Article content Certain statements included in this communication are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as 'anticipate,' 'assume,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'currently,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'forecast,' 'future,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'might,' 'outlook,' 'plan,' 'possible,' 'goal,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'seem,' 'seek,' 'should,' 'will,' 'would' or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our expectations of future events, future opportunities, global expansion and other growth initiatives and our investments in such initiatives. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance, nor are these statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties regarding Rimini Street's business, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, adverse developments in and costs associated with defending pending litigation or any new litigation, including the disposition of pending motions to appeal and any new claims; any expenses to be incurred to comply with any injunction ordered by the courts relating to the Rimini II litigation matter and the impact on future period revenue and costs incurred related to these efforts; changes in the business environment in which Rimini Street operates, including the impact of any recessionary macro-economic trends, heightened geopolitical tensions and changes in foreign exchange rates, as well as general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the industry in which we operate and the industries in which our clients operate; the evolution of the enterprise software management and support landscape and our ability to educate the market to attract and retain clients and further penetrate our client base; significant competition in the software support services industry and our intentions with respect to our pricing model; customer adoption of our expanded portfolio of products and services and products and services we expect to introduce; our expectations regarding new product offerings, partnerships and alliance programs, including but not limited to our partnership with ServiceNow; our ability to grow our revenue and accurately forecast revenue, along with the results of any efforts to manage costs in light of current revenue expectations and expansion of our offerings; the expected impact of reductions in our workforce during the last and current fiscal year and associated reorganization costs; estimates of our total addressable market and expectations of client savings relative to use of other providers; variability of timing in our sales cycle; risks relating to retention rates, including our ability to accurately predict retention rates; the loss of one or more members of our management team; our ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel; our business plan, our ability to grow in the future and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability; our plans to wind-down the offering of services for Oracle PeopleSoft products; the volatility of our stock price and related compliance with stock exchange requirements; our need and ability to raise equity or debt financing on favorable terms and our ability to generate cash flows from operations to help fund increased investment in our growth initiatives; risks associated with global operations; our ability to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology systems and other cybersecurity threats; any deficiencies associated with generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies potentially used by us or used by our third-party vendors and service providers; our ability to protect the confidential information of our employees and clients and to comply with privacy regulations; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting; our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our brand and intellectual property; changes in laws and regulations, including changes in tax laws or unfavorable outcomes of tax positions we take; tariff costs (including tariff relief or the ability to mitigate tariffs, in light of new or increased tariffs imposed by the United States government and the potential for retaliatory trade measures by affected countries); a failure by us to establish adequate tax reserves; our ability to realize benefits from our net operating losses; any negative impact of environmental, social and governance matters on our reputation or business and the exposure of our business to additional costs or risks from our reporting on such matters; our ability to maintain our good standing with the United States government and international governments and capture new contracts with governmental entities; our credit facility's ongoing debt service obligations and financial and operational covenants on our business and related interest rate risk; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our liquidity requirements; the amount and timing of repurchases, if any, under our stock repurchase program and our ability to enhance stockholder value through such program; uncertainty as to the long-term value of Rimini Street's equity securities; catastrophic events that disrupt our business or that of our clients; and those discussed under the heading 'Risk Factors' in Rimini Street's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 1, 2025, and as updated from time to time by Rimini Street's future Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings by Rimini Street with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, forward-looking statements provide Rimini Street's expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Rimini Street anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Rimini Street's assessments to change. However, while Rimini Street may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Rimini Street specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Rimini Street's assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication. Article content © 2025 Rimini Street, Inc. All rights reserved. 'Rimini Street' is a registered trademark of Rimini Street, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Rimini Street, the Rimini Street logo, and combinations thereof, and other marks marked by TM are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise specified, Rimini Street claims no affiliation, endorsement, or association with any such trademark holder or other companies referenced herein. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content
9 News
6 days ago
- Science
- 9 News
Researchers put tiny backpacks on lizards and made a bleak discovery
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here When it comes to survival in the animal world, many people would assume the faster animals fare better. But a new study led by a University of Melbourne researcher turns this assumption on its head, revealing being too speedy may make Australian central bearded dragons more vulnerable to predators. The bearded d ragons were fitted with temperature and movement trackers. (Supplied) The small, high-tech devices contained tiny accelerometers and temperature-sensing radio transmitters to feed back data on the lizards' body temperature and acceleration. Similar to other lizards, the bearded dragons rely on external heat sources to regulate body temperature to grow, digest food and reproduce effectively. "Our study confirmed that these dragons are indeed masters at optimising behaviour according to seasonal shifts in air temperature," Dr Kristoffer Wild said. "Data showed the lizards strategically moving between sunny spots and shady retreats in a delicate balancing act called behavioural thermoregulation." Dr Kristoffer Wild holding a bearded dragon in south-west Queensland. (Supplied) During the study, Wild said the research team looked at the dragons' optimal temperature for achieving peak speed and how speed related to survival outcomes. The data, which was published this week in the Journal of Animal Ecology showed that lizards with higher speeds had a greater risk of mortality. "What we believe is happening is that speedy lizards are engaging in riskier behaviours, such as moving around more openly and frequently, making them vulnerable to predators like birds and cats," Wild said. "We found that increased risk was especially pronounced during spring, so this would make sense with dragons moving around a lot more looking for mates. "These findings highlight an important ecological reality, what is measured in controlled lab environments doesn't always reflect what is happening in real-world environments. "This research reminds us that in the wild, survival isn't just about physiology, but is deeply intertwined in the interplay with behaviour, predation risk and environmental variability." national Australia science Study Melbourne Victoria CONTACT US
