Latest news with #WesternSydneyUniversity
The Age
17 hours ago
- Health
- The Age
The toxic blooms hiding in many of our homes – and a new way to find them
'The resolution of human eyesight is about 80 micrometers, and most of the time, the aerosols of concern are much smaller,' said UTS Associate Professor Nicholas Surawski, the project's lead. 'Indoor mould is exactly that; you can see the mould patterns on a wall, but you can't visualise the individual spores that are causing harm.' Mould testers currently use sticky strips to trap spores and count them manually under the microscope. They also grow captured spores on agar plates to identify which species are present. Those methods, however, are time-intensive, can miss hidden moulds and have error rates between 30 and 200 per cent, partly because they only capture small windows of time while spore concentrations can vary by a 10,000-fold difference over a single day. The BioScout device automates spore-sampling in the air around crops by taking a snapshot through a microscope and harnessing AI to analyse whether mildew, rust, or diseases such as grape-rotting botrytis are present. 'It could maybe take an expert 20 minutes to analyse one image,' said Dr Michelle Demers, head of science at BioScout. 'We can essentially train AI to replicate the behaviour of an expert, except that it can do 100,000 images in a quarter of a second. 'The beauty of it is we can not only tell you what you have, but we can tell you how much of it you have.' The effort to repurpose the device into an indoor monitoring tool is backed by a grant from the NSW Chief Scientist's office through the NSW Smart Sensing Network's Grand Challenge Fund. 'It could really help with our understanding of exposure limits. It's a very complex area to monitor and evaluate,' said Western Sydney University occupational hygienist Dr Margaret Davidson, another researcher on the project. 'The concealed mould is particularly nasty and hard to identify because if you can't see it, and people are getting sick, they might be blaming other things.' Former Sydney renter Emmeline, a nurse who did not want her last name used, said she was sick with flu-like symptoms for a year from hidden mould at a Meadowbank apartment. She moved into a West Ryde flat with her now-husband who then also became sick for months with vertigo and cyclical vomiting. Doctors said it was probably linked to mould growing up through their floorboards. As soon as they moved out, symptoms lifted. Loading The World Health Organisation estimates 10 to 50 per cent of Australian homes have mould. Dr Heike Neumeister-Kemp, an international expert in the field, said mould was almost always hidden, usually within wet walls or damp crawl spaces. She warned in a 2023 paper that mould poses a danger to those returning to homes after floods. The victims recovering from the northern NSW flood disasters are on her mind. People often particularly fear black mould, but fragments and spores of any mould can trigger health issues, and some secrete toxins as well, Neumeister-Kemp said.
Sydney Morning Herald
17 hours ago
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
The toxic blooms hiding in many of our homes – and a new way to find them
'The resolution of human eyesight is about 80 micrometers, and most of the time, the aerosols of concern are much smaller,' said UTS Associate Professor Nicholas Surawski, the project's lead. 'Indoor mould is exactly that; you can see the mould patterns on a wall, but you can't visualise the individual spores that are causing harm.' Mould testers currently use sticky strips to trap spores and count them manually under the microscope. They also grow captured spores on agar plates to identify which species are present. Those methods, however, are time-intensive, can miss hidden moulds and have error rates between 30 and 200 per cent, partly because they only capture small windows of time while spore concentrations can vary by a 10,000-fold difference over a single day. The BioScout device automates spore-sampling in the air around crops by taking a snapshot through a microscope and harnessing AI to analyse whether mildew, rust, or diseases such as grape-rotting botrytis are present. 'It could maybe take an expert 20 minutes to analyse one image,' said Dr Michelle Demers, head of science at BioScout. 'We can essentially train AI to replicate the behaviour of an expert, except that it can do 100,000 images in a quarter of a second. 'The beauty of it is we can not only tell you what you have, but we can tell you how much of it you have.' The effort to repurpose the device into an indoor monitoring tool is backed by a grant from the NSW Chief Scientist's office through the NSW Smart Sensing Network's Grand Challenge Fund. 'It could really help with our understanding of exposure limits. It's a very complex area to monitor and evaluate,' said Western Sydney University occupational hygienist Dr Margaret Davidson, another researcher on the project. 'The concealed mould is particularly nasty and hard to identify because if you can't see it, and people are getting sick, they might be blaming other things.' Former Sydney renter Emmeline, a nurse who did not want her last name used, said she was sick with flu-like symptoms for a year from hidden mould at a Meadowbank apartment. She moved into a West Ryde flat with her now-husband who then also became sick for months with vertigo and cyclical vomiting. Doctors said it was probably linked to mould growing up through their floorboards. As soon as they moved out, symptoms lifted. Loading The World Health Organisation estimates 10 to 50 per cent of Australian homes have mould. Dr Heike Neumeister-Kemp, an international expert in the field, said mould was almost always hidden, usually within wet walls or damp crawl spaces. She warned in a 2023 paper that mould poses a danger to those returning to homes after floods. The victims recovering from the northern NSW flood disasters are on her mind. People often particularly fear black mould, but fragments and spores of any mould can trigger health issues, and some secrete toxins as well, Neumeister-Kemp said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
'One of the most geometrically perfect': What is this mysterious sphere deep in the Milky Way galaxy?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There's no shortage of round celestial objects in our universe. Planets, moons and stars all exhibit lovely spherical shapes. But astronomers recently spotted a mysteriously circular orb deep in the Milky Way galaxy — and it's certainly none of these things. This celestial bubble, discovered by astrophysicist Miroslav Filipović of Western Sydney University, is likely a supernova remnant (SNR), an expanding shell of gas and dust formed by shockwaves from a massive stellar explosion. SNRs aren't uncommon, but this particular example showcases numerous anomalies, including its astonishingly round shape. For that shape, Filipović and his team named SNR Teleios, the Greek word for "perfect." Filipović discovered Teleios — officially designated G305.4–2.2 — by accident, scanning through new images taken by the radio telescope Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). ASKAP is currently surveying the entire southern hemisphere sky. "I was looking at these images as they became available, searching for anything interesting, or not seen before, and came across Teleios," Filipović told "Its perfectly circular shape was unusual, and so I investigated further." Using data from ASKAP and the Murchison Widefield Array, Filipović and his team estimate that Teleios spans either about 46 light-years across at a distance of about 7,175 light-years from Earth, or about 157 light-years across at a distance of about 25,114 light-years from Earth. (Judging such vast distances in space is difficult.) Regardless of the size and distance of Teleios, though, the SNR's near-perfect symmetry is extraordinary. Its shape was quantified with a circularity score of 95.4%, placing it among the most symmetric known SNRs. While idealized models suggest SNRs remnants should be circular, reality often paints a more chaotic picture. "'Typical' SNR shapes vary dramatically, either from asymmetries in the initial explosion, or disruption from expanding into a non-perfect environment, or a number of other interfering factors," says Filipović. "What makes Teleios' shape so remarkable is that it displays none of these asymmetries; it effectively looks like an explosion that has happened with almost perfect initial parameters and with almost no disruption while expanding." So, what could explain such an undisturbed evolution? According to Filipović, it likely comes down to location. Teleios lies 2.2 degrees below the Galactic Plane, where interstellar gas and dust are significantly more sparse. This environment may have allowed the remnant to expand while remaining largely undisturbed for thousands of years. Teleios' shape is only one of the unusual characteristics of this SNR. Adding to the mystery, Teleios emits only in radio wavelengths, with a hint of hydrogen-alpha emissions. "Most SNRs are visible at another frequency. They either emit at optical, infrared, or X-ray frequencies as well," says Filipović. "The fact that we don't see that here is quite confusing. It could be that the temperatures are not high enough to produce this emission, or that Teleios is old enough that the optical emission has faded, but the radio emission is still present." Related Stories: — Hundreds of supernova remnants remain hidden in our galaxy. These astronomers want to find them— Mysterious cosmic lights turn out to be 2 undiscovered supernova remnants— Watch 2 gorgeous supernova remnants evolve over 20 years (timelapse video) This lack of emissions poses challenges to determining the type of supernova that produced Teleios. The most likely scenario is a Type Ia supernova, which occurs in binary star systems in which a white dwarf consumes enough mass of its companion star to explode violently. Alternatively, Teleios' origin might be Type Iax supernova, which is similar to a Type Ia supernova but one that leaves behind a "zombie" star. But Teleios's observable data doesn't fit either model perfectly. As it goes with newfound objects in the universe, researchers have a lot more to study to unravel all of Teleios's mysteries. Fortunately, there's no better time to study SNRs. "These are the 'golden days' for radio astronomy as the new instruments, such as ASKAP and MeerKAT, are opening windows for new discoveries," says Filipović. A paper on the findings has been submitted to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, and is presently available on preprint server arXiv.
The Advertiser
a day ago
- Science
- The Advertiser
Manufacturer 3M on notice for 'silent' but toxic PFAS
A set of "dangerous and insidious" chemicals detected at a river near a World Heritage site have been traced back to a former quarry used by manufacturing giant 3M. PFAS soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water have been found across a 100-hectare area of the inactive Brogans Creek lime quarry northwest of the Blue Mountains, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says. The environment authority has for the first time issued a notice and taken regulatory action against 3M and its local Australian arm. The quarry, in the state's central west, was historically used by 3M to test PFAS-containing firefighting foam. While "the scale of the onsite contamination is significant", there is limited human exposure because of the remoteness of the site, the environment regulator said. However, it found some of the chemicals eight kilometres downstream in the Capertee River within a national park. The levels found were above the national drinking guidelines. Ian Wright, an environmental science professor at Western Sydney University, said more data needs to be gathered about the "dangerous and insidious" chemicals. "The Capertee River is just upstream of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area so it has extremely high biodiversity values," he told AAP. "Because these chemicals build and build ... it's a silent burden that humans and animals are carrying around ... that could have very poor health outcomes." PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals used for their resistance to heat, stains and grease. They have been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they break down extremely slowly. Emerging evidence has linked some PFAS to cancer, leading to tighter regulation of the substances, particularly in drinking water. Even though the environment authority commended 3M for its co-operation, it said this is only the first step in what is likely a complex and lengthy remediation process to follow. Dr Wright warned this could be the beginning of a protracted legal battle to ascertain whether 3M or the local council ends up cleaning up the chemicals. "It's probably contaminated forever ... once the contamination is there, it's there for multiple lifetimes," he said. High-level contamination was detected in the drinking water catchment serving 30,000 people in the Blue Mountains in mid-2024. An eight-month WaterNSW investigation released earlier in May found contamination of two dams used for Blue Mountains drinking water may have occurred after separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township. The town's fire station was also a possible source of contamination. Test samples at all three sites revealed the chemical compound signature consistent with the historical use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam, banned nationwide in 2007. Under the authority's clean-up notice, 3M Australia has 60 days to submit a detailed plan to manage PFAS pollution. "This is a significant moment for the EPA and one that represents an important milestone in our efforts to address legacy environmental harm," the authority's operations director David Gathercole said. "Though this is only the first step ... 3M has so far been co-operative voluntarily offering to conduct investigation to better understand the extent and legacy of PFAS contamination." The company has been contacted for comment. A set of "dangerous and insidious" chemicals detected at a river near a World Heritage site have been traced back to a former quarry used by manufacturing giant 3M. PFAS soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water have been found across a 100-hectare area of the inactive Brogans Creek lime quarry northwest of the Blue Mountains, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says. The environment authority has for the first time issued a notice and taken regulatory action against 3M and its local Australian arm. The quarry, in the state's central west, was historically used by 3M to test PFAS-containing firefighting foam. While "the scale of the onsite contamination is significant", there is limited human exposure because of the remoteness of the site, the environment regulator said. However, it found some of the chemicals eight kilometres downstream in the Capertee River within a national park. The levels found were above the national drinking guidelines. Ian Wright, an environmental science professor at Western Sydney University, said more data needs to be gathered about the "dangerous and insidious" chemicals. "The Capertee River is just upstream of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area so it has extremely high biodiversity values," he told AAP. "Because these chemicals build and build ... it's a silent burden that humans and animals are carrying around ... that could have very poor health outcomes." PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals used for their resistance to heat, stains and grease. They have been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they break down extremely slowly. Emerging evidence has linked some PFAS to cancer, leading to tighter regulation of the substances, particularly in drinking water. Even though the environment authority commended 3M for its co-operation, it said this is only the first step in what is likely a complex and lengthy remediation process to follow. Dr Wright warned this could be the beginning of a protracted legal battle to ascertain whether 3M or the local council ends up cleaning up the chemicals. "It's probably contaminated forever ... once the contamination is there, it's there for multiple lifetimes," he said. High-level contamination was detected in the drinking water catchment serving 30,000 people in the Blue Mountains in mid-2024. An eight-month WaterNSW investigation released earlier in May found contamination of two dams used for Blue Mountains drinking water may have occurred after separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township. The town's fire station was also a possible source of contamination. Test samples at all three sites revealed the chemical compound signature consistent with the historical use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam, banned nationwide in 2007. Under the authority's clean-up notice, 3M Australia has 60 days to submit a detailed plan to manage PFAS pollution. "This is a significant moment for the EPA and one that represents an important milestone in our efforts to address legacy environmental harm," the authority's operations director David Gathercole said. "Though this is only the first step ... 3M has so far been co-operative voluntarily offering to conduct investigation to better understand the extent and legacy of PFAS contamination." The company has been contacted for comment. A set of "dangerous and insidious" chemicals detected at a river near a World Heritage site have been traced back to a former quarry used by manufacturing giant 3M. PFAS soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water have been found across a 100-hectare area of the inactive Brogans Creek lime quarry northwest of the Blue Mountains, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says. The environment authority has for the first time issued a notice and taken regulatory action against 3M and its local Australian arm. The quarry, in the state's central west, was historically used by 3M to test PFAS-containing firefighting foam. While "the scale of the onsite contamination is significant", there is limited human exposure because of the remoteness of the site, the environment regulator said. However, it found some of the chemicals eight kilometres downstream in the Capertee River within a national park. The levels found were above the national drinking guidelines. Ian Wright, an environmental science professor at Western Sydney University, said more data needs to be gathered about the "dangerous and insidious" chemicals. "The Capertee River is just upstream of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area so it has extremely high biodiversity values," he told AAP. "Because these chemicals build and build ... it's a silent burden that humans and animals are carrying around ... that could have very poor health outcomes." PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals used for their resistance to heat, stains and grease. They have been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they break down extremely slowly. Emerging evidence has linked some PFAS to cancer, leading to tighter regulation of the substances, particularly in drinking water. Even though the environment authority commended 3M for its co-operation, it said this is only the first step in what is likely a complex and lengthy remediation process to follow. Dr Wright warned this could be the beginning of a protracted legal battle to ascertain whether 3M or the local council ends up cleaning up the chemicals. "It's probably contaminated forever ... once the contamination is there, it's there for multiple lifetimes," he said. High-level contamination was detected in the drinking water catchment serving 30,000 people in the Blue Mountains in mid-2024. An eight-month WaterNSW investigation released earlier in May found contamination of two dams used for Blue Mountains drinking water may have occurred after separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township. The town's fire station was also a possible source of contamination. Test samples at all three sites revealed the chemical compound signature consistent with the historical use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam, banned nationwide in 2007. Under the authority's clean-up notice, 3M Australia has 60 days to submit a detailed plan to manage PFAS pollution. "This is a significant moment for the EPA and one that represents an important milestone in our efforts to address legacy environmental harm," the authority's operations director David Gathercole said. "Though this is only the first step ... 3M has so far been co-operative voluntarily offering to conduct investigation to better understand the extent and legacy of PFAS contamination." The company has been contacted for comment. A set of "dangerous and insidious" chemicals detected at a river near a World Heritage site have been traced back to a former quarry used by manufacturing giant 3M. PFAS soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water have been found across a 100-hectare area of the inactive Brogans Creek lime quarry northwest of the Blue Mountains, the NSW Environment Protection Authority says. The environment authority has for the first time issued a notice and taken regulatory action against 3M and its local Australian arm. The quarry, in the state's central west, was historically used by 3M to test PFAS-containing firefighting foam. While "the scale of the onsite contamination is significant", there is limited human exposure because of the remoteness of the site, the environment regulator said. However, it found some of the chemicals eight kilometres downstream in the Capertee River within a national park. The levels found were above the national drinking guidelines. Ian Wright, an environmental science professor at Western Sydney University, said more data needs to be gathered about the "dangerous and insidious" chemicals. "The Capertee River is just upstream of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area so it has extremely high biodiversity values," he told AAP. "Because these chemicals build and build ... it's a silent burden that humans and animals are carrying around ... that could have very poor health outcomes." PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals used for their resistance to heat, stains and grease. They have been dubbed "forever chemicals" because they break down extremely slowly. Emerging evidence has linked some PFAS to cancer, leading to tighter regulation of the substances, particularly in drinking water. Even though the environment authority commended 3M for its co-operation, it said this is only the first step in what is likely a complex and lengthy remediation process to follow. Dr Wright warned this could be the beginning of a protracted legal battle to ascertain whether 3M or the local council ends up cleaning up the chemicals. "It's probably contaminated forever ... once the contamination is there, it's there for multiple lifetimes," he said. High-level contamination was detected in the drinking water catchment serving 30,000 people in the Blue Mountains in mid-2024. An eight-month WaterNSW investigation released earlier in May found contamination of two dams used for Blue Mountains drinking water may have occurred after separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township. The town's fire station was also a possible source of contamination. Test samples at all three sites revealed the chemical compound signature consistent with the historical use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam, banned nationwide in 2007. Under the authority's clean-up notice, 3M Australia has 60 days to submit a detailed plan to manage PFAS pollution. "This is a significant moment for the EPA and one that represents an important milestone in our efforts to address legacy environmental harm," the authority's operations director David Gathercole said. "Though this is only the first step ... 3M has so far been co-operative voluntarily offering to conduct investigation to better understand the extent and legacy of PFAS contamination." The company has been contacted for comment.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
UP, Oz university ink MoU to foster tech collaboration
1 2 Lucknow: The UP govt on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Australia's Monash University. Officials said the agreement aims to provide students and faculty members from basic, secondary and higher education institutions with a global platform for research, innovation, training and technical collaboration. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, "This partnership will incorporate quality, innovation and a global perspective in the education system of the state and will prove helpful in preparing the youth for global competition," he added. Calling the MoU in line with the spirit of the National Education Policy 2020, he said it would promote multi-dimensional learning, skill development and international cooperation. Referring to the state's earlier collaboration with Western Sydney University, the CM said the new tie-up with Monash University is another major step toward meeting global education standards. He added that Gautam Buddha University will serve as the central hub for implementing this partnership and directed its vice chancellor to ensure the successful discharge of this responsibility. Yogi also highlighted India's ancient tradition of knowledge, recalling the Vedic saying, "Aa no bhadra kratavo yantu vishwatah" (let noble thoughts come to us from all directions of the world). Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Motivos para escolher um Sofá de Couro [Descubra] Fiori Sofás Saiba Mais Undo He described the MoU as a modern expression of this timeless vision and reaffirmed the govt's commitment to making UP a "capital of knowledge" on the global education map. "Such partnerships will give the state a leading position on the global education map," he added. Chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said the collaboration will pave the way for students and teachers from the state to engage with international educational forums. During the ceremony, the university's vice chancellor said that this agreement would usher in a new era of educational and cultural exchange between India and Australia. He described the MoU as the beginning of a meaningful intellectual dialogue between two democratic and culturally rich nations. Professor Manisha, a former Delhi University academic and currently affiliated with Monash University, played a key role in bringing the agreement to life. She shared that Monash trains nearly 30,000 teachers annually, including educators from conflict-affected regions like Afghanistan and Myanmar. With this partnership, teachers from UP will now have access to similar world-class training programmes. "This initiative lays the foundation of a new educational renaissance in the state and will play a crucial role in redefining UP's identity on the global academic stage," she said.
