An international team of astrophysicists led by Australian Professor Matthew Bailes, from the ARC Centre of Excellence of Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), has shown exciting new evidence for ‘frame-dragging’—how the spinning of a celestial body twists space and time—after tracking the orbit of an exotic stellar pair for almost two decades. The data, which is further evidence for Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, is published today the journal Science.

More than a century ago, Albert Einstein published his iconic theory of General Relativity—that the force of gravity arises from the curvature of space and time and that objects, su...

Can buildings learn to save all by themselves? Researchers think so. In their experiments, they fed a new self-learning heat­ing control system with temperature data from the previous year and the current weather forecast. The ‘smart’ control system was then able to assess the building’s behavior and act with good anticipation. The result: greater comfort, lower energy costs.

Factory halls, airport terminals and high-rise office buildings are often equipped with automated “anticipatory” heating systems...

A new study has revealed how the gut’s protective mechanisms ramp up significantly with food intake, and at times of the day when mealtimes are anticipated based on regular eating habits.

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute found, in laboratory models, that eating sets off a hormonal ‘chain reaction’ in the gut.

Eating causes a hormone called VIP to kickstart the activity of immune cells in response to potentially incoming pathogens or ‘bad’ bacteria. The researchers also found that immunity increased at anticipated mealtimes indicating that maintaining regular eating patterns could be more important than previously thought.

With the rise in conditions a...