Canberra, September 1 : A researcher has said that the world’s reefs, including Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, will be dead within 30 years unless human activity changes quickly.

According to a report in The Australian, the researcher in question is scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg.

“Let’s say we delay another 10 years on having stern actions on emissions at a global level, we will not have coral reefs in about 30 to 50 years,” he said.

Canberra, September 1 : An Australian researcher has found that glow worms can switch their prey-caching light on and off to a daily biological rhythm.

According to a report by ABC News, the researcher in question is Dr David Merritt of the University of Queensland, who has reported his findings in the current issue of the journal Biological Rhythms.

Glow worms are larvae of a particular type of fly that only lives in Australia and New Zealand.

Special cells in the rear end of the animal produce light that is used to attract prey.

The larvae use strings of silk, beaded with sticky drops of mucus, to snare their victims that are attracted to the light.

“It’s like a spider with its web,” said Merritt.

Canberra, August 28 : A research team from Australia, France and the UK has used mathematic modelling to determine when conservationists should manage species.

According to a report by ABC News, the model indicates that when conservationists should switch their efforts from managing the environment, to actively searching for a vanished species or giving up altogether.

"The most cost-effective strategy is to assume a species still exists, even if it hasn''t been seen for some time," said the researchers.

Canberra, August 20 : Scientists have suggested that hot rocks technology, also known as geothermal, may provide a possible solution to climate change.

Hot rocks technology works by pumping water deep below the earth’s surface, to areas that generate plenty of heat.

The water converts to steam and shoots back up to the surface, where it is used to make electricity. The technology generates very few greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a report carried out in www. news. com. au, good progress in this field has been made by Australia, which could have its first super-hot power plant within four years.

Canberra, August 14 : Organic chemists have developed a new coating from sugarcane, which can be used to make totally recyclable waterproof paper and cardboard containers.

According to a report by ABC News, the coating has been made by a team of organic chemists from the CRC for Sugarcane Innovation through Biotechnology in Brisbane, Australia.

The researchers said that the coating could replace wax and plastic coatings currently used on fruit boxes and food and drink containers.

“Wax-coated cardboard boxes, for example, used for packaging fruit aren’t recyclable,” said organic chemist, Les Edye.

Canberra, July 29 : The Australian government today overhauled its immigration policy, putting an end to what it referred to as the “dehumanising” practice of indefinite mandatory detention.

Australia’s Immigration Minister, Senator Christopher Evans, described the move as a new era in Australian immigration law in a speech in Canberra this morning.

The Senator told an audience at the Australian National University that the Rudd Government would "fundamentally overturn" the previous government''s immigration policy, and implement a risk-based policy of detention.