Renewable energy dream

The world may be one step closer to a cheap, efficient, sunlight-powered method of producing hydrogen from water, thanks to the recent development by Australian and international researchers of a water-splitting cell that uses a manganese catalyst.
http://www.monash.edu.au/news/show/splitting-water-to-create-renewable-energy-simpler-than-first-thought

Fluke discovery

Melbourne researchers have found that parasitic fluke worms responsible for 200,000 deaths a year have a similar ‘programmed cell death’ pathway to that found in humans, a discovery that could speed up the development of new treatments.
http://www.wehi.edu.au/site/latest_news/worm_cell_death_discovery_could_lead_to_new_drugs_for_deadly_parasite

Probing the brain

Canadian and US researchers are studying how iron in brain tissue changes its chemical form during and immediately following stroke damage in rats. The work will help doctors interpret MRI scans of stroke sufferers and may eventually lead to more-sensitive scanning methods for live patients.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-slac-brain.html

Binding approach to cancer treatment

The chance discovery that synchrotron x-rays could permanently bind a potential anticancer drug to its protein target (thereby preventing its target from interacting with other proteins) could lead to new cancer treatments with enhanced selectivity.
http://shared.web.emory.edu/whsc/news/releases/2011/09/x-ray-protein-probe-leads-to-potential-anticancer-tactic.html

How to tune your graphene

An accidental discovery in a Californian physicist's laboratory has provided a unique route for tuning the electrical properties of graphene, a material with great promise for replacing silicon in the microchip industry.
http://www.physnews.com/nano-physics-news/cluster183758196/

Bondage mystery solved

A US-Swedish team with expertise in biochemistry, genetics, computational modelling and x-ray crystallography has solved a 40-year mystery: how enzymes that desaturate plant fatty acids know where to insert the double bonds.
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=1326

Synchrotron shines in audit

The Australia Synchrotron, a facility that offers scientists a powerful light source for research, has achieved pretty much what it was supposed to, according to Victoria's auditor-general Des Pearson.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/synchrotron-shines-in-audit/story-e6frgcjx-1226120644396