First signs of coral bleaching in Sydney Harbour: scientists and other top stories.

• First signs of coral bleaching in Sydney Harbour: scientists

  

  AFP on April 19, 2016, 5:41 pm First signs of coral bleaching in Sydney Harbour: scientists Sydney (AFP) - Coral bleaching has been detected in Sydney Harbour for the first time, Australian scientists said Tuesday, blaming the damaging phenomenon also found in the Great Barrier Reef on warming sea-surface temperatures.Aerial surveys of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef off Queensland's coast last month revealed the worst bleaching on record along a 1,000-kilometre (600-mi..

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• Experts examine new debris for MH370 clues

  

  Investigators were Tuesday examining two more pieces of debris for clues to the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, along with marine life found on two other items which "almost certainly" came from the lost jet. The latest two pieces - one found in South Africa and another on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius - were brought to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's laboratories for testing last week."Investigators from the ATSB and the Malaysian authorities are currently examining tho..

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• Western Australia skips 'F' series number plates over concerns of inappropriate combinations

  

  Some of the number plates that have slipped through the cracks. (Facebook) Western Australia’s Department of Transport has skipped the “F” range in its series of vehicle registration plates, due to concerns about inappropriate combinations.The agency began issuing its “G” series to newly registered vehicles from April, WAtoday reports.The plates will range from 1GAA 000 to 1GZZ 999. A spokeswoman from the department said the “F” range would still be manufactured, but would be restricted to a cu..

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• Spuds from the Red Planet? NASA really does want to grow potatoes on Mars

  

  Scientists have simulated the conditions present on the Red Planet for the experiments related to a manned-Mars mission in future. They are testing 65 potato varieties in Peru. It may help in future deep-space missions as NASA has been looking forward to transport humans to Mars in the near future and the space agency already has teams working on different concepts related to Mars mission. In the film ‘The Martian’, Mark Watney used the Red Planet’s soil for growing potatoes under the contro..

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• Australian Scientists Grow Nanostructures On Fabric, Now It Can Mop Up Oil Spills

  

  Oil spills at sea, on the land and in your own kitchen could one day easily be mopped up with a new multipurpose fabric covered with semi-conducting nanostructures, developed by a team of researchers from QUT, CSIRO and RMIT. “The fabric could also potentially degrade organic matter when exposed to light thanks to these semi-conducting properties,” says Associate Professor Anthony O’Mullane, from QUT’s School of Chemistry, Physics and Chemical Engineering, who collaborated with researchers from..

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• Insects may have had basic 'consciousness' more than 500 million years ago

  

  Insects may have had basic 'consciousness' more than 500 million years ago Posted April 19, 2016 14:32:10 Insects are conscious, egocentric beings, argue Australian scientists in a new paper that suggests basic consciousness may have first evolved in insects in the Cambrian Period. Key pointsInsects have capacity for basic consciousness known as subjective experienceInsect brain works in a similar way to human midbrain, which is responsible for subjective experienc..

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Melbourne teen Patrick Cronin dies after punch from brawl .	Grant Hackett arrested in Melbourne: reports .
The dirty fight over Melbourne's giant rubbish tip, Ravenhall .	60 Minutes crisis: Nine bats away 'child stealing' jibe, stays mum on lawyer's claim it paid for abductions .