UNIVERSITY of Newcastle researcher Dr Aleona Swegen, a member of the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Infertility and Reproduction Research Program, is driving a breakthrough in fertility treatment. Dr Sewgan has secured $200,000 from the inaugural Newcastle Permanent Innovation Accelerator Program for her technology, SpermSafe. Dr Swegen created SpermSafe as a storage medium that improves survival […]

THE State and Federal Governments have announced a $50 million Housing Support Package to assist eligible homeowners, renters and primary producers impacted by recent severe flooding. Caravans and self-contained pod homes will be deployed for eligible flood-hit residents and primary producers whose homes were uninsured and uninhabitable so they can stay on their property during […]

IF you’ve ever needed a reason to step outside, tilt your head back, and marvel at the heavens, August is it. This month, the night sky becomes a stage for some of the most breathtaking celestial performances you’re likely to witness in years – and here in Australia, we have front-row seats. It all began […]

ARTISTS living in the Dungog, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Upper Hunter Shires can now enter this year’s Viola Bromley Art Prize. The Viola Bromley is a celebration of local art across the disciplines of painting, works on paper, sculpture and photography, with artists of all backgrounds and identities strongly encouraged to participate. Viola was part of […]

EVERY year around mid-August, the sky puts on one of its most spectacular performances – the Perseid meteor shower. A favourite for stargazers and amateur astronomers alike, the Perseids are famous for their brilliance, speed, and sheer number of meteors. This isn’t just a quiet trickle of falling stars – it’s a fireworks show written […]

ALMOST one million adults across the state were sunburnt at least once over a four-week period, according to a new report from the Cancer Institute NSW. The “Sun Protection Behaviours Report”, released last week, shows 15 percent of people surveyed reported being sunburnt, up from 12 percent in the previous report. The research analyses data […]

THE Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) and Vincent Fairfax Foundation (VFFF) are inviting applications for grants of $50,000 from individuals to develop innovative ideas that enhance the lives of young people (aged 12-30) in remote, rural, and regional NSW. The grants are available through the Backing the Future program. In NSW, the program […]

Transport engineering expert, Dr Elnaz Irannezhad from UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The freight industry is under growing pressure as it struggles to align with Australia’s sustainability targets. Photo: NSW Government. FREIGHT is critical to Australia’s economy but a University of NSW (UON) expert is warning the industry is falling behind on the […]

LONG before observatories dotted the land and satellites blinked overhead, the First Peoples of Australia were reading the stars. For over 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have looked to the sky – not for abstraction, but for connection, direction, and survival. Theirs is the oldest continuous astronomical tradition on Earth. To these […]

YOUNG rural women and non-binary students in Years 10 to 12 from across Australia will have the opportunity to win a once-in-a-lifetime ‘Power Trip’ to the nation’s capital. Country to Canberra’s (C2C) prestigious Leadership Competition launched on Monday, opening the door for young rural leaders to embark on a four-day leadership experience designed to help […]