Morning-before pill
Monash University scientists have developed a morning-before pill for
women that is capable of preventing conception for up to 24 hours.
Professor Gab Kovacs and his team at the Monash Institute of Reproduction
and Development plan to test the world-first pill on Melbourne women
by the end of the year.
The main ingredient of the pill is the hormone progestogen, which
prevents fertilisation by stopping sperm reaching the egg.
Australia on the move
If you've ever been to America and felt right at home, it could be
partly due to the fact that you were unknowingly standing on very familiar
soil.
Structural geologists at Monash University have applied modern theories
of tectonics to determine that large chunks of western North America
once belonged to Australia.
According to Dr David Giles and Dr Peter Betts of the Australian Crustal
Research Centre, Australia had numerous interactions with North America
more than one billion years ago.
"Over a 700-million-year period, Australia and western North America
were connected three times," Dr Giles said. "Every time they broke away
from each other, Australia was missing a piece."
Evacuship to the rescue
New software designed by Monash engineers enables a ship to be tested
for evacuation suitability prior to its construction by using world-first
data gathered on how passengers move about a vessel.
The design of the ship can then be altered - anything from widening
the exits to the provision of extra handrails - so that total passenger
evacuation can occur within an acceptable time.
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