December 2009 - Issue #8
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Learning for all
'The clever country' was a political quip that came to symbolise a forlorn hope. Now that ambition has been revived as a priority for sustaining Australia's social and economic vitality.
Cars that 'think' may help drivers who don't
Automotive IT researchers are taking the first steps towards building intelligent cars that may make the roads safer and less polluted.
Accessible education
Social inclusion, built around wider education opportunities, is of particular relevance to Swinburne University of Technology because of its dual structure as a university and TAFE.
Doors open to fresh start learning
A new inclusive approach to higher education is driven by initiatives to reconnect with people who have fallen from formal schooling.
Research to structure social inclusion
Swinburne's Institute for Social Research runs more than 40 externally funded social inclusion projects a year.
Profit forecast to fire up landfill gas
Accurately predicting how much gas a landfill site is likely to deliver over its lifespan is a challenge one civil engineer is working to address.
Bid to keep aluminium shining
Working together, researchers from across Australia and New Zealand are hoping to cut the energy needs of an industry worth billions to the nation’s economy.
Internet journalism 'pens' the death of an empire
Changes wrought by the internet may, over time, match those heralded by the printing press. The challenge will be to conserve the good of the past, while embracing evolving opportunities.
It's eat or be eaten in our cosmic jungle
The heart of a normal galaxy is a place of extreme astrophysical phenomena, where hapless stars can be devoured in a flash or fired across the universe at blinding speed.
Alzheimer hope in ancient medical memories
Evidence is building to support the use of alternative medicines in preserving our mental capabilities and warding off Alzheimer’s disease.
Learning springs from Dr Mazzolini's box of tricks
Simple, tactile experiments are a popular way to learn physics, especially if your school happens to be in a developing country far from modern facilities.
Cosmic flashes of mystery and inspiration
An alliance of Indian and Australian astrophysicists is building a supercharged observation system of the future, capable of interpreting an avalanche of data from the stars, the moment if arrives at Earth.
Entrepreneur looks for a different 'green back' economy
Swinburne sustainability graduate Gareth Johnston is general manager of the newly formed organisation, A&NZSustain, a network that helps members to deliver sustainability to their organisations while finding new opportunities for sustainable business.
Workflow guide hitches timeliness to hard yakka
By bringing more order to the workflow of a construction site, researchers believe they can deliver substantial cost savings to the built environment.
