Our Stories
Scamming the scammers: New AI fake victims to disrupt criminal business model
Macquarie University cyber security experts have invented a multilingual chatbot designed to keep scammers on long fake calls and ultimately reduce the huge number of people who lose money to global criminals every day.
Individual cost of inherited retinal diseases now in plain sight
New figures clarifying the cost of care for people suffering inherited retinal diseases in Australia have been published and could lead to better access to life-changing treatments for this leading cause of vision loss in working-age adults.
Hope as link between retina and Alzheimer's revealed
Aided by a retina map developed by Macquarie University researchers, a major international study has identified protein markers in the eye that mirror changes in the brain, offering hope for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
Study shines light on pointless Vitamin D tests
Blood tests for Vitamin D deficiency in Australian children have increased 30-fold over the past 15 years with no increase in detection.
Please explain: Do sleep apps help with insomnia?
Sleep and relaxation apps have become a popular way to deal with disturbed sleep, but do they really work? Sleep researcher Associate Professor Christopher Gordon says some do – but not all apps are created equal.
Referendum Q & A: Who, what, why and how?
As Australia continues to canvass issues surrounding the Voice proposal, Politics and International Relations scholar Associate Professor Ian Tregenza dissects the democratic lynchpin that is the referendum.
New optical fibre sets world speed record
Macquarie University researchers have been part of a global team who invented an optical fibre the thickness of a human hair which can carry the equivalent of more than 10 million fast home internet connections.
Gut bacteria changes could signal onset of rare genetic disease
New research may have uncovered a relationship between changes in bacteria in the gut and a rare neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects people in a remote Indigenous community in the Northern Territory.
COVID-19 could cause long-term neuron damage: new study
New research has shown that COVID-19 can fuse brain cells together, and could explain brain fog, headaches, loss of taste and smell and other long-term neurological symptoms some patients experience.
Earth's first flower was pollinated by insects: world-first research
For the first time, scientists have been able to trace the origins of how flowers were pollinated more than 140 million years ago.
Please explain: What is a debt ceiling?
Many governments are grappling with burgeoning national debt, accelerated by post-COVID stimulus spending. Economist Dr Ben Zhe Wang from the Macquarie Business School explains what a debt ceiling is and why it is so important.
Bowel cancer rates are rising among younger people
A new study has found that bowel cancer patients under 50 often experience delays in diagnosis, despite rates of bowel cancer markedly increasing in this group in recent decades.