高清福利片

1. Secrets of the Mummy within

It's been sitting supposedly empty in the for more than 150 years: the 2500-year-old coffin of Mer-Neith-it-es (pronounced mer-neth-it-ees), who served in the temple of the goddess Sekhmet. But CT scanning technology - and the hunch of museum curator - were two mummified ankles, feet and toes, consistent with a single person, and fused bone endings which suggested the person was an adult when they died.

"In short, the scans were the first step towards identifying whether the coffin contained its original inhabitant," said Dr Fraser.

The next step will be to work with using bone analysis, radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis and vibrational spectroscopy to further help identify the coffin鈥檚 remains.

鈥淔or me, the most exciting aspect of the project will be the recolouring of a digital model of the coffin,鈥� said Dr Fraser.

Those recoloured images, and findings from the Mummy Project, will be incorporated into the Mummy Room at the museum鈥檚 new听, due to open in 2020.

2. Cell messengers as biomarkers听

Researchers at the University of Sydney have released by human cells, opening the way for them to become diagnostic tools in the early-detection of cancers, dementia and kidney disease.

The particles, known as听, or EVs, are routinely released by cells and play a central role in cell communication, sharing vital information such as DNA, RNA and proteins.

鈥淭his really is at the cutting edge of our knowledge of cellular development,鈥� said听, co-author of a new paper with Sally Yunsun Kim on EVs published in the Royal Society of Chemistry鈥檚听.

鈥淓Vs could not only be used to identify cellular pathologies but because they carry essential information about cell development, we could engineer them for purposes of tissue repair.鈥�

3. World tourism's carbon footprint听

For the first time the amount of .

Dr听, from the听, said: "Our analysis is a world-first look at the true cost of tourism 鈥� including consumables such as food from eating out and souvenirs 鈥� it鈥檚 a complete life-cycle assessment of global tourism, ensuring we don鈥檛 miss any impacts."

Between 2009 and 2013, tourism鈥檚 global carbon footprint increased from 3.9 to 4.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide 鈥� four times more than previous estimates. This accounts for about 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transport, shopping and food are significant contributors.

Lead researcher from the University of Sydney, Professor听, said the study found air travel was the key contributor to tourism鈥檚 footprint.

4. The life (and deaths) of the Great Barrier Reef

A of the Great Barrier Reef showed that in the past 30,000 years the world鈥檚 largest reef system has suffered five death events, largely driven by changes in sea level and associated environmental change.

Over millennia, the reef has adapted to sudden changes in environment by migrating across the sea floor as the oceans rose and fell.

The study published in听, led by University of Sydney鈥檚听, is the first of its kind to reconstruct the evolution of the reef over the past 30 millennia in response to major, abrupt environmental change.

The 10-year, multinational effort has shown the reef is more resilient to major environmental changes such as sea-level rise and sea-temperature change than previously thought but also showed a high sensitivity to increased sediment input and poor water quality.

Associate Professor Webster from the University鈥檚 School of Geosciences and听听said it remains an open question as to whether its resilience will be enough for it to survive the current worldwide decline of coral reefs.

鈥淥ur study shows the reef has been able to bounce back from past death events during the last glaciation and deglaciation,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, we found it is also highly sensitive to increased sediment input, which is of concern given current land-use practices.鈥�

5. Koala genome sequenced

A team of Australian and international scientists led by Adjunct Professor听and听Australian Museum Research Institute听director听听and Professor听听at the听University of Sydney, has completed the world-first full sequencing of the koala genome.

Considered to be the most complete marsupial genome sequenced to date, it is in terms of quality, on par with the human genome. The highly accurate genomic data will provide scientists with new information that will inform conservation efforts, aid in the treatment of diseases and help to ensure the koala鈥檚 long-term survival.

Professor Belov听said: 鈥淭he genome provides a springboard for the conservation of this biologically unique species.鈥�

The Australian-led consortium of 54 scientists from 29 institutions across seven countries sequenced more than 3.4 billion base pairs and more than 26,000 genes in the koala genome, which makes it slightly larger than the human genome.听

The findings were published in听.

6. Simulating chemical bonds with quantum computers

Researchers achieved the of a quantum chemistry calculation performed on a system of trapped ions, one of the leading hardware platforms in the race to develop a universal quantum computer.听

The research, led by University of Sydney physicist听, explores a promising pathway for developing effective ways to model chemical bonds and reactions using quantum computers. It was听听of the American Physical Society.

鈥淓ven听the largest supercomputers听are struggling to model accurately anything but the most basic chemistry. Quantum computers simulating nature, however, unlock a whole new way of understanding matter. They will provide us with a new tool to solve problems in materials science, medicine and industrial chemistry using simulations," Dr Hempel said.

With quantum computing still in its infancy, it remains unclear exactly what problems these devices will be most effective at solving, but most experts agree that quantum chemistry is going to be one of the first 'killer apps' of this emergent technology.

7. Wheat-rust puzzle solved

Researchers from the University of Sydney, CSIRO, the United Kingdom鈥檚 John Innes Centre, Limagrain UK and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) have against the stripe rust disease that is devastating wheat crops worldwide.

The discovery by the scientists, who have cloned three related rust resistance genes 鈥� called听Yr7,听Yr5, and听YrSP听鈥� will enable these important genes to be accurately monitored and integrated into breeding programs in the fight against ever-changing pathogens that could kill about 70 percent or more of whole wheat crops at a time.

The findings solve a 30-year-old puzzle. Co-author Dr Peng Zhang from the University of Sydney said: "This work finally resolves the relationships between three related rust-resistance genes."

The University of Sydney鈥檚 cereal rust research team under the directorship of 听created mutation populations in 2015 and identified mutants for each gene, while unknowingly in parallel, scientists in the UK were working on two of the genes.

8. Population of astronomical fast-radio bursts doubles

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Australian in Western Australia have nearly doubled the known number of "fast radio bursts"; powerful flashes of radio waves from deep space.

The discoveries include the closest and brightest fast radio bursts ever detected.

University of Sydney astronomer听, who was part of the team, said: "At the moment, no one really knows what causes fast radio bursts, or why they are so powerful. Being able to find more of them to study is a really important step in working out what they are and why they happen."

The team鈥檚听听were reported in the journal听.

9. How climate stress impacts cities

The fall of Angkor in the 15th century has long puzzled historians, archaeologists and scientists, but now a what led to the city鈥檚 demise - and it comes with a warning for modern urban communities.

Built upon on a complex system of canals, water catchments and embankments, Angkor was once the largest city in the world, covering an area of approximately 1000km². However, in the 15th century it saw a massive population fall.

The multidisciplinary team led by听, Director of the听听Research Group, and听, Director of the Greater Angkor Project, found that the medieval city suffered external climate stress coupled with overloaded infrastructure within the canal system, which through in-depth mapping showed evidence of a vulnerability to catastrophic failures.

Professor Prokopenko: "Complex infrastructural networks provide critical services to cities but can be vulnerable to external stressors, including climatic variability."

The study was published in听.

10. Doomed star in Milky Way threatens gamma-ray burst

University of Sydney astronomers and international colleagues in our galaxy.

The scientists believe one of the stars 鈥� about 8000 light years from Earth 鈥� is the first known candidate in the Milky Way to produce a dangerous gamma-ray burst, among the most energetic events in the universe, when it explodes and dies.

The system, comprising a pair of scorchingly luminous stars, was nicknamed Apep by the team after the serpentine Egyptian god of chaos. One star is on the brink of a massive supernova explosion.

The findings,听, are controversial as no gamma-ray burst has ever been detected within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Fortunately, if it produces gamma rays, they will not be directed at Earth.

鈥淲hen we saw the spiral dust tail we immediately knew we were dealing with a rare and special kind of nebula called a pinwheel,鈥� said , research group leader from the .

鈥淯ltimately, we can鈥檛 be certain what the future has in store for Apep,鈥� he said.

鈥淭he system might slow down enough so it explodes as a normal supernova rather than a gamma-ray burst. However, in the meantime, it is providing astronomers a ringside seat into beautiful and dangerous physics that we have not seen before in our galaxy.鈥�

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