The National Association of Testing Authorities has signed an MoU with the Victorian Asbestos Eradication Agency to ensure the reliability of asbestos testing in government buildings. [ + ]

An innovative strong and stretchy plastic, which can be healed with heat, remembers its shape and is partially biodegradable, has been developed by Japanese researchers. [ + ]

Researchers conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 97 people to investigate methotrexate, a low-cost treatment for inflammatory joint conditions. [ + ]

In healthy pregnancy, nanoparticles secreted by maternal gut bacteria migrate to the amniotic fluid, containing molecules derived from bacteria. [ + ]

A process similar to that used to store human embryos is being used by scientists to save native Australian plants under threat from invasive myrtle rust. [ + ]

Professors Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer were named NSW Australians of the Year for their immunotherapy approach for advanced melanoma, while Anthony Gill has been named Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year. [ + ]

Sensitivity to common food allergens such as cow's milk and peanuts could be a cause of heart disease, according to new research. [ + ]

Researchers have reported the live birth of a 'chimeric' monkey composed of cells that originate from two genetically distinct embryos of the same species of monkey. [ + ]

CEPI's Centralised Laboratory Network is understood to be the largest global group dedicated to the standardised testing of epidemic and pandemic vaccines. [ + ]

Researchers have found that a new class of drug, imetelstat, induces a type of cell death that was discovered only a decade ago, known as ferroptosis. [ + ]

Researchers have developed a new mechanism to make water droplets slip off surfaces, which promises to have implications wherever droplet-repellent surfaces are needed. [ + ]

The ARC has announced more than $220m in funding as part of the Discovery Projects scheme, and $28m under the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities scheme. [ + ]

Researchers have discovered that turning brain immune cells into neurons successfully restores brain function after stroke-like injury in mice. [ + ]

Scientists have found success in treating an arguably neglected inflammatory condition, polymyalgia rheumatica, with a drug that could provide an alternative to steroids for patients. [ + ]

Physicists have managed to achieve superlensing with minimal losses — breaking through the diffraction limit by a factor of nearly four times — by removing the superlens altogether. [ + ]