Owen Atkin

Colander-wearing Pastafarian strains the rules with Queensland driver’s licence photo Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver’s licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Intense heatwaves directly threaten crops and native species. Here’s what we can do Sustained extreme heat can damage, weaken and kill all living things, from wheat crops to koalas and fruit bats.

Extreme heat is fast becoming one of the biggest threats to global food systems. Our new piece in The Conversation looks at how intense heatwaves put crops and native species at risk — and what we can actually do about it.
🔗 theconversation.com/intense-heat...

Revised estimates of CO2 sources and sinks improve global carbon accounting www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Heatwaves are systematically hotter, longer and more frequent the longer net zero is delayed .......regional trends show no decline over the ... 1000 years of each simulation....heatwaves do not start to revert to preindustrial conditions."
doi.org/10.1088/2752...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social

‘Damned if we do but completely stuffed if we don’t’: heatwaves will worsen longer net zero is delayed A new study suggests heatwaves will not revert back towards preindustrial conditions for at least 1,000 years after emissions target reached

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants The effect of high temperature on plant performance and survival is a topic of great interest given the ongoing rise in global heatwave frequency, duration, and intensity. The temperature at which ph...

Congrats to @bposch.bsky.social for leading the writing of the New Phytologist Tansley Review on High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants. @newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life

Save the date! 47th New Phytologist Symposium on 'Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life'. Explore how extreme heat affects plants that underpin ecosystem productivity.
2-5 June 2026, Cordoba, Spain.
@newphyt.bsky.social

www.newphytologist.org/events/47-nps

Home Advertising Space 250 px x 1900 px INSIDE UKRAINE’S PHOENIX UNIVERSITIES After being hunted, forced to flee and evading ongoing bombardments, Ukrainian HE leaders are finding new ways to thrive. […]

From today's Future Campus news: "ANU’s Susanne von Caemmerer &Graham Farquhar have collected their Royal Medal (Biol) from the Royal Society... established in 1660 and “the oldest scientific academy in continuing existence.” @biologyanu.bsky.social is proud as!
futurecampus.com.au

Our morning visitor in Canberra

Our friend is back

A friendly visitor at Thredbo in southern Australia. Spring in the subalpine region

Aboveground biomass in Australian tropical forests now a net carbon source - Nature A transition from carbon sink to source for the aboveground woody biomass of moist tropical Australian forests has occurred, driven by increasingly extreme climate anomalies.

An important paper - just out in @natureportfolio.nature.com documenting a decline in net C uptake by Australian rainforests. Eventually the same will occur in other rainforests - a reminder that we need to get to net zero ASAP. @biologyanu.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Monday 29th September 2025 on the Main Range of Kosciuszko National Park - just 2.5 hours drive from Canberra. Great backcountry ski conditions for this time of year!

Mitch Brown’s coming out shows the AFL what courage and grace look like | Jonathan Horn In revealing why it took him so long to come out as bisexual, the former West Coast Eagle highlights just how far the sport has to go

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2...

Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat

Paris Braces for a Future of Possibly Paralyzing Heat www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...

Farm Creek - between Perisher and Guthega

Today. Australia. What’s not to like?

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

Plants are such tricky critters - love it.

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Record-breaking 2023 marine heatwaves The year 2023 witnessed an extraordinary surge in marine heatwaves (MHWs) across Earth’s oceans, setting new records in duration, extent, and intensity, with MHW activity totaling 53.6 billion °C days...

"2023 set new records in the duration, extent, and intensity of [marine heatwaves]"

Record-breaking 2023 marine heatwaves | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Davis Atkin: Australia’s first out gay male hockey international on showing up for the queer community, representing on the world stage, and redefining masculinity The Jack Murley Sports Show · Episode

In June, I went to Antwerp, London and Berlin to watch my son play hockey with Australia’s national field hockey team. The best part was the game in London when all his team mates wore rainbow socks as LGBTQ+ allies. To learn why, listen to this podcast.

open.spotify.com/episode/2AFb...

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence Abstract. In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. Here we compile monitoring datasets (published at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenod...

This article provides a comprehensive update on greenhouse gas emissions and associated warming across the planet - a great resource for those with an interest in past, present and future aspects of climate change.

essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

My walk to work this AM reminds me that for all the stresses created by ANU budget cuts, #canberra remains a great place to live and work.

A photo of Yidi in front of his office

We're pleased to welcome Yidi Deng, last of 3 postdocs we hired for Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry project!

Yidi has an impressive list of work from his PhD in developing and applying statistical methods for single cell data integration analysis.

🔗 anu-aagi.github.io/news/posts/2...

NASA Earth Science Division provides key data In May, the US administration proposed budget cuts to NASA, including a more than 50% decrease in funding for the agency’s Earth Science Division (ESD) (1), the mission of which is to gather knowledge...

Why would you cut NASA Earth Science Division when it couples a small cost to a high return on investment? Why? ". This investment ...spur(s) technological innovation and high-tech jobs......."
@science.org
NASA Earth Science Division provides key data | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Impacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation - Nature Analysis of data on six stable crops, capturing two-thirds of global crop calories, allows estimation of agricultural impacts and the potential of global producer adaptations to reduce outpu...

Even when accounting for climate adaptation strategies, agric production will fall in the coming decades as the planet warms, with a production drop that is equivalent to 4.4% of daily calorie requirements per 1 °C in temperature

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How the Hottest Place in India Survives

How the Hottest Place in India Survives www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/w...

Fantastic to see the Australian mens (field) hockey team beat England 4:3 yesterday in London - wearing rainbow socks to show their support for inclusiveness in sport
www.hockey.org.au/news/blake-g...

Prospects for cereal self-sufficiency in sub-Saharan Africa | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Tropical forests are heating up. Can they cope? Scientists are pushing plants beyond their comfort zone to test their resilience to warming

Great to see a focus in @science.org on impacts of heat on forest systems.

Tropical forests are heating up. Can they cope? | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

From the Director: May update The re-election of Labor in May’s Federal election was soon followed by another drop in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s official interest rate, with the hope that cost of living pressures will fall in...

my @anuagrifood.bsky.social Director Message for May 2025 is now out. It provide a examples of how we are ensuring researchers and students understand the needs of the agrifood industry, and a new industry member of our Agrifood Hub: PHENOSPEX.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-d...