Taking short breaks combined with planning work tasks can improve energy, motivation and stress management, according to a University of Queensland study led by Stacey Parker. The study involved 91 participants and analysed more than 600 work hours. Only 6 per cent of hours involved this combined approach, while about 65 per cent involved little energy-management activity. Researcher Scott Pedersen said standing and moving regularly helps reactivate enzymes that protect against metabolic disorders. He suggested setting an hourly timer to prompt movement breaks.
Peter Maloney, who lives with dementia, says spending time in nature has helped him feel more grateful and content. He takes part in a gardening program at the Chigwell Community Garden in Hobart's northern suburbs with his wife, Madeleine. The program is run by the University of Tasmania's Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre and funded by Primary Health Tasmania. Researchers say outdoor activities can help people with dementia stay active, socialise and feel a sense of purpose. The Chigwell lab is funded until June 2027.
The University of Tasmania will help Australia track satellites, space debris and other hazards. It is one of three university partners in a new five-year ARC Training Centre worth $5 million. The centre will bring PhD candidates and a postdoctoral researcher to Tasmania and help build mission-control capability for space-monitoring operations.
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A free app developed through University of Tasmania research is aiming to help people prepare for bushfires. Most natural-hazard apps focus on what is happening during an emergency, while fewer than one in five help people get ready beforehand.
Scientists from the University of Tasmania are using artificial intelligence to recognise individual southern rock lobsters from photographs of their shells. The technology works like a fingerprint scan, so a lobster can be traced from where it was caught to where it is sold. Exporters say this could help prove the origin of Tasmanian lobsters and win trust in overseas markets. The team is now training the system to record size, sex, colour, defects and vitality. Researchers also hope fishers can contribute data, which could help set more accurate and sustainable catch advice for government.
The University of Tasmania's vice-chancellor, Rufus Black, has warned that the national migration debate is harming Australia's reputation in Asia. Speaking to a state parliamentary inquiry in Hobart, he said international students help fund research. He said cuts proposed by the Coalition and One Nation would have a major economic impact and could take years to recover from. The Coalition's new policy would cut international student commencements to 240,000 a year, while One Nation has proposed a limit of 100,000.
Global timekeepers will vote this week on whether to abandon the leap second, a small clock adjustment added 27 times since 1972. The governing body of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures meets from 12 to 15 October. The leading proposal would let official time drift until it is an hour out of sync with Earth's rotation, then add a leap hour. Experts say leap seconds have caused software to crash and that Earth's rotation is currently slowing, so the change would not be needed for over a millennium.
A national domestic violence report found one in five domestic homicides involved prior non-fatal strangulation. Victims who have been strangled are 7.5 times more likely to be killed by their partner, according to a 2008 study. Non-fatal strangulation can cause serious internal injuries, including memory loss and PTSD, even without visible marks. Experts at a Hobart forum called for better recognition of strangulation signs and stronger penalties for offenders.
