University of Wollongong

Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience. Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling from The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. The ANU-led team also found that 20th century droughts in southwestern and eastern Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin, were longer on average compared to pre-industrial times. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience. Megadroughts are exceptionally severe, long-lasting and widespread. They can last multiple decades or even centuries. An example of this is the megadrought in the United States' southwestern region that started in the year 2000 and has continued for more than two decades. Co-lead author Dr Georgy Falster, from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences, said that if a megadrought occurred in Australia today, the consequences would be made even worse because of climate change, as any drought would occur against a backdrop of hotter weather. "The combination of climate change on top of naturally occurring megadroughts that could last for 20 years means that in the future Australia could see droughts that are worse than anything in recent historical experience," Dr Falster said. "We must consider, and prepare for, the possibility that one of these multi-decade megadroughts could occur in the near future. "One of the problems with understanding protracted droughts in Australia is that our climate observations since the 1900s give us only a handful of examples to work with. This isn't representative of the worst-case scenarios that are possible just through natural climate variations. "Thinking about when we might expect to see a 20-year-long drought in the Murray-Darling Basin in southeastern Australia, this varies a lot. We could see a megadrought occur every 150 years or 1,000 years. "In this study, we paid particular attention to the Murray-Darling Basin. As the largest agricultural region of Australia, it's important to know how bad droughts in this region could be." The ANU-led team looked at the full spectrum of droughts Australia could experience, including length and intensity, even without the effects of climate change. They also wanted to find out how human-caused climate change is now altering the characteristics of Australian droughts. The researchers used multiple climate models to simulate droughts that occurred during the past millennium -- from the year 850 to 2000 -- to determine how they might change in the future. This includes predicting how long Australian droughts could last for, and how dry they could be. "One of the confronting findings of our work is that it is possible for droughts in Australia to be much longer than any of the droughts that we've experienced in recent times. Droughts that continue for 20 years or more are something that we should expect to happen," Dr Falster said. "Megadroughts are part of the natural variations in Australia's climate. But worryingly we are now also adding human-caused climate change into the mix, and that is probably increasing the chances of the next megadrought here. "We compared simulated droughts in the 20th century, from the year 1900 to 2000, with those from the pre-industrial period, before the year 1850, to see if human-caused climate change has impacted how Australians experience droughts today." Co-author Professor Nerilie Abram, also from ANU, said human-caused climate change is contributing to longer droughts in southwestern and eastern Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin. She said these are also the regions where we can expect future rainfall declines due to climate change, thereby increasing the risk of droughts. "It is likely that changes to drought intensity could still arise as climate change continues to worsen," Professor Abram said. "One example of this is the 21st century 'Tinderbox Drought', which was only three years long but was exceptionally intense and set the conditions for the Black Summer bushfires. The Tinderbox Drought was likely made more severe by climate change. "The only thing we can do to lessen the potential severity and length of future droughts is to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, by rapidly transitioning to renewable energy sources. "We can also reduce the impacts of future droughts by being prepared with water storage and management plans, and community support networks." The research is published in a special edition of the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. This work was co-led by ANU and The University of Sydney in collaboration with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Wollongong and the University of Monash.

Scientists have reviewed the superconducting diode effect, a quantum effect enabling dissipationless supercurrent to flow in only one direction. The SDE provides new functionalities for superconducting circuits and future ultra-low energy superconducting/hybrid devices, with potential for quantum technologies in both classical and quantum computing. A collaboration of FLEET researchers from the University of Wollongong and Monash University have reviewed the superconducting diode effect, one of the most fascinating phenomena recently discovered in quantum condensed-matter physics. A superconducting diode enables dissipationless supercurrent to flow in only one direction, and provides new functionalities for superconducting circuits. This non-dissipative circuit element is key to future ultra-low energy superconducting and semiconducting-superconducting hybrid quantum devices, with potential for quantum technologies in both classical and quantum computing. SUPERCONDUCTORS AND DIODE EFFECTS A superconductor is characterized by zero resistivity and perfect diamagnetic behavior, which leads to dissipationless transport and magnetic levitation. 'Conventional' superconductors and the underlying phenomenon of low-temperature superconductivity are explained well by microscopic Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory proposed in 1957. The prediction of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov ferromagnetic superconducting phase in 1964-65 and the discovery of 'high-temperature' superconductivity in antiferromagnetic structures in 1986-87, has set the stage for the field of unconventional superconductivity wherein superconducting order can be stabilized in functional materials such as magnetic superconductors, ferroelectric superconductors, and helical or chiral topological superconductors. Unlike conventional semiconductors and normal conductors, electrons in superconductors constitute pairs, known as Cooper pairs, and the flow of Cooper pairs is called a supercurrent. Recently, researchers have observed nonreciprocal supercurrent transport leading to diode effects in various superconducting materials with different geometric structures and designs, including single crystals, thin films, heterostructures, nanowires, and Josephson junctions. THE STUDY The FLEET research team reviewed theoretical and experimental progress in the superconducting diode effect (SDE) and provided a prospective analysis of future aspects. This study sheds light on various materials hosting SDE, device structures, theoretical models, and symmetry requirements for different physical mechanisms leading to SDE. "Unlike the conventional semiconducting diode, the efficiency of SDE is widely tunable via extrinsic stimuli such as temperature, magnetic field, gating, device design and intrinsic quantum mechanical functionalities such as Berry phase, band topology and spin-orbit interaction," explains Dr. Muhammad Nadeem (University of Wollongong), who is a Research Fellow at FLEET. The direction of supercurrent can be controlled either with a magnetic field or a gate electric field. "The gate-tunable diode functionalities in the field-effect superconducting structures could allow novel device applications for superconducting and semiconducting-superconducting hybrid technologies," says co-author Prof Michael Fuhrer (Monash University), who is Director of FLEET. SDE has been observed in a wide range of superconducting structures, made from conventional superconductors, ferroelectric superconductors, twisted few-layer graphene, van der Waals heterostructures, and helical or chiral topological superconductors. It reflects the enormous potential and wide usability of superconducting diodes, which markedly diversifies the landscape of quantum technologies, says Prof Xiaolin Wang (University of Wollongong), who is a Chief Investigator of FLEET.

Andre Vlok and Mal Eutick from Phebra with Carolyn Dillon and Judith Carrall from UOW School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience. Credit: University of Wollongong. Pharmaceutical firm Phebra has reached a new six-year collaboration agreement with Australia’s University of Wollongong (UOW), focusing on compounds that target acute myeloid leukaemias and pancreatic cancer. The partnership will continue research and development (R&D), along with trials of the patented and targeted arsenic compounds for these indications. Recommended Reports Reports LOA and PTSR Model - AGuIX Gadolinium-Based Nanoparticles in Cervical Cancer GlobalData Reports LOA and PTSR Model - Gene-Modified Cell Therapy to Target HPV-16 E6 for Cervical Cancer in Cervic... GlobalData View all In 2016, the medicinal chemistry research group at the University, led by associate professor Carolyn Dillon, began collaboration with Phebra. Dillon and Dr Judith Carrall invented the patent for the anti-cancer agent, which was published in 2019. Utilising a targeting system, the new molecule will deliver lower quantities of the active ingredient arsenic to specific cancers. It is expected to help minimise off-target side effects besides expanding the therapeutic potential to difficult-to-treat cancers. The drug has demonstrated positive outcomes in pancreatic cell lines and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), according to the university. PHENASEN, developed by Phebra, is an injectable arsenic trioxide solution designed to treat haematological cancers such as acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). Phebra exports PHENASEN across the globe, including the Americas, the UK, Europe Africa, and Oceania. In Australia, the company concluded the study of bioequivalence study of an oral version of PHENASEN. Phebra CEO Andre Vlok said: “Our work with UOW demonstrates Phebra’s ongoing commitment to bring new drugs to market for key unmet needs and to develop, locally manufacture and commercialise products which are the work of Australian researchers. “Phebra’s aim is to keep innovating – to research, develop and produce the medicines here in Australia, which in turn, also allows the next generation of university researchers to be trained in the expertise of pharmaceutical development.”