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Backyard chooks 

Chickens have been a mainstay in Australian backyards for generations. New research from the University of ����ɫ�� reveals that owners see their chooks as a blend between pet and livestock as well as a trustworthy source of produce. 

“Our research indicated backyard chickens are seen as both companion animals and as a source of food, falling within a hybrid space of human-animal relations,” explains Dr Emily Buddle from our School of Humanities. “They blur the line between what we traditionally call livestock and a companion animal or pet.” 

However, chickens do not receive the same level of care as more traditional companion animals, such as cats and dogs. “A surprising finding was that, while being loved companions, most participants were unlikely to take their chickens to the vet,” Dr Buddle says. “They were unable to justify the veterinary cost versus the monetary value of the chicken.” 

New road warnings 

New road markings have been trialled on ����ɫ�� roads as part of a project aiming to slow motorists in busy suburban business and pedestrian areas. 

Blue and white 3D-style triangles have been used by the University’s Centre for Automotive Safety Research to create an “optical illusion”, making drivers aware they are approaching a 40 km/h zone with high pedestrian activity. 

The markings comprise a series of simple triangle shapes on lanes leading into a 40km/h section. These triangles appear to be slightly floating over the road surface through a perceptual visual illusion.

World’s oldest 3D map? 

Researchers have discovered what may be the world’s oldest three-dimensional map, located within a quartzitic sandstone megaclast in the Paris Basin. The Ségognole 3 rock shelter, known since the 1980s for its artistic engravings of two horses in a late-Palaeolithic style on either side of a female pubic figuration, has now been revealed to contain a miniature representation of the surrounding landscape. 

“What we’ve described is not a map as we understand it today,” explains Dr Anthony Milnes from the University’s School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.

Rather, it is a three-dimensional miniature depicting the functioning of a landscape, with runoff from highlands into streams and rivers, the convergence of valleys, and the downstream formation of lakes and swamps

Green hydrogen urine 

Two new energy-efficient and cost-effective systems have been developed to use urea found in urine and wastewater to generate hydrogen. 

Typically, hydrogen is generated through the use of electrolysis to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. It is a promising technology to help address the global energy crisis, but the process is energy intensive, which makes it cost-prohibitive when compared to extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels (grey hydrogen), itself an undesirable process because of the carbon emissions it generates. 

In contrast to water, an electrolysis system that generates hydrogen from urea uses significantly less energy. “We need to reduce the cost of making hydrogen, but in a carbon-neutral way,” says University of ����ɫ�� team leader Professor Yao Zheng. “We solved this by using a green source of urea: human urine.” 

Secret lives of penguins 

Analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA has illuminated 6,000 years of the lives of Adélie penguin colonies on Antarctica’s Ross Sea coast, showing how animals in the region have responded to climate and environmental change events over millennia. 

“Ancient sedimentary DNA recovered from Adélie penguin colonies allowed us to detect the presence of other local species through time, including a range of birds, seals and invertebrates,” says lead author Dr Jamie Wood, a terrestrial ecologist and ancient DNA specialist from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, and the Environment Institute. 

Study co-author Dr Theresa Cole, notes: “Looking at biological records that span thousands of years gives us important insights into how species respond to environmental and climatic conditions that may not have been experienced in recent times. Understanding the resilience of species to these natural environmental and climatic perturbations gives us a better ability to predict how they might respond to future challenges.”

Testing lunar "Roo-ver"

Our University is a key partner in the ELO2 Consortium’s project to build Australia’s first lunar rover. The University’s Extraterrestrial Environmental Simulation (Exterres) facilities will be used as the testing grounds that will expose the “Roo-ver” to a simulation of the harsh environment of space. 

The Exterres facilities, located on the North Terrace and Roseworthy campuses, provide crucial testing and evaluationenvironments for the development of technologies designed for off-Earth operation. Researchers can develop and test equipment in simulated lunar and Martian surface conditions.

One of the most advanced space robotics in Australia, the semi-autonomous "Roo-ver" will collect and characterise lunar soil and deliver key capabilities that could lead to a sustainable human presence on the moon