Angus Dalton

Ban lifted: Gay and bisexual men among over 600,000 Australians newly eligible to donate blood Rules that have effectively banned all sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating blood and plasma will be lifted, in a world-first move that would expand Australia’s donor pool and redress a ...

This is such great news. I was totally crushed when I had to stop giving blood, despite being in a monogamous relationship (one that's still going 11 years later!).

Can't wait to roll up my sleeves - a win for science.

www.smh.com.au/healthcare/b...

🙏🙏🙏

This is the heartbeat of efforts to save a global icon. Is it too late? A new generation of scientists are refusing to give up on the Great Barrier Reef.

Off Lizard Island, three side-by-side corals display different responses: one's healthy, one has a sick neon glow, and one's bleached. Could (and should) the polyps surviving in hot waters help buy more time for the Great Barrier Reef?

Full story from the GBR: www.smh.com.au/national/thi...

You can get in touch at angus.dalton@smh.com.au or angusdalton@proton.me. Happy to speak anonymously if you wish. Thank you!

Hello scientists of Bluesky - I'm keen to speak with Australian researchers affected by the Trump administration's impact on science.

If you've received a questionnaire from a US agency, or your work has been affected by cuts or funding freezes to US science orgs, I'd love to hear from you.

What’s it like to get sucked into floodwater? Scott jumped in to find out The river currents at Coraki are strong enough to carry boat-sized gnarls of ripped-out tree roots. Navigating them is all in a day’s work for flood rescuers.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

With gritted teeth, northern NSW locals await something they’ve never seen Alfred is punishing those in its path with a drawn-out crawl, gorging on abnormally hot water off the coast.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Clive bought his house because of the view. Now he wonders if this is the last time he’ll enjoy it Lismore residents are facing Tropical Cyclone Alfred with the traumas of the 2022 floods fresh in mind.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

I did my best to capture what it’s like in these communities as the flood risk returned again, alongside incredible photographers Danielle Smith, Nick Moir (who administered first aid to the soldiers in the military truck crash) and Louise Kennerley. You can read some of that reportage here:

In the towns I visited, insurance is impossible to afford. Residents demand more dams, levee wall raises, anything to stem the damage from yet another mutant weather catastrophe. Ever since the big flood, Coraki artist Sandra Taylor told me, “Every hill is holy”.

Climate change is making cyclones hit harder, further south, possibly slowing them down so they dump more rain and increase flood risk, as we saw with Alfred, according to a rapid attribution analysis.

Many of them were “frozen”, unable to move, struggling to fathom a possible repeat of the 2022 flood devastation.

“I don’t think this has been experienced much yet on this continent: the recurring big, big climate disaster. That’s the thing we’re going to have to get used to," said Lismore social worker AJ Jensen, who had just helped evacuate locals from low-lying homes.

I’m just back from five days reporting on the ground on Cyclone Alfred in the battered Northern Rivers. Here’s the quote that stood out to me:

YES WAY 🌺

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Their arms, legs and throats start randomly swelling. Then scientists ‘engineered’ a precision treatment The swelling started with almost no warning, then seven-year-old Fiona Wardman’s hand ballooned like a rubber glove hooked to a tap.

New from me: Their arms, legs and throats start randomly swelling. Then scientists ‘engineered’ a precision treatment www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

The night I accidentally became a corpse flower’s bedside manservant I ran to the Royal Botanic Garden late last night – and accidentally became involved with the stinky, intimate art of Putricia’s pollination.

I sprinted to the Botanic Gardens late last night after hearing they were preparing to pollinate Putricia.

I made it with seconds to spare - here's what it's like to witness the intimate art of corpse flower pollination 🌺

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

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Why your body evolved to penalise you for not exercising – even if you hate it Why would evolution produce an organism that must spend 150 minutes a week doing things like running on a treadmill to maintain health?

@liammannix.bsky.social and I are running a mini-series of deep dives into the pillars of health for Examine, our science column (which you can get for free in your inbox!).

Here's Liam's fab evolutionary look at why our bodies penalise us for not exercising: www.smh.com.au/national/why...

What Stella the baboon taught me about losing weight and living longer Baboons eat the perfect diet in the wild. There’s one specific “appetite” that could help humans eat well too.

TikTok gym bros told me to eat 180 grams of protein per day. It sucked. Here's why I'm listening to Stella - a baboon - instead. 💪 www.smh.com.au/national/wha...

73,700 lightning strikes: How the storm that stunned Sydney exploded Wednesday’s destructive storm was lit up by flashes of lightning, with more than 70,000 strikes recorded within 100 kilometres of the CBD.

I talked with @angusdalton.bsky.social at the Sydney Morning Herald about Wednesday's big thunderstorm in Sydney. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

When you complain about paywalls, what you are really complaining about is people getting paid for their work. Subscribe (yes please!). Please don't expect work to be available for you for free. Everyone deserves to get paid for work. You. Me. Everyone. Or go to your local library. Awesome places!

I’m on the case, Jenna! Wild scenes ⚡️

Dying woman, ethical doubts spark probe into cancer ‘cure’ A research project on a cannabis cancer cure is under investigation amid allegations over ethical approvals.

New from me and Clay Lucas

Dying woman and ethical doubts spark probe into cannabis cancer ‘cure’

www.theage.com.au/national/dyi...

As always, if you know more, get in touch

“When one prowled across a benchtop, you could hear its footsteps."

Love you, Australia, but FFS

Thank you Jenna! We're embracing the creeps today 🕷️

A new species of Sydney funnel web has been discovered – and it’s a monster The world’s most dangerous spider just got deadlier. And they’re on the move, with a baby already bitten this season.

*draws breath, screams* NEW SPECIES OF SYDNEY FUNNEL WEB DISCOVERED!!!

I am obsessed with these big, black, brawny beasts. Read all about how a non-scientist uncovered this new species - and why the world's most dangerous spider just got deadlier 🕷️

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

As @weatherwest.bsky.social said, the planet is warming at a linear pace, but in the last decade climate impacts seem to have accelerated. "This increase in hydroclimate whiplash, via the exponentially expanding atmospheric sponge, offers a potentially compelling explanation.”

But the sponge is "thirstier" too. It's like grabbing a sponge that's 7% bigger to mop up a spill, because it can soak up more liquid. A "bigger" atmospheric sponge saps more water from the landscape, so drought is also amplified as well as extreme rain.

The whiplash is underpinned by our "expanding atmospheric sponge"; for every degree we warm the planet by burning coal, oil and gas, the atmosphere can hold 7 per cent more water. That makes downpours more dangerous and extreme, because the sponge is wetter.