community-and-society

Carbs could be key to effective malaria vaccine

Experts from Melbourne independent medical research centre, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, have discovered carbohydrates play a vital role in the malaria parasite's infection of humans.

Justin Boddey and his team made the discovery, which debunks the long-held belief that the single-celled malaria parasite only uses proteins to infect humans.

"So what this research has shown is that the parasite tags many of the proteins on its surface with carbohydrates," he told AM.

Fears cheap Asian imports of Papua New Guinea cultural products undermining local market

Women who sew the traditional "meri blouse", a type of dress introduced by missionaries, fear their industry is being undermined by cheap Asian imports.

They want rules to ensure cultural items can only be made in Papua New Guinea so they can keep earning an income.

Regina Robert sews meri blouses and sells them at Port Moresby's handicraft market.

"Those of us who worked in the market before used to make good money because there was not much competition," she said.

This fashion designer makes clothes for dead bodies

From silk shrouds to delicate cotton coverings, her business — as a fashion designer and certified funeral celebrant — is to create outfits that mark and manifest the body's transition from living to dead.

Working with clients, who are either terminally ill or very forward-looking, she tailors funeral garments and rituals to suit individual needs.

"It's certainly not the career path I imagined I was going to be getting into," says Dr Interlandi, who completed her PhD project, [A]Dressing Death: Fashioning Garments for the Grave, at Melbourne's RMIT.

World's tallest sandcastle

The team spent more than three weeks in the western German city of Duisburg working on the artwork, which includes a sandy replica of the Great Sphinx of Giza, Venice's Rialto Bridge and the grave of Elvis Presley.

It also features models of tourist attractions such as Athens' Acropolis, Barcelona's Sagrada Familia and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Guinness World Record official Jack Brockbank was on hand to approve the new record for the German sculpture, which eclipsed the previous tallest sandcastle, a 14.84-metre world peace monument built in India in February.

How a fake man helped two women get their start-up off the ground

Keith became the co-founder of Witchsy, a new online marketplace for weird art, alongside Kate Dwyer and Penelope Gazin.

But Keith was not a real person.

He was their very own fake male partner, designed to help them be taken seriously while trying to get their business off the ground.

Ms Dwyer said when she and Ms Gazin were at the idea phase of their business, simply receiving timely responses to emails was difficult. And when they did get emails back, they were often condescending and at times sexist.

Cast, audience of gay play have tyres slashed in 'hateful' attack

Lane Cove Theatre Company's production of Holding the Man has had a sold out season, but it appears not everyone is a fan of the show.

After last night's performance, 12 cast and audience members returned to their vehicles outside The Performance Space at Longeuville, to find their tyres had been slashed.

A police spokesperson said they would investigate "motives of bias" behind the attack.

It is not the first time the production, which tells the 15-year love story of two men, has been targeted.

Why having an only child can be good for everyone

Parents of only children by choice are no strangers to these questions.

But evidence shows there are very few drawbacks to a one-child family, and according to one expert those passing judgement are likely envious because they have "suffered through" raising several children.

Between Canditta Natakuapa and her husband, they have 17 siblings. So deciding to have just the one child was easy for the pair who value work-life balance and giving their son "the best start in life".

Internet of incarceration: How AI could put an end to prisons as we know them

As dean of Swinburne University's Law School, he's working to have most wardens replaced by a system of advanced artificial intelligence connected to a network of high-tech sensors.

Called the Technological Incarceration Project, the idea is to make not so much an internet of things as an internet of incarceration.

Professor Hunter's team is researching an advanced form of home detention, using artificial intelligence, machine-learning algorithms and lightweight electronic sensors to monitor convicted offenders on a 24-hour basis.

'All the bowling ladies': Beyonce anthem used in bid to save Melbourne club

Three ladies from the Chadstone Bowls Club — Terry Foster, 82, Janine Hall, 82, and Wyn Hewett, 72 — star in a video featuring them dancing to Beyonce hit Single Ladies.

But instead of singing about break-ups and sisterhood, the trio sing about their love for the club and ask Stonnington Council to "pay attention".

"Cause we're bowlers and you can't take this away from us," the chorus goes.

"Now we're mad and you won't get away with it."

Is freelancing as glamorous as it seems?

The word alone inspires visions of co-working spaces with white-washed brick walls, spartan surfaces, and rows of Monstera deliciosa plants.

But as long-term job security decreases and the gig economy takes hold, for some it is more about necessity than a glamorous lifestyle.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says there are more than a million independent contractors in Australia — though a 2014 study by research firm Edelman Berland put the number as high as 3.7 million.