Two introduced carnivores, the European red fox Vulpes vulpes and domestic cat Felis catus, have had extensive impacts on Australian biodiversity. In this study, we collate information on consumption of Australian birds by the fox, paralleling a recent study reporting on birds consumed by cats. We found records of consumption by foxes on 128 native bird species (18% of the non-vagrant bird fauna and 25% of those species within the fox’s range), a smaller tally than for cats (343 species, including 297 within the fox’s Australian range, a subset of that of the cat). Most (81%) bird species eaten by foxes are also eaten by cats, suggesting that predation impacts are compounded. As with consumption by cats, birds that nest or forage on the ground are most likely to be consumed by foxes. However, there is also some partitioning, with records of consumption by foxes but not cats for 25 bird species, indicating that impacts of the two predators may also be complementary. Bird species ≥3.4 kg were more likely to be eaten by foxes, and those <3.4 kg by cats. Our compilation provides an inventory and describes characteristics of Australian bird species known to be consumed by foxes, but we acknowledge that records of predation do not imply population-level impacts. Nonetheless, there is sufficient information from other studies to demonstrate that fox predation has significant impacts on the population viability of some Australian birds, especially larger birds, and those that nest or forage on the ground.

We have found a class of circular radio objects in the Evolutionary Map of the Universe Pilot Survey, using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The objects appear in radio images as circular edge-brightened discs, about one arcmin diameter, that are unlike other objects previously reported in the literature. We explore several possible mechanisms that might cause these objects, but none seems to be a compelling explanation.

Many parts of the medical image are never fixated when a radiologist searches for cancer nodules. Experts are able to use peripheral vision very efficiently. The size of the functional visual field appears to increase according to the level of expertise. However, searching a medical image diverges, in a puzzling way, from the typical search for a target feature in the laboratory.

We present the results of two 2.3 μm near-infrared (NIR) radial velocity (RV) surveys to detect exoplanets around 36 nearby and young M dwarfs. We use the CSHELL spectrograph (R ~ 46,000) at the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), combined with an isotopic methane absorption gas cell for common optical path relative wavelength calibration. We have developed a sophisticated RV forward modeling code that accounts for fringing and other instrumental artifacts present in the spectra. With a spectral grasp of only 5 nm, we are able to reach long-term radial velocity dispersions of ~20–30 m s−1 on our survey targets.

Dedicated community-based services have been recommended for people with personality disorder, but little is known about how such services should be configured. We conducted a Delphi survey to assess opinions about this. A panel of expert authors, service providers and service users agreed on only 21 (39%) of 54 statements on the organisation and delivery of care. Consensus was not reached on important issues such as working with people with a history of violent offending, the role of community outreach and the use of compulsory treatment. Further work needs to be undertaken before the optimal organisation of dedicated personality disorder services can be agreed.

The International Dark-Sky Association, Inc. (or IDA, Inc.) is a new tax-exempt, non-profit corporation formed to serve the public and the amateur and professional astronomer communities by providing information, education, and research on light pollution and related topics. IDA will share knowledge of the issue on a local, national, and international basis and will assist with members’ problems. It was organized for the purpose of preserving dark skies for astronomy and for the general public. Solutions to the problem of light pollution will, at the same time, also promote maximum effectiveness for all outdoor lighting and will conserve natural resources.

Little attention has been directed toward the environmental and economic costs of light pollution. We estimate that 2.5 percent of the total United States electricity production is expended on nighttime outdoor lighting. About 30 percent of all outdoor nighttime lighting ends up in the night sky. This is equivalent to 17.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than the individual electrical production of many countries, including Chile, Cuba, Hungary, Ireland, Indonesia, Israel, Libya, Peru, Syria, or Vietnam. About one half of light pollution arises from direct upward lighting and one half from reflections off the ground and buildings. Light pollution directly costs the country at least a billion dollars a year in unnecessary electricity charges, in addition to the associated environmental harm from the mining and burning of fossil fuels to generate this wasted electricity. The equivalent of 8.2 million tons of coal (or 30 million barrels of oil) are burned annually in the United States simply to light up the night sky. The proper use of full cut-off shielding, timers, and appropriate light levels, if widely instituted, could reduce the overall urban sky glow by at least a factor of four in the next few decades.