News without the noise
Woolworths is using far fewer plastic produce bags than Coles in online grocery deliveries, according to a national report by the Australian Marine Conservation Society, which also criticises the supermarket’s revival of plastic toy giveaways.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved bepirovirsen, a drug developed by GSK and branded as Hibsago, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. GSK describes it as the first “functional cure” for the disease, offering some patients the potential to maintain control of the virus after treatment ends.
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Calvary Health Care has confirmed it will cut services including IVF, voluntary assisted dying, elective terminations, gender reassignment surgeries and some contraceptive procedures at hospitals among the 16 it is taking over after Healthscope’s financial collapse. The Catholic health organisation will enforce its ethical code at the acquired hospitals, with changes at Newcastle Private Hospital due to take effect from December 1.
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University of Newcastle researchers say they found no evidence of chlamydia in 27 wild koalas tested in the Sugarloaf-Stockrington State Conservation Area near Newcastle, an unusual result in New South Wales, where the disease is prevalent. The team thinks there may be around 2,300 koalas in the landscape.
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NASA unveiled its newest experimental aircraft, the X-70 Fractal, on Wednesday at the UP.Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, describing the crewed research platform as designed to accelerate the development and testing of advanced aviation technologies.
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A preprint study from researchers at quantum computing firm Alice & Bob estimates that a machine built with about 23,000 "cat" qubits could crack RSA-2048, the encryption standard protecting much of the internet's data, in just over three days. The team says its architecture puts it at the frontier of size and speed, though the paper has not yet been peer reviewed and no such computer exists.
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A new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that anti-social behaviour among girls in Ireland has increased over the past decade, while levels among boys have remained broadly stable. The research, based on data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, shows that the number of 13-year-old girls who reported hitting, punching or kicking someone in the past year rose from 10% to 16% over ten years.
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In September, Portugal released 30,000 sterile male mosquitoes in a second attempt to curb the growing tiger mosquito population. By the end of October, the reported locally acquired dengue cases in Italy and France were roughly twice the 2025 total, while health authorities were working to ensure mosquito-borne diseases do not become endemic in Europe.
todayThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tentatively approved a generic version of lenacapavir, a twice-a-year injection that helps prevent HIV infection; the move will make the drug available for $40 per person per year in 120 low- and middle-income countries.
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The large sunshade of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission is inspected by a technician at BAE Systems Space amp; Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in late July.
Image: NASA · see it full size →Pictures from NASA, ESO and ESA/Webb · launches from Launch Library