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Tanya Latty

Senior lecturer, University of Sydney

I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. I am interested in understanding how simple organisms like ants, bees, and slime moulds, are able to solve problems by working together as a group. Amazingly, slime moulds can solve mazes, anticipate events and can make ‘clever’ dining decisions. Ant colonies can build efficient transportation networks and can rapidly adapt to changes in the environment. Understanding how these simple creature accomplish such astonishing feats may help us design better and smarter computer systems. I am also broadly interested in slime mould ecology and insect behaviour.

I am also interested in insect pollination and bee ecology, especially in urban and agricultural environments.

People worry Christmas beetles are disappearing. We're gathering citizen data to see the full picture

Dec 12, 2023 15:53 pm UTC| Life

In eastern Australia, the arrival of the summer holidays has traditionally been heralded by big iridescent beetles known as Christmas beetles due to their appearance during the Christmas season. In recent years, public...

Best books of 2023: our experts share the books that have stayed with them

Dec 05, 2023 05:36 am UTC| Entertainment

We asked 20 of our regular contributors to nominate their favourite books of the year. Their choices were diverse, intriguing and sometimes surprising. Whether youre looking for something relaxing or stimulating,...

‘Phantom decoys’ manipulate human shoppers – but bees may be immune to their charms

Oct 11, 2023 03:37 am UTC| Nature

Have you ever waited in a long queue only to find the ice cream flavour you wanted is gone? What did you choose instead? In the field of behavioural economics, researchers have shown that people make very predictable...

Our 'bee-eye camera' helps us support bees, grow food and protect the environment

Feb 05, 2019 09:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Walking through our gardens in Australia, we may not realise that buzzing around us is one of our greatest natural resources. Bees are responsible for pollinating about a third of food for human consumption, and data on...

We've got apps and radars – but can ants predict rain?

Sep 09, 2018 20:45 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Its often said that ants can predict impending rain and respond by changing their behaviour. Some people say that if you see ants building their mounds higher, or building them from different materials, this might...

Economy

Canada Imposes 10% Tariff on Canned Vegetable Imports to Protect Domestic Industry

Canada has introduced a temporary 10% tariff on certain canned vegetable imports as part of efforts to protect domestic growers and food processing companies from increasing foreign competition. According to a statement...

Italy’s Economy Outpaces Eurozone Peers as Investment Spending Fuels Growth

Italy has emerged as one of the strongest-performing major economies in the Eurozone, driven largely by robust investment spending and government-backed stimulus programs, according to a recent UBS research report. Since...

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Truce Uncertainty and Middle East Tensions Keep Markets on Edge

Global oil prices stabilized on Friday, but Brent crude remained on track for a weekly decline of more than 8% as investors assessed the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement and ongoing geopolitical risks in...

Asian Stocks Surge as Oil Prices Fall and Strong US Dollar Weighs on Markets

Asian stock markets rallied on Friday, with Japan and South Korea reaching record highs as easing tensions in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower, reducing global inflation...

US Stock Futures Slip After Wall Street Rally Fueled by US-Iran Deal and Chipmaker Surge

U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday evening, giving back some gains after a strong Wall Street rally driven by optimism surrounding a new U.S.-Iran agreement and a powerful surge in semiconductor stocks....

Politics

U.S.-Iran Talks Resume in Switzerland as Lebanon Ceasefire Boosts Hopes for Lasting Deal

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi are expected to travel to Switzerland for renewed diplomatic talks, signaling fresh momentum toward a broader U.S.-Iran agreement after a...

Bolivia Nears End to 50-Day Crisis After Government Reaches Deal With Workers

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has reached a key agreement with the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB), marking a significant step toward ending a nationwide crisis that has disrupted the country for nearly 50 days. The...

Marco Rubio to Visit Gulf Nations for Key Middle East Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to travel to the Middle East next week, with planned visits to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, according to a report from Axios citing multiple sources...

Trump Inspects Upgraded Qatar-Gifted Boeing 747 as Interim Air Force One Nears Service

President Donald Trump toured an upgraded Boeing 747 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday as the aircraft moves closer to entering service as part of the Air Force One fleet. The luxury jet, originally gifted by...

Trump Says Anthropic No Longer Seen as National Security Threat

U.S. President Donald Trump said he no longer views artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a national security threat, marking a significant shift from his stance just a week earlier. The comments came during an...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

John Jumper Leaves Google DeepMind for Anthropic Amid Intensifying AI Talent Race

John Jumper, the Google DeepMind researcher who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on the AlphaFold artificial intelligence system, has announced that he is leaving Google DeepMind to join...

Meta Seeks Legal Shield From Child-Harm Lawsuits Amid KOSA Talks

Meta Platforms is reportedly lobbying U.S. lawmakers to include legal protections for social media companies in the proposed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a move that could significantly impact thousands of lawsuits...

SpaceX Stock Slides After IPO Rally as Valuation Concerns Grow

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares extended their pullback on Thursday after a remarkable post-IPO rally, as investors locked in profits and questioned the companys lofty valuation. The stock, which dropped nearly 10% earlier in...

US Raises Concerns Over Possible ASML EUV Machine Transfer to China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly raised concerns with Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML regarding the possible transfer of one of its advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines to...

Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race

Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and one of the leaders behind the companys Gemini artificial intelligence models, has announced that he is leaving Google to join OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The...