Applications are now open for the 2016–2017 BeHEARD Challenge, which provides technology and financial grants for rare disease research. [ + ]

The Turbull government will facilitate faster access by qualified doctors to medicinal cannabis for approved patients. [ + ]

Western Australian researchers have created a new scientific model for the development of type 2 diabetes, which can be caused by the failure of insulin-producing pancreatic beta (β) cells. [ + ]

The longstanding rivalry between Australia and New Zealand may finally be coming to an end, with ministers from both countries coming together to sign the Australia–New Zealand Science, Research and Innovation Cooperation Agreement. [ + ]

Scientists have genetically engineered a mouse that does not become addicted to cocaine, adding to the growing field of evidence that suggests habitual drug use is more a matter of genetics and biochemistry than just poor judgement. [ + ]

STEMCELL Technologies is hosting two webinars in the coming weeks, giving scientists interested in stem cell research the chance to hear from experts in the field from the comfort of their own homes — just as long as they don't mind waking up a little early. [ + ]

Pharmaceutical company MSD has ended its phase 2/3 study evaluating the drug verubecestat in patients with mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). [ + ]

A miniaturised optical imaging probe known as the microscope-in-a-needle, developed at The University of Western Australia, has been licensed to medical device company Miniprobes. [ + ]

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have identified almost 300 genetic regions involved in the common condition of male pattern baldness. [ + ]

An international research team has sequenced the genome of the Australian pitcher plant and, in doing so, discovered a key to the mystery of how the plant became carnivorous. [ + ]

Astronomers have announced evidence for the existence of a 'middleweight' black hole — otherwise known as the missing link between relatively small, stellar-mass black holes and the supermassive black holes that lie at the centre of some galaxies. [ + ]

Researchers have prevented the progression of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in laboratory studies of type 2 diabetes, signalling an important breakthrough in the field of diabetes research. [ + ]

Victorians scientists have discovered the point at which baleen whales acquired the ability to make and hear the lowest frequency sounds of any mammal, which they use to send whale songs across tens and even hundreds of kilometres. [ + ]

Applications are now open for CSIRO's Synthetic Biology Future Science Fellowships — a $3 million program to recruit outstanding national and international early-career scientists to expand Australia's research capacity in synthetic biology. [ + ]

Researchers are building a 300 m² greenhouse using transparent glass that can generate 50 W/m² of surface area. [ + ]