Galactic Gathering At The UFO Festival Cardwell was transformed into an intergalactic hotspot from 8 to 10 August 2025 as the Australian UFO Festival returned for its fourth year, attracting visitors from across the country. After a year’s absence in 2024, anticipation had been building for months, and the festival did not disappoint, offering three days packed with cosmic conversation, community fun, and unforgettable experiences. The action began on Friday with free community events
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Tec-NQ House grade 11 boarding student Max has his boots firmly planted in two very different worlds: the rugged, hands‑on life of a central Queensland cattle station, and the bustling day‑to‑day routine of boarding school in Townsville. “I live on a station north of Clermont called Mazeppa,” Max explained. “When I’m not here at school, I live there with my family.” Home for Max is anything but quiet. Mazeppa Station is a working property that runs both cattle and crops, keeping everyone on th
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Whether you’re settling into a new home, revamping your garden, or simply refreshing your living space, the way we shape our surroundings has a powerful impact on how we feel. A well-loved home doesn’t have to be perfect – it just needs to reflect your personality, support your lifestyle, and offer a sense of comfort. In recent years, we’ve seen a growing trend towards practical and sustainable design choices in both homes and gardens. People are making the most of indoor-outdoor flow, bringing
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By Victoria Velton At Palm Creek, it was a bright and fresh morning for our 20 parkrunners, with a gentle breeze making the course all the more enjoyable. Welcoming three newcomers to the Palm Creek track, two from Team Veteran, four PBs were recorded, including the Fastest timer. Down on the foreshore, 22 parkrunners took to the scenic path under cool, clear skies. Joined by a great mix of locals and visitors, no doubt in town for the UFO festival, with six newcomers stepping onto the course f
Read the full storyA new venture, Oxitec Australia, is taking on two of the deadliest virus-carrying mosquitos in the Pacific region—Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus —to fight the spread of diseases like dengue, Zika, and yellow fever, which claim hundreds of thousands of lives globally each year.
Oxitec Australia is a collaboration between CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and UK-based Oxitec Ltd, the leading developer of biological solutions to control pests.
The new venture leverages Oxitec's proven biological Friendly™ platform where genetically engineered male mosquitoes carry a self-limiting gene that ensures only non-biting males survive, reducing pest females and overall mosquito numbers through sustained releases.
Professor Brett Sutton, Director of Health & Biosecurity at CSIRO, said Oxitec Australia is now seeking partners to accelerate its activities and product development in Australia.
“Oxitec Australia offers a unique opportunity to help combat the growing threat of invasive and exotic pests, some of which are on mainland Australia’s doorstep like Aedes albopictus,” Professor Sutton said.
“Factors like climate change and growing pesticide resistance will only bring greater challenges to the health of Australians and our region via vector-borne diseases.
“By investing in new and innovative solutions that complement existing control programs, we can reduce the public health impacts of these exotic and invasive mosquito species.
“This technology platform could also be used to develop solutions for a wide spectrum of pests that threaten livestock and crops and our food systems.”
Subject to government and regulatory approvals, Oxitec Australia’s first solution will be a “just-add-water” product using the Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquito technology.
This innovative product allows for the rapid production of Friendly™ non-biting male mosquitoes following the addition of water.
Oxitec Australia is also developing a solution for the Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) with funding from the CSIRO to help prevent a major invasion risk to mainland Australia.
The new venture is already working with local communities in the Torres Strait affected by these mosquito and dengue outbreaks. Once completed, it aims to deploy this technology in impacted regions.
Grey Frandsen, CEO of Oxitec, said, “In collaboration with Indigenous communities, leading scientific institutions, industry partners, and farmers, we’re committed to transforming how pest threats to health, food security, and ecosystems are addressed. In doing so, we aim to not only protect lives, livelihoods, and biodiversity but also empower Indigenous communities.”
Oxitec Australia is also working to address pests threatening crops, such as the fall armyworm caterpillar.
Fast facts:
Mosquitoes
• Mosquitoes in the Indo-Pacific spread diseases like malaria, dengue, and Japanese encephalitis and cause over 23,000 deaths each year.
• Globally, dengue alone infects more than 390 million people every year and threatens billions more across the tropics.
• Only female mosquitoes bite and are capable of transmitting viruses to humans.
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