Science at the Shine Dome: From Deep Time to Deep Space

Deep-Time Ecosystems and the Oldest Animal Discoveries

ANU Professor Jochen Brocks uses molecular fossils—stable hydrocarbon skeletons of ancient fat molecules preserved in rocks—to reconstruct ecosystems dating back 1.6 billion years, according to findings discussed at the Shine Dome event. Over two decades, Professor Brocks developed techniques to correct contaminated rock records, revealing that oceans were dominated by primordial bacterial creatures until roughly 1 billion years ago, while complex eukaryotic cells became abundant 800 million years ago.

Seven years ago, Professor Brocks and PhD student Ilya Bobrovskiy solved a 75-year palaeontological debate regarding 558-million-year-old Ediacaran fossils found in South Australia. Chemical analysis of a Dickinsonia fossil found in Russia revealed cholesteroid biomarkers, confirming it as an animal and securing its place in the Guinness World Records as the oldest confirmed animal megafossil, as noted by the Australian Academy of Science.

Evolutionary Milestones from Ancient Fish to Human Anatomy

Emeritus Professor John Long of Flinders University announced discoveries pushing back the origins of live birth and internal fertilisation during presentations at the Canberra event. Professor Long discovered the world’s oldest vertebrate embryo inside a fossilised placoderm, Materpiscis attenboroughi, from Western Australia’s Gogo Formation, pushing back the earliest evidence of live birth by 180 million years. Later, he identified the L-shaped male genital organ of Microbrachius dicki, providing the earliest evidence of internal fertilisation in vertebrates.

“The advanced fishes had every part of the anatomical systems needed to make a human,” Professor Long stated, explaining that placoderms established the foundational vertebrate body plan.

Mapping Dark Matter and Cosmic Expansion

Astrophysicist Dr Cullan Howlett of the University of Queensland received this year’s Pawsey Medal for mapping between 40 and 50 million galaxies to trace the formation and evolution of the universe. According to Dr Howlett, normal matter comprises just 5 percent of the universe, with 25 percent dark matter and 70 percent dark energy driving cosmic expansion.

Dr Howlett co-led the 2023 discovery of Ho’oleilana, a massive local bubble of galaxies one billion light-years in diameter that serves as a baryon acoustic oscillation from the early universe. He is currently working on an interactive three-dimensional map designed to make galaxy positions and cosmic distances as accessible as online navigation tools.

Advances in Photonics and Structured Light

Professor Kishan Dholakia, director at the Centre of Light for Life at the University of Adelaide, was elected a Fellow of the Academy for his contributions to photonics.

“Structuring light takes the properties of light and allows us to enhance things to unprecedented levels,” Professor Dholakia said.

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